Once upon a time, Scrabble was an educational family board game that required nothing extra other than paper and pen to keep the score. But no longer.
In my house, at least, a game of Scrabble now also involves a wireless broadband enabled laptop and a website for checking whether words are allowable. The humble dictionaries in our house have been replaced by a Scrabble word checker in a bid to end arguments along the lines of “just because it’s not in that dictionary, doesn’t mean it’s not a word.” Now, we have a clear-cut official ruling on whether a word is Scrabble permissible. The only compromise, which I don’t entirely agree with unless it is my shot, is the allowing of American words. (I definitely draw the line at American spelling.)
The point of this charming wee anecdote is this: the internet and technology is pervading daily life almost unnoticed in many instances. We, as website owners, therefore have a vested interest in keeping abreast of technology in order to appreciate how it may affect our business and present new opportunities. It is patently clear we simply cannot afford to stand still. We must speak the same language and have the same reference points as our target audience. Unless we know our customers, how they think and how their behaviour may be influenced or altered by technology, we stand to lose out on their custom. Or, at the very least, fail to maximise potential revenue streams.
To succeed in marketing, the founding principle is "follow the eyeballs – and the wallets." If our customers are heavy users of mobile phones, for example, are there opportunities for our business to utilise this medium as a sales channel? Should we be capturing mobile phone numbers as an opt-in for customer communications? Or if we sell tartan or Harris Tweed Scrabble boards (it could happen) should we have an online advert on a dictionary or Scrabble word checker site?
The great thing about technology and the internet is that often users find new and unexpected uses the makers hadn’t initially latched onto. A case in point would be mobile phone text messages. Originally, SMS was tacked on as a last minute after thought. Little did anyone know then quite how huge and important text messaging would quickly become. It was all a far cry from the novelty add-on service the mobile phone networks envisaged at the start.
The lesson of recent history must then be that simply reading about a new technology is not enough, we must go out and gain first-hand experience. For it is only through using technology for ourselves that we obtain the vital insight required to spot the business opportunity or threat.
A bit, you could say, like Scrabble. You have several words to play. Thankfully, you can see the whole board and where the double word and triple letter scores lie. It’s up to you to spot the opportunities presented by your seven letters and the words already played. And to figure out whether the triple letter score you could play is worthwhile or merely serves to open up rivals’ access to more rewarding double word squares.
All of these questions can only be answered properly by seeing the board in its entirety. The same applies to business. You need to have the same helicopter view, to be in possession of all the facts and survey the landscape before making an informed decision.
Scrabble will never be the same again.
* Next time: Cluedo and Snakes and Ladders – are there lessons for business? (You are kidding, right? Ed)
