As social and mobile technologies transform our lives, businesses need a forward-thinking plan to take advantage of -- and profit from -- these developments.

1. • Cognizant 20-20 Insights
Competing in the Social Era:
Charting Your Digital Agenda
As social and mobile technologies transform our lives, businesses
need a forward-thinking plan to achieve desired outcomes.
As digital technology becomes forever enmeshed enable business transformation and jumpstart
in our society, it is increasingly important for all new business models.
types of companies to create an agenda charting
how they will take advantage of — and profit
• Social media and communities are enabling
consumers to increase the influence they have
from — these developments. Even countries and
over current and future products and services.
geographic regions are creating digital agendas
Consumers have brought real-world influence
to ensure their citizens can fully exploit the
to the virtual space.
advantages of modern technology. Everyone
from the CIO of the United States to the CEO of • Digital channels are getting increasing
Burberry has a plan for capitalizing on digital and attention in terms of budgets and focus as
turning its use into a competitive advantage. compared with traditional channels. These
include social media and communities.
Technology Forces at Work
These forces necessitate that businesses build
We have already seen the profound effects of
a digital agenda to address consumers and dif-
digital technology on consumer life, specifically:
ferentiate themselves in light of increased com-
petition, enabling competitive advantage and a
• Broadband and wireless Internet access are superior customer experience.
permeating every available living space, even
appliances, accessories and automobiles. It will
Underlying Your Digital Agenda
soon be unthinkable in most locales for Internet
access to be less than readily available, and Establishing a digital agenda can be looked at
free. through three layers:
• Mobile devices and mobility are redefining the • Layer 1: The source layer comprises enter-
way consumers access and expect to see infor- prise information and data originating from
mation, and business users are right behind internal or external sources, as well as data
consumers in their appetite for mobile data. assets residing in disparate formats and loca-
tions. This type of data may be unstructured or
• Cloud is increasingly seen as an option for
structured, transactional or not. Large compa-
organizations looking for ways to lower costs,
cognizant 20-20 insights | june 2012

2. nies now have so much data that it is officially strategies include location-based services,
deemed “big data,” and data stores will only gamification, augmented reality (AR), digi-
get bigger over time, adding to the manage- tal commerce, social currency, loyalty and
ment challenge. advocacy, digital ads and search engine
optimization/search engine marketing
According to the IDC Digital Universe Study
(SEO/SEM). These will shape future con-
from May 2010, the world’s data will grow to
sumer interactions on digital channels.
35 “zetabytes” (35 trillion gigabytes) by 2020,
from a base of 0.8ZB in 2009.1 Seventy percent • Layer 3: The consumption layer consists
of this data will remain unstructured, necessi- of the Web, social and mobile channels upon
tating different analytical models and engines which consumers receive messages. Today,
to effectively profile and segment customers a digital consumer typically picks one of
for marketing campaigns. these three channels as his or her preferred
channel of interaction. Each channel has its
The vast volume of data also provides
own set of tactics and mechanisms available
invaluable insights into customer behavior
to transmit the message (for example, Web
at additional digital touchpoints, where each
banners, podcasts, video, apps). The consump-
interaction is a data point. Future customer
tion data is fed back into the production engine
profiles will be built using both structured and
to generate insights and measure interaction
unstructured social data. When applied to the
success.
universe of data, analytics helps determine
the new experiences and offerings companies Today, once they have pinpointed consumer
should develop, and what type of conversion interests using analytics, most companies use
is necessary to make these new offerings Web, social and mobile as the platforms for
available on the consumer’s desired platform. transmitting the content consumers seek. Tradi-
tionally, marketing platforms, content platforms
• Layer 2: The production layer uses data from and analytics engines have been used in a dis-
the source layer to design and build digital
connected mode. The next phase of evolution of
interactions to be consumed in the third layer,
marketing ecosystems will be to build synergies
the consumption layer. The production layer
and integrations between these platforms to
has three core engines:
drive interaction with consumers over digital and
>> Digital analytics management: This traditional channels (see Figure 1).
engine translates the source feeds into
meaningful insights to devise interaction The Digital Agenda in Action
strategies, define the right marketing mix To explore this idea further, let’s look at a high-
and build customer segments and profile profile retailer, a seller of luxury cosmetics.
models. The analytics system also receives As most retailers do, this company has large
feedback from the consumption layer to databases of customer information. It enriches
measure the success of interactions and the customer data with information culled
campaigns to truly quantify return on from social interactions, and then it performs
investment. analytics, defines segmentation and designs
>> Digital content management: This engine offers for its marketing campaigns. So, the next
is used to develop, manage and distribute time the consumer walks into a shopping mall,
digital assets and content across channels the retailer is aware of her presence and sends an
in the form that is required by the consum- alert regarding a discount or another incentive to
er. This engine yields the information the her smartphone via location-based services and
consumer wants in the right place, at the invites her to walk into the store.
right time, in the right format, within the
right context. Once inside the store, the AR kiosk displays a
selected range of cosmetics based on her profile,
>> Enterprise marketing management: This for her to virtually “try on” and share with her
engine is used to plan, budget, design, ex- friends on social sites for instant recommenda-
ecute and capture responses for all digital tion. Delivering this personalized experience
campaigns and interactions. and instant gratification is what helps drive the
The core engines are driven by the orga- creation of customer advocates who will carry
nization’s digital strategy to define the the company’s banner, insulating the brand
consumer interactions. Some of these from shocks. These advocates are “customers
cognizant 20-20 insights 2

