DraftFCB’s Dan West at Google@ King’s Cross: Why mobile is killing the PC star
This week, Google invited Dan West (below), innovations manager at DraftFCB UK, to attend Google@ King’s Cross. This was an opportunity for him to get an insight into how Google saw the future, and with it being the week of the first shipment of Google glasses, it was set to be an exciting event. A couple of themes came out of the event.
Connectivity
Mark Howe, Google’s European managing director of agencies spoke about how connectivity creates opportunities, especially with everyone addicted to their mobile nowadays. But with 43% of online retailers without a mobile site they are dramatically missing out on some great business occasions. Just this week M&S revealed that its mobile sales rose by 70 percent in the last quarter of 2012. People are using their mobile phone to make purchases. Yes, offline still represents 92% of all sales transactions by value, but last year that was 94% and mobile is rapidly eating up more of that pie (and you can see how much is being gobbled worldwide with our Global Mobile Shopper Study). But that aside, connectivity is about more than just sales, it’s about creating moments, moments as simple as brand consideration. With 35% of people checking a company’s mobile site in store and only 30% talking to sales staff, we need to make sure that the 57% with a mobile optimized site rises to 100%.
Innovation
Innovation was, unsurprisingly, a key theme to come out of Google@ King’s Cross. Google glasses, the self-driving car and Google’s knowledge graph are among the most relevant products. These aren’t new ideas or technologies, but it was interesting to be reminded how big innovations are born; by an iterative process using existing tech coupled with human insights to make life easier for consumers. Street view technology, for example, now allows you to virtually walk in to your nearest Starbucks, check under the table and see if there’s a socket available for your laptop before you arrive.
The Future
Every company wishes they could predict the future, though predictions aren’t always the best way to bet your money: Clifford Stoll famously stated that, “no online database will replace your daily newspaper.” A good plan is to keep up-to-date with current trends, leverage partnerships with agencies and start-ups, and always keep the customer front of mind.
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