Close proximity technology redefines relationships between businesses and consumers.

This article is part of a series of posts covering innovation in Indiana.

In the recent months there’s been a lot of buzz around hotel chains adopting proximity technology to enhance their guest experience, whether the technology uses NCF, RFID or BLE.

If, like me, you’ve had your fair share of business travel, you often experience problems. Airline delays. Congested traffic. Key doesn’t work. Room not ready. Long lines. The list goes on. It can be really inconvenient to travel, and the industry is constantly searching for new ways to develop brand loyalty among consumers.

Travel brands are looking to offer their guests something new and compelling. Indiana-based y!kes delivers a differentiated way to travel.

As the creator of the first of its kind, proximity-aware technology, y!kes provides an advanced solution to ensure traveling is hassle free.

The company’s technology equips business and leisure travelers with the ability to use their smartphones to bypass the cumbersome hotel check-in process and access their room all while their phone sits in their pocket. By harnessing the power of Bluetooth, y!kes opens the doors to unlimited interactions between businesses and consumers and redefines their relationships.
The hotel guests’ process has remained unchanged and cumbersome for years. Now that the majority of visitors come equipped with a smartphone housing Bluetooth capabilities, there is room for improvement. While regular guests wait in line, friends walk in thanks to y!kes. 

According to Alan Philips, Chief Marketing Office at Morgans Hotel Group, “putting location & service aside, gone are the days when you can differentiate your hotel by spending lavishly on the buildings design & fixtures. The future customers of hotels will be less concerned with the luxury appointments of their rooms, and more concerned with the experiences you provide and how your brand services their personal needs & image”.

y!kes’ h(app)y technology, also known as its hyper app, actually attracts, retains and grows lifelong guests by offering an experience that feels unique and upgraded. With the ability to avoid the front desk and customize rooms to individual preferences, hotels are able to build long-term loyalty and leave users feeling happily surprised.

While industry adversaries attempt to mimic its sophistication with other versions of keyless entry technology, none matches the unprecedented hotel experience y!kes unleashes. Competitors’ front-desk bypass applications require guests to physically utilize their mobile device to unlock a hotel room by holding their phone up to the door handle (not much different from using a keycard). With y!kes, users can keep their phone tucked away and need only the app running in the background to unlock the door. As a result, competitors inflict a more invasive and time-consuming solution when compared to y!kes.

The company’s initial public debut was in 2012 at HITECH, the world’s largest hospitality technology tradeshow, and was recognized for its groundbreaking system when it was awarded a 2012 Indiana Innovation award. Its industry-first system unlocked a new era of proximity-aware technology, and the team has spent the last two years refining its proprietary system even further.

The Indianapolis-based company continued to innovate and grow throughout 2014, bringing in new employees and creating promising relationships with some of the world’s leading hotel brands. With keyless entry gaining momentum in the market, international brands have expressed unprecedented interest in integrating y!kes-enabled systems into their properties.

y!kes focuses on maximizing the hotel infrastructure to perfect, streamline and simplify the guest experience. By eliminating the multi-step process, the company intends to deliver the hotel stay of the future, and expand it to other markets.

y!kes serves as both a software and hardware solution, presenting the next generation of proximity-aware technology through the advancement of Bluetooth capabilities. Offering hotel properties specifically engineered y!kes devices for install in the lobby, room floors and doors, and offering consumers a customizable mobile app available for download on smartphones, these patented technologies work together to alter consumers’ experiences as soon as they step foot on the property.

y!kes’ h(app)y technology retrieves data from onsite Property Management Systems (PMS) and provides guests with room number confirmations via the app on check-in day. The company is revolutionizing the hotel industry and redefining proximity technology. It is the only company to develop the hardware and software needed for secure, seamless hotel navigation through keyless access requiring only a touch of a door handle and a tucked away smartphone.

With the hotel industry already jumping on board, there are many other vertical markets where y!kes is hoping to provide significant impact, including retail, multi-unit housing and more… Looking towards the future, y!kes will continue to utilize proximity technology to better the overall customer experience.

Why I am big fan the Taylor Swift brand… What she teaches us about branding.

I am not personally a big fan of Taylor Swift as an artist (meaning I don’t buy her records – although I enjoy listening to her music). I am probably too old to relate to her lyrics, but my kids love her songs and I see her as a good role model for them.

However, I LOVE the Taylor Swift brand. Why? Because from a young age she’s developed an authentic, engaging , truthful relationships with her customers (sorry – her fans!).
If you have any doubts, check out Oliver Darcy’s article and the YouTube video… She is not a fabricated star, she is authentic and she genuinely cares about her customers (sorry – her fans!). The same happens backstage on her tours. A few weeks ago I heard on the radio listeners commenting on their various backstage experiences. Most of them said stars just show up for a few minutes, take a group picture and leave. Taylor Swift actually spends time with fans, has dinner with them, takes individual pictures, calls them by their names, wants to learn their personal stories…

What can TS teach us about branding then? Kevin Roberts, Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, perfectly describes the different between brand and what he calls lovemarks.

