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Posted On Tuesday, 01 November 2022 04:36 Written by

The phrase “You have got your head up in the clouds” is no longer an insult in today’s world — having your head in the clouds may be the best way forward in business! Of course, I’m talking about Augmented Reality (AR); a transformative, disruptive digital technology that has been gaining traction for years and looks to be continuing its exponential growth trend in the years to come. What was originally viewed as only a feature to interactive video games of the future has now made its way into a multitude of industries, and now there are even more opportunities for entrepreneurs and business leaders to leverage AR in advantageous ways.

Bear in mind, it is not always a specific product or service that advances in AR pertain to. Oftentimes, it is industry-level disruption caused by transformative technologies like Augmented Reality, niche applications of AR that bring new sectors of an industry into the spotlight, or Hard Trend future certainties surrounding AR that businesses and organizations should be examining closely to find a way to leverage before someone else does.

So put on your favorite set of smart glasses and get ready to look closely at some of the most common current trends of AR coming our way in the next year or so! As you explore these topics below, I encourage you to think exponentially about how they can be beneficial to your operation.

Retail and Cosmetics Industry — Try Before You Buy

Even to this day, department stores have areas where men and women can smell perfumes and colognes; try on pants, shirts, swimwear, and other apparel items; and even sample hand creams for consistency and smell. These are all sensory activities that trigger an emotion in a consumer to either purchase the product or to better understand what they don’t want.

Augmented Reality applications have already started to emerge in this capacity, as witnessed with companies like Warby Parker utilizing the software to allow customers to “try on” frames they select from their app. Additional to eyewear, AR applications also have stemmed into the apparel industry and more recently, the cosmetics industry. An individual interested in lipstick and blush can see how those colors work for them in similar fashion to trying on frames through Warby Parker.

On a human level, this allows businesses and manufacturers to connect with customers on a more personal level, in that they allow them to see what they would look like in apparel or cosmetics without being in public. Believe it or not, this dabbles in my Skip It Principle in unique, exponential ways. Many customers have trouble trying things in front of potential strangers, so AR applications give them a new level of personal privacy in doing so.

Digital Humans and Avatars — The NEW Influencers 

If you work in marketing at any size organization of any industry, you are likely familiar with the term “influencer marketing.” If not, let me shed some light on the matter. Influencers are public figures that endorse a brand, just as a professional athlete endorses a pair of sneakers or a musician endorses a specific guitar.

But what about digital influencers, and better yet, digital humans that endorse real products to real people? The Metaverse is a digital universe that AR and Virtual Reality (VR) applications operate in, and within that Metaverse, human beings exist in the form of an avatar. Overseas and around the world, avatars that emulate digital human beings are on the rise in multimedia marketing, interacting with customers on a personal level in the Metaverse as product influencers.

What is further? Consider digital humans selling digital products to real humans in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — a concept I recently explored in a previous blog. If you feel this all to be too “out of this world” for your industry, think again. Marketing researchers estimate that the digital human industry alone will be worth billions in just a few years, opening a veritable vault of opportunity for industries to capitalize on this Augmented Reality concept.

Don’t Lose Yourself — Augmented Reality and Our Both/And World

Digital human beings, virtual changing rooms … many are asking with panic, “What has this world come to?!”

Are we losing ourselves in all of this digital technology? Maybe to some degree but staying human in the digital world and finding ways to better the human customer experience with digitally disruptive technology like AR is up to us! Doing so is accomplished first by understanding my Both/And Principle found in my Anticipatory Leader System.

The Both/And Principle focuses on the reality that something new and potentially disruptive may transform the way things are done but will in no way completely erase where we have come from. Especially as it pertains to digital humans and avatars, AR applications will not completely replace the human, tactile experience of trying on clothes or interacting with other human beings.

Trying on cosmetics may be simply done using AR filters and applications, but where AR and VR fall short is in other human sensory areas, including smell, taste, and touch. Until your mobile device screen can emulate how a pillow feels or spritz some cologne on your wrist for sampling, the physical world of consumer experiences is still there and is very valuable.

