From Predictions To Relevance

By: Suad Merchant, Head of Brand and Communications at Mashreq Bank

2021 is here and so are the trends and outlook for the year ahead. But before we get another list.. 

A question we should ask ourselves “are these still going to be relevant in 3 months from now?” The scientists were busy working on the vaccine last year for COVID-19 and while the whole world was waiting in hope, here we are today, battling with newer strains across various parts of the world before even the first dose of vaccine has been administered to most. Well, not even the best of fu­tur­ists or psychics with Magic 8 ball could have had accurate predictions back in January of 2020 of what was really going to hit the world. 

But what we can predict for certain and we don’t need any pandits or futurists to tell us, is that the digital transformation efforts now by various organizations will be more relevant than ever. 

Organizations including financial institutions in the past few years have harped about how they have been on the path of accelerated digital transformation of well, almost everything. From innovation for the sake of innovating and tech and financial institutions competing in the market with “my innovation is better then yours” to pacing to “innovation that matters to the customers”, it’s been a  mindset shift for most. 

Let’s look around us, without sounding too cliché, the businesses that had the highest adoption rates in 2020 were the one’s that have provided simple, easy of use, intuitive digital access, provided convenience for everyday consumption and a single minded action with minimal requirements. If we take the example of Netflix, all you are required to do when you go to their homepage is Signup or login and voilà, you are good to go! The single and most relevant question is that “how can organizations achieve this zen level”. The answer is quite simple. It’s the ability of an organization to look outside of itself, assess what’s happening in the marketplace, and react properly. You need an “outside-in” relevancy. You also need an inside-out relevancy, which includes re-skilling, retraining talent programs and hiring skilled, cross disciplinary workforce at the core of the organization. Moving away from the silos not only related to functions and processes but also including technology, data, culture, strategy and most importantly the managerial mindsets. – go agile! Of course, it’s more difficult today and more costly with the businesses having more pressures than ever before. 

In essence, if we have learned anything at all from 2020, we know that a good strategy is iterative one. Starbucks was the largest coffee chain and now they offer financial services through mobile payments and credit cards. Our favorite brand Apple, has diversified to offering credit cards in partnership with MasterCard. Netflix used to deliver movie DVDs and is now the largest content creator and provider globally. Amazon once  an online bookseller is now a superstore, a lender to small businesses, and a content creator. 

Transformation of banking services is a given but how can banks go beyond banking – creating a market place, partnerships, ecosystems and more. 

Today, Customers don’t want banks to only give them advise on where to invest but also guide them as a customer using their products such as a credit card,  on where they can get the cheapest bargains for grocery or where can get the fastest delivery of medicines from a pharmacy. That’s convenience! 

Remember that failure is a teacher and we are all here to learn. 

Has anyone signed up for the digitaluae wellbeing chapter earlier this week? I’m quite intrigued on what more is coming our way. Aren’t you? 

Stay Safe. #Inthisdigitalage