People have only 3 questions of any brand engagement:
1. do I want to experience it again?
2. do I want to share it?
3. do I want to improve it?

The key is to create an emotional experience and you get action. Brands are built on respect. Lovemarks are created out of respect and love.

Brands build loyalty for a reason. Lovemarks inspire loyalty beyond reason. Actually they inspire loyalty beyond attribute, benefit, range, price.

Brands aim to be irreplaceable. Lovemarks are irresistible.

Intimacy is the small touch, the perfect note and it is the future of business. The purpose of business is to make the world a better place for everyone. Intimacy is empathy, the brand in the audience’s heart, (not the audience at the brand’s heart).

Kevin Roberts takes it even further. “Brands are owned by companies, marketers, and stockholders. Lovemarks are owned by the people who love them”.At a Cannes event back in 2012, he shared how marketers can build loyalty beyond reason for their brands through music and turn their brands into Lovemarks.

Takeout 3Es

Enthusiasm – (from Greek enthousiasmos). Be an irresistible force of nature. Risk it! Put music at the heart of your brand.

Execution – The audience won’t wait for inspiration: Form a music partnership. Start a conversation. Ignite a movement. Fail fast, learn fast, fix fast! Now!

Emotion – Music is life. Lead with your heart, and you will become priceless.

In a previous post, I explained how companies must find a new why to do business, meaning to connect emotionally with their customers.

A brand is the external reflection of a company’s inside culture and core values. In order for a brand to stay relevant, be different and unique, it must reinvent itself continuously. If a company’s products or services don’t change the game regularly, they suddenly become a commodity, as unique and innovative they could have been at some point. EVERY product and service becomes sooner than later a commodity. What’s critical is for the company to keep its brand relevant by innovating and bringing to life new game-changing products or services. You must keep delivering on your brand promise, day after day.

DON’T settle for being an er-brand. Your tactics are focused on being better at the same things that your competitors do. Red flags go up whenever I hear a pitch that explains how a new offering is just like another but is small-er, bigg-er, thinn-er, light-er, fast-er, sexi-er, whatev-er.

DO find a unique brand personality that translates into a unique customer experience, enabling your brand to rise above competitive comparison. Using brand personality in this way is not simply about developing creative communications; it’s about infusing every aspect of your operations with your unique character.

You have to switch your company’s focus from being transaction oriented to emotion oriented. A product is a transaction, an experience is an emotion. That’s your differentiator. 

It is easy to create a brand and a “promise”. What is hard to achieve is to deliver on the brand promise over and over again. As innovative as the brand promise may be at some point, other brands will follow and suddenly your promise will become commoditized, again.

As marketers, we all need to turn our brands into lovemarks. Like Taylor Swift.

How to boost creativity in your organization?

Creativity drives problem solving, innovation and entrepreneurship. It is a critical skill (and mindset) that leads to new and more efficient solutions to existing problems. It also enables individuals and organizations to find ways to address customers’ needs as a differentiating factor. In theory, creativity is widely praised and desired. But, in reality, creative solutions are often met with pushback, reluctance and even hostility.

"Being creative is going to be associated with a lot of failure," says Dr. Lynne Vincent, co-author of Outside Advantage: Can Social Rejection Fuel Creative Thought? "You have to have the confidence to persevere and continue on past the hurdles and barriers."
People say they value creativity, but in reality they celebrate the successful outcome of its implementation.  

I have seen many organizations stuck in a creativity slump as their employees focus too much on what they’re working on and they don’t see the forest for the trees.
One question I am asked often times is: how do I boost creativity in my organization?

1. Find inspiration in your mission statement. A mission statement should tell the world why you are in business, what’s your real purpose of doing business. An inspirational, motivated purpose will offer endless possibilities where creativity has no limits. For instance, Lego’s mission: “inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow”. Their purpose is to inspire & develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future – experiencing their endless human possibility.

2. When you look at a problem, don’t look at it as a whole. Take it apart in pieces and start building a solution with the pieces in a different way. As an example, the Indianapolis Zoo knew they were facing a major issue with the new orangutan exhibit: an increase of 30% in attendance. Looking at the attendance and parking problem as a whole, they saw an immediate solution: expand the parking lot. This meant raising more funds to build a new parking lot, with the challenge of having an empty lot when the attendance is low. By taking the problem apart, they realized that they had to better manage the flow of visitors across the week, versus trying to fix a massive visitor influx on the weekend. They introduced a dynamic pricing, spreading attendance more evenly between busy and low periods, thus controlling the parking issue and providing a better experience to the visitors every single day.