The two Augmented Reality concepts explored in today’s blog are meant to enhance the customer user experience, not completely replace the old. Additionally, these concepts have Hard Trend future certainties that all business leaders and C-suite executives can leverage in their specific industry. Thinking in terms of a Both/And world brings clarity to your Futureview and how you can use AR and applications of it to positively disrupt and transform the world.

Posted On Tuesday, 01 November 2022 00:00 Written by
Posted On Tuesday, 01 November 2022 00:00 Written by
Posted On Monday, 31 October 2022 12:00 Written by
Posted On Monday, 31 October 2022 08:20 Written by
Posted On Monday, 31 October 2022 00:00 Written by

We have covered the first three elements of business planning; Assessment, Destination, and How we get there; now we have to pull it all together and create the SCHEDULE by which we actually implement and accomplish the things we have set out for ourselves to do.

Much of this can be found on the website in the Personal Development section. You can use the basic “Referral Triangle” information and the “Schedule Advantage” to put together the task list, focus, day and time you are going to execute and track your activities and your results! Questions you will need to ask yourself are:

  • Is my Referral Triangle in balance?
  • Have I created the task list for each section?
  • Do I have specific focus for each day of the week?
  • Do I have a preference as to when I do what I do?
  • Have I put tasks in order?
  • When do I prefer to manage the three areas of activity, I am to do each day: Prospect, Process, & Managing communications?
  • Now that we have covered working “IN your business”, have we scheduled our “Personal Development”, working “ON” your business?
  • Have we committed to two hours each day of “Prospecting?”
  • Do we have one hour each week scheduled to measure and track our business?
  • Do I have an accountability partner to keep me focused?

 

Completing these four sections should get you to a point where you have a viable, practical, and specific plan of action to build your business around. Don’t worry if things don’t mesh right away, it may take a few weeks to get the rhythm going. Once it does, it will help you adjust and grow. If you need help, you can reach out to me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will be happy to help!

Posted On Monday, 31 October 2022 00:00 Written by
Posted On Saturday, 29 October 2022 19:47 Written by
Posted On Friday, 28 October 2022 20:34
Posted On Friday, 28 October 2022 20:27

Jack Kemp and I were strangely connected during his lifetime. He died on May 2, 2009, some 23 years ago. “Strangely” is an interesting word to use in our relationship. Kemp attended Fairfax High School in West Hollywood playing football as well as being the student body president. When he graduated, he attended Occidental College, located in northeast Los Angeles. He was a physical education major. But he was much more than that.

Jack was an excellent quarterback at Oxy and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League – yes, the San Diego Chargers, which is now the Los Angeles Chargers. In 1960 he was selected as All-Pro. That same year I was invited to join the National Football League -as an official. My brother, Peter, was a freshman running back at OXY when Jack was a senior. Kemp once told me that Pete would have been on the same team, but freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity in those days.

Years later I  was appointed principal at Fairfax which was several years after I had graduated from Occidental College – as a physical education major. In 1985 OXY, as it is known,  presented me with their Gold Seal Award. The keynote speaker at that event was – Jack Kemp.  Kemp had served in the City of Buffalo as a House of Representatives for 18 years. Further, he was the HUD secretary under George Bush (#41) and ran for vice president under Bob Dole.

Kemp has always been a T*E*A*M player. He said you don’t step into the huddle to call a play and look around to see who is white or black or Samoan or where they grew up. You know your players for what they can do to help your T*E*A*M be successful on that play, and you count on that. Kemp sent me this story as an example: “When I was quarterback and captain of the Chargers, we were scheduled to play the Houston Oilers in Houston for the Championship. Traditionally, the night before the game, the coach took us to a movie. As we sat down, I looked around and wondered where our black players were and was told they had to sit in the ‘black-only balcony’. I went to our coach and said, ‘Get all the guys, we’re outa here’. In that silent, powerful demonstration of our belief  in equality, living and working as a team, we walked out as a team.” We could use Kemp today – both on and off the field.

Will you use the huddle as an inspiration for all you do to work together?

Posted On Friday, 28 October 2022 00:00 Written by
Posted On Thursday, 27 October 2022 19:56

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