Show Me What You Create
A few weeks ago the team and I had the pleasure in taking part in #LondonTechWeek 2016 alongside London Tech Advocates. The event involved getting young people to turn challenges they face day to day into business ideas which make an impact.
As we progressed through the day there was a problem which many of the participants spotted.
A lot of the ideas looked, felt and sounded the same.
This isn’t uncommon and perhaps it’s an irony that in the age where we have more innovation centres and incubators there is a seeming glut of ideas which seem like an incremental improvement on what came before. Instead of their being a ‘innovation’ – ideas seemingly cluster around the following premises –
- Uber of Industry X
- Marketplace for X
- Disruption for Market X
- Community of Blah
The above is termed as EaaS
The above have almost become the holy grail of innovation in that any new technology advance must be designed on the basis of a service which relates to one of those categories.
Yet in this age of innovation aren’t we missing something? During the event I drew participants focus to an advert by World Remit, an online money transfer service focused on migrants and expatriate workers.
I asked the participants in the room one question ‘who cares about online money transfers?’
Being aged between 16-22 unsurprisingly no hands shot up in the air. Even for those who transfer money abroad on a regular basis, the selection of a service is largely based on the factor of convenience. For many participants sitting in the room their trouble centred on making people care about their products and services, all of which centred on the list above.
World Remit through their marketing campaign ‘We Remit Because of Them’ – managed to do something special. They made the general public care about the idea of money transfer, not as a result of special rates or introductory offers. World Remit connected the idea of money transfer to the creation of freedom and opportunities for we transfer money to.
The question changed from ‘who cares about online money transfers?’ to ‘who cares about creating opportunities for loved ones?
The reframing of the question elicited an emotional response, it went beneath the surface, it got us thinking about those who we care about most. Crucially, it asked a more important question – which was as entrepreneurs what are you really creating beyond your product for those who use your service?
- Peace of mind?
- Regaining a sense of control over their lives?
- A sense of satisfaction in having helped support loved one’s
- Freedom to pursue passionate interests?
The differentiation as I explained to the participants wasn’t in the technical details (although important) the real differences between their services existed in what they seek to create. What will the user feel as a result of using your service?