3. Educate yourself. I personally spend a lot of time reading blogs, business books, watching videos like TED talks… I enjoy learning about new things, challenging my thinking, expand my horizon. As much I like to challenge people on how they think, I like to be challenged myself too.

4. Schedule unstructured meetings with your co-workers. Have one of them explain a challenge (s)he is facing, or an idea (s)he has, and start brainstorming as a group. It does not have to be work related, but debating and exchanging ideas with people you see on a regular basis is vital for bonding and strengthening relationships in the work place.

5. Get away from familiar places. I personally don’t like to spend my entire week in the office. I like to go places: Starbucks, a client’s office, networking event… We humans are creatures of habit, we like the comfort of the routine, of what we are familiar with. In order to change my mindset, I flee my normal work setting and unlock myself in a creative space; I take offsite unstructured time to re-source myself, change my perspectives.

6. Find a coach and a mentor. In a previous company I worked for, all managers had coaching sessions to talk about work or personal challenges. Since I left that company, I’ve kept a relationship with my coach whom I called whenever I need to be challenged. I’ve also developed relationships with successful entrepreneurs who have mentored me over the years. Good coaches and mentors are not the ones who give answers to your questions, but rather challenge you to find your own answers.

7. Find inspiration from your competitors. I’ve had great relationships over the years from many of my competitors. I like to meet with them on a regular basis, not to talk about our existing clients or prospects, but rather to discuss and debate on a topic that we’ve recently read about. Debates are great to gain new perspectives, help you think on our feet as you are forced on articulate on the spot your ideas to defend your position on a (controversial) topic.

8. Be a business activist. I’ve founded and am leading s.p.IN (www.gospin.org), a social business activism platform with the goal to bring people together with different skills to work on innovative projects serving the business community. This is a great source of inspiration and creativity for me as I tackle different sets of problems and I surround myself with people I would not meet otherwise. Great opportunity to expand my horizon and learn from others.

9. Stand-up comedy or improv. As scary as it sounds, stand-up comedy is a great way to boost your creativity. I’ve done it several times and loved it. First, you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone. Making a business presentation in front of a group is one thing; making people laugh while you’re on stage is another. Which brings me to the second point: the adrenaline boosts your energy and creativity. Third, mostly with improv, is that you learn to react quickly and think on your feet.

10. Disconnect. It is important to clear your mind regularly, whether it is for a few hours or a few days. A walk in the park, time with your family, a vacation… It helps you relax, enjoy the moment. When you come back to work, your battery is refilled.

11. Encourage experimentation, lower the fear of failure. Experimentation is key to creativity. Having an idea does not mean anything until you execute on this idea. Often times, people don’t take that step because of the fear of failing. If you see experimentation (and possible failure) was a way to learn, you will always find the positive in whatever you do. The more you try, the more you experiment, the more you will find of new ways, better ways to do things. Experimentation feeds creativity.

12. Exercise. Similar to stand-up comedy, a good work-out boosts your adrenaline level. You feel energized, you exhaust any angst you may have. You focus on the outcome. All the chemistry going on in your body fuels creativity.

What do YOU do to boost your creativity?

Find new whys to do business…

What makes your organization different from the competition? What business are you REALLY in (your purpose, not what you sell)? Why aren’t more customers buying your products or services? How much does it cost you? Why should customers buy your products or services (don’t tell us they’re cheaper or better - that’s not the answer we’re looking for, neither are you)?

What do you want your legacy to be? Innovation and growth - or commoditization, stagnation, and irrelevance?

A business exists because the founder has identified an opportunity. Opportunity is the reason why a company chooses to innovate.

If you position your business just based on what your competition does, it often leads to disappointing results. Your ambition should be to transform your organization into a place where innovation and constant emulation are at the core of what you live for. 

As an organization, you need a clear purpose to connect with your employees and customers on an emotional level, in an engaging, meaningful and compelling way. 

Vision and purpose is what should drive your business, your strategy and your future. Find the opportunity to make a difference, and place it at the heart of your vision. It should provide you a direction, a roadmap of where you want to be and how you want to get there. 

WHY - HOW - WHAT???

If your goal is only to gain a few market shares, grow by X% at the end of the year, reduce costs and increase profit margins, you clearly are missing the point. This does not excite anyone but you (OK - maybe your sales people and your banker too). Numbers are not sexy and appealing. Growth is a consequence of what you do, not a purpose.

A brand is the external reflection of a company’s inside culture and core values. In order for a brand to stay relevant, be different and unique, it must reinvent itself continuously. If a company’s products or services don’t change the game regularly, they suddenly become a commodity, as unique and innovative they could have been at some point. EVERY product and service becomes sooner than later a commodity. What’s critical is for the company to keep its brand relevant by innovating and bringing to life new game-changing products or services. You must keep delivering on your brand promise, day after day.