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Figure 1
for life,” who can be expected not only to spend negative effects, including confusing your target
their cosmetics dollars with the brand, but also customer and market. You need to reduce this risk
influence purchase decisions in friend/peer by putting in place an overarching digital strategy
networks toward the brand. to rationalize and consolidate all of the different
perspectives into one. Your digital agenda will not
An example from the life sciences industry shows only establish the technologies and tactics to be
how this might work in the B2B arena. A phar- used to grow the business, but it will also inform
maceutical company retains a wealth of informa- mitigation strategies in the event of negative
tion in its master database, including data from events.
patients, doctors, pharmacies and other constitu-
encies. That sort of information is all internal and Six Steps to Your Digital Agenda
structured in nature. 1. Understand the online spaces your digital
consumers inhabit.
But the pharmaceutical company also has a great
deal of information external to the community that 2. Define your platform. Once you know where
is unstructured (for example, posts from online your consumers are located, identify the
communities discussing specific diseases and platforms — Web, social and mobile — on which
medications). The company can build an enhanced they want to engage with you.
physician profile using structured and unstruc- 3. Create a portfolio of your digital assets
tured data, design targeted messaging to be used (Web sites, social communities, mobile apps,
during the medical representative’s next visit customer databases, technology platforms,
or send the physician an invitation to a medical tools, resources and processes) within your
conference in his vicinity, based on the level of organization.
participation on a particular disease community. 4. Define a plan to convert these digital assets
The centerpoint of the company’s digital agenda is to the consumption layer, based on market
its successful use of social and mobile platforms, requirements.
as well as its corporate Web site.
5. Leverage your digital platforms to increase
Without the concept of a digital agenda and awareness, visibility and agility.
strategy, there will likely be a number of non- 6. Create a roadmap for a phased
integrated initiatives exploiting these platforms implementation.
in a haphazard way. These can have profound
cognizant 20-20 insights 3

4. It is no longer practical to delay the creation tions to design and execute their customer inter-
of a digital agenda for your organization. The action strategies and keep abreast of the dynamic
challenges come in the form of changing mindsets, and complex marketplace. Companies of all sizes,
as well as redefining business processes and across a multitude of different industries, are
execution methodologies. As digital technology following consumers in laying out their digital
becomes ever more entrenched in the way we strategies. If you have not already done so, it’s
work and live, it is more and more important for time to act.
all types of companies to chart out how they will
take advantage of — and profit from — these devel- To learn more, read the white paper, Charting
opments. Your Digital Agenda: Six Technology Trends
Driving Competitive Advantage, Now and in Years
Traditional operating models need to be replaced to Come.
by collaborative and agile platforms for organiza-
Footnotes
1
“The Digital Universe Decade: Are You Ready?” IDC, May 2010,
http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/idc-digital-universe-are-you-ready.pdf.
About the Authors
Dileep Srinivasan is an Assistant Vice President for CRM and Social CRM in Cognizant’s Customer Solutions
Practice. He specializes in helping organizations across industries apply traditional and emerging social
CRM tools to generate long-term business value. He can be reached at Dileep.Srinivasan@cognizant.com.
Ashish Rathi is a Consultant with Cognizant Business Consulting’s Digital and Social Practice. He spe-
cializes in helping organizations across industries apply digital and social strategies to drive consumer
engagements and interaction experience. He can be reached at Ashish.Rathi@cognizant.com.
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-
sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry
and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over 50
delivery centers worldwide and approximately 140,500 employees as of March 31, 2012, Cognizant is a member of the
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