Engen Studio co-founder Anthony Craig discusses how an emphasis on people rather than platforms is the key to a long-term sustainable digital future.
People are at the heart of digital interaction when sustainable content is used.
In today’s economic world, sustainability is a given. Consumers are increasingly looking for brands that demonstrate significant action in the face of obvious evidence of climate change. Sustainability and other ethical considerations are now as important as variables like quality and price when customers make purchase decisions.
More than a third of UK customers can and do walk away from companies that don’t fit with their values, and 72 percent of consumers are actively purchasing more sustainable items.
Consumer activists are focusing on digital pollution now that the pandemic has increased our reliance on digital content and connectivity. Our digital civilization has a hidden cost: the internet and related infrastructure account for a whopping 3.7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, on par with other industries like airline travel.
Our world and our competitive advantage are at stake if businesses don’t do something about it. “How?” is the key question. People, not platforms, should be at the center of digital strategy, according to the solution.
The efficiency of digital resources
To some, digital content doesn’t seem to have a real-world influence, but in reality, the production and consumption of digital material results in resource consumption and waste. More than a pound of carbon dioxide is released into the environment every year when a business email with a significant attachment is sent. What this means is that every business email user on Earth, they’ll be driving an additional 200 kilometers a year. Isn’t it obvious that this all adds up?
Preparation is essential in every resource-intensive manufacturing process. For maximum impact, the right assets and messages must be delivered with as little waste as possible.
Set Objectives: First and foremost, determine what you want to accomplish. Once a company has been founded, it can build a content strategy that aligns with its overall aim.
Audit: Secondly, it’s a good idea to go over the content plan and identify any assets that could be re-purposed, such as photographs that are now underused and could save time and money.
Creation: If you’ve learned anything from previous campaigns, be sure to incorporate re-usability into any new assets you commission. The use of the most up-to-date, most efficient, and effective tools is also critical; for example, storing assets in the cloud avoids the need for big assets to be sent back and forth via email between creative teams.
Delivery: As assets are supplied more efficiently, audience access to a central cloud location will increase sustainability performance. An email has no way of tracking how people are using a service like a cloud repository. It will be possible to use this data to improve the next campaign and maintain any advances made in terms of long-term viability.
Archive: The end of the campaign is a good time to be efficient about what you keep and what you get rid of. You must strike a balance between retaining and disposing of, as keeping everything results in carbon and financial waste, and eliminating everything results in the waste of still relevant assets.
People, not platforms, should drive your strategy.
Giving our customers exactly what they want, when they want it, and in a way that inspires them is the pinnacle of digital efficiency. Putting people at the center of engagement strategies allows us to better understand their values and then reflect them in our brands, which is, after all, one of the fundamental reasons for the development of a more sustainable business. If we can do this, we’ll truly be able to sustain digital technology.
It’s a double-edged sword, though, that digital technology has proven to be. The pandemic has brought home the importance of digital engagement like never before: it allows us to keep in touch with loved ones even when we’re miles apart. Ironically, many in the business have moved to address this desire with platforms that increasingly leverage AI and automation, which removes human input from the digital loop.
On both the corporate and human levels, we feel this is unsustainable:
Business: a rush to adopt digital platforms without considering human insight diminishes their effectiveness, while a people focus is the key that unlocks their value: McKinsey research In addition to operational and IT enhancements, “Top companies that sustain a comprehensive focus on the customer (in addition to operational and IT improvements) can generate economic gains ranging from 20 to 50 percent of the cost base.”
People: For example, more intuitive shopping journeys, truly supportive customer care, and an understanding of what inspires us to buy are all examples of how we place a high priority on people. There can be no real confidence in a brand until there is an emotional connection between the two parties. As digitalization advances, this “human dividend” will serve as a key differentiation for brands.
For this reason, Engen Studio has totally rebranded itself to emphasise our focus on people rather than platforms. This is an increasing realisation across sectors – demonstrated by the rise of B2H tactics. It’s common for our clients to say that working with Engen Studio is both a rewarding and educational experience for everyone involved.
As a leading digital design and smart production agency that works with some of the world’s top brands like Samsung, we recognise that these latest platforms are essential to our business and allow us to engage faster and more efficiently than ever before. However, we are aware that they are merely a means to an end – and not a goal in and of themselves. An effective digital engagement strategy must always connect a company with its the customers it serves.