8 <strong>Digital</strong> Double-<strong>Down</strong>: How Far Will Leaders Leap <strong>Ahead</strong>?The catalysts of transformationSo what is spurring the digital transformers onward withsuch urgency? And what should the digital followers bemost concerned about?Put simply, transformers areresponding to customer redefinitionof markets. A response requiresrethinking markets as long-timeindustry boundaries mean lessand less. Banks face challengesfrom payment services. Wealthmanagement incumbents competewith solutions based on analyticsand algorithms. Healthcareproviders face competition fromretailers. Car makers’ digital movesare reverberating throughout theinsurance sector.In a report shared at the 2014 WorldEconomic Forum meeting in Davos,Switzerland 6 , <strong>Accenture</strong> described andanalyzed the potential of digital technologyto create new industry boundaries viastrategies that call for generating growthfrom markets populated by players fromdifferent industries. The results are newmarket structures—digitally contestedmarkets—where digital technologyenables reshaping of traditionalindustries via new entrants and newpartner ecosystem configurations.The report points out that adopting acustomer or outside-in view of thesemarkets provides growth opportunitiesthat exceed their traditional industrydefinitions. The emergence of new industryconfigurations representsdigital transformation at its deepest level.In earlier times—before the pervasive reachof the Web—transformation initiatives werelargely driven from the inside out. Businessprocess re-engineering, Lean Six Sigma,zero-based budgeting, and other programsstarted deep inside corporations until theirsuccesses were obvious to all and copiedby competitors.But digital dynamics catapulttransformation into a different dimension.Transparency, connectivity, and sharingdrastically shrink market cycles, threateningto commoditize cherished and long-heldmarket positions. <strong>Digital</strong> businesses,by their nature, can serve every marketsimultaneously and individually. Newdigital capabilities create transformationthat is out in the open for all to see.<strong>Digital</strong> channels and social and marketingsolutions make decisions and actionsvisible to everyone.