Recently I was invited as speaker at the "Innovation
Conference" (Gearing up for
digitisation - Adapting Retail Banking to the Digital Age)
to present my view on how innovation disrupts the media sector.
My presentation focused on some key
points:
1.Democratization
of media production
The present technology allows each of us to
be a journalist now. You can do this by using a web domain and starting your
online magazine, you can blog or you can be a Twitter journalist. Through a
small investment of purchasing a video camera you can even produce video
reportages and disseminate them via platforms or social media.
2.Skills
of (new) journalists
The present journalist needs to have more
skills than just being a good editorial writer. It is necessary to understand
the online publishing programmes (which are not very complex, and can be used most
of the time intuitively). A good journalist is a communications vector for his/her
content and needs to know (more and more) how to interact with video production.
3.Access
to the market
Before incorporating the innovation,
especially the technical one, it is a must to do a strong research on the behaviour
of the clients. Do not try to impose
pioneer tools with a niche number of users. Your clients will not engage with
you and will change to a provider of serious services.
4.Media
news and media services
Connection with the citizens is crucial in the
media business. The media is not only delivering news now, but also technology has
diversified the offer of different services (ex. video production).
5.Competition
in the market
Innovation helps you to be more efficient, it
can make you a leader in your niche sector. But there needs to be a balance between
the interaction of machine work and human activities. The biggest competitor
for your business will be a company from a different sector (see the example of
Google in Transport services). Do not become defensive, but become offensive.
Maybe you can also diversify the activities in other segments.
6.Legal
aspects
The technology is fast, but the legislation
connected to it is fast too. Have a strong legal department to advice you
regarding the present trends. It can be very restrictive and damaging for your
potential actions…
7.Permanent
evolution, permanent innovation
Do not complain about the market and the
weather, please adapt! It is a process of Life Long Innovation. Try to use
external persons to show the trends (also in management) and break the routine of
your business. But always make sure you keep a balance between vision and
reality.
To conclude, a short message to my
friends from the financial services sector. Good luck with the FinTech! It is a
serious disruption to the sector. You need to anticipate fast…
Dan LUCA / Brussels
