Consumerization
Consumerization is the adaptation of specialized tools and technology to meet the needs of everyday consumers (think how mainframes, photo editing software, and countless other products have evolved from cumbersome early forms into the familiar things we rely upon every day).
To grow their markets, CX leaders must understand the consumerization process and how its dynamics drive disruptive innovation. So armed, they can harness the forces of consumerization to promote adoption of offerings among new markets and target audiences.
The Engine That Drives Adoption
Consumerization has been hard at work for decades. Its effects have shaped the digital age, upending value chains and facilitating the transfer of capabilities from one market to another. In 1962, sociologist E.M. Rogers gave voice to this phenomenon in his seminal book Diffusion of Innovations. Rogers claimed innovations get distributed across a community based on several factors, including the disruptiveness of the idea, available means of communication, time, and other conditions.
Later, tech marketer Geoffrey Moore applied Rogers’ ideas to the world of start-ups. In Crossing the Chasm, Moore explored the role of groups he labeled Visionaries and Early Adopters in promoting adoption among a pragmatic and skeptical — but potentially more lucrative — Majority.
In 2005, Gartner pronounced consumerization “the most significant trend affecting IT in the next 10 years.” Today, CX leaders in healthcare, banking, insurance, and B2B sales are among those scrambling to adapt and apply complex and powerful industry capabilities beyond IT and healthcare practitioners to new end user markets.
Build a Portfolio of Innovation
CX leaders harness consumerization by observing what works in sectors outside their own and by adapting select capabilities to address customer challenges. They seek out adjacent innovations with the potential for broader application. They look for signs of market demand as the downstream flow of new functionality and the upstream flow of usability expectations create opportunity.
Distinguishing between disruptive and sustaining innovation is also key. Savvy innovators strike a balance with a blended portfolio of innovations. One rule of thumb is to invest 70% of resources in "table stakes" capabilities, 20% in “emerging” capabilities, and 10% in capabilities that will differentiate a brand against all others.