DON’T settle for being an er-brand. Your tactics are focused on being better at the same things that your competitors do. Red flags go up whenever I hear a pitch that explains how a new offering is just like another but is small-er, bigg-er, thinn-er, light-er, fast-er, sexi-er, whatev-er.
DO find a unique brand personality that translates into a unique customer experience, enabling your brand to rise above competitive comparison. Using brand personality in this way is not simply about developing creative communications; it’s about infusing every aspect of your operations with your unique character.

You have to switch your company’s focus from being transaction oriented to emotion oriented. A product is a transaction, an experience is an emotion. That’s your differentiator. 

It is easy to create a brand and a “promise”. What is hard to achieve is to deliver on the brand promise over and over again. As innovative as the brand promise may be at some point, other brands will follow and suddenly your promise will become commoditized, again.

McDonaldization of Starbucks…

When Howard Schultz left Starbucks in 2000, his successor Jim Donald decided to automate and time the Starbucks service, from time required to grind coffee, to mix ingredients, to minimal interaction with customers. In other word, Jim Donald mcdonaldized Starbucks. When Schultz returned as CEO in 2008 appalled by the dilution of the Starbucks experience he had brought to life, he decided to revive the brand promise. He closed all stores worldwide to (re)train managers and employees on the true customer experience, leaving on the counter $7M that day. He brought the brand promise back to its origin, and has continued to deliver on the promise ever since.

A strong and inspiring vision should be framed around how the company works to change its customers' world, for the better.

For instance, Amazon’s mission is "Our [Amazon's] vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."

This is a powerful statement as each single word is meaningful. Amazon’s goal is to be global and ubiquitous (earth’s), with a strong focus on the customer (customer centric). Although it is an online retailer,  Amazon wants to build a place (analogy to brick and mortar), where people can only find what they have in mind, abut also get suggestions and recommendations based on other buyers’ preferences or one’s past purchases.

Starbucks' mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
Starbucks has revolutionized the way people interact socially. Nowadays, Starbucks is the place to meet friends, conduct business, get quiet time… Your morning coffee Joe is just the vessel for the company to create the experience. The experience is what customers make out of it. Starbucks nurtures the human spirit, little by little. Think about how your life was before Starbucks?

Lego’s mission is to “inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow”. Their purpose is to inspire & develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future – experiencing their endless human possibility. Lego is in perpetual beta mode: term used by software developers – a product is never finished, it is in constant iteration based on user feedback.

If you think about it, the Lego movie and the Lego theme parks are only devices to carry their mission. It is all about using your imagination and Lego sets to carry your imagination…

Culture

Smart business leaders shape the culture of their company to drive innovation. Success and constant positive results come from the implementation and execution of strategies, business models, structure, processes, technologies and incentive systems that encourage innovation.

"In today's reputation economy, what you stand for matters more than what you produce and sell", says Kasper Ulf Nielsen, Reputation Institute's executive partner. "People's willingness to buy, recommend, work for, and invest in a company is driven 60% by their perceptions of the company and only 40% by their perceptions of its products." The study shows that in order to win support and recommendations, a company needs to tell its story in a way that connects with stakeholders on a global level. "This is a challenge that even the best companies struggle with", Nielsen says. Building a strong reputation takes time. "You need to live up to your promises and be relevant in the local and global context", he adds. 

Looking for Apple’s mission statement (as you’d think they have a great mission statement given the number of game-changing products they have released), this is what I’ve found.

According to Simon Sinek, “if Apple was like everyone else a marketing message might be: We make great computers. They’re user friendly. Want to buy one? …Here’s how Apple actually communicates: everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”. Although it is a bit simplistic, Sinek brings up the “why” a company chooses to do business, which should drive the how they going to accomplish their goals, and what they’re going to provide to the customers.

In an about.com article, it was widely reported that a famous quote from Steve Jobs in the 1980's was the Apple company mission statement: "Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them."
The "official" mission statement on the Apple corporation website, however, is not really a mission statement at all, but rather a list of products and past accomplishments. As stated, Apple's "mission" is…
"Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices."
Apple ends its press releases with a statement that resembles what a traditional mission statement is expected to be…
"Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings."
In my opinion, this latter statement, although it does not name specific products, still is very commoditizing, not inspiring. Maybe this explains why Apple has struggled so much the past few years to bring to market game-changing products and has focused more on improving existing products.

According to the Economist, Steve Jobs' mission statement for Apple in 1980 was: “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”
Now, this mission statement sounds more like what drove Jobs and Apple to change the world…

What do you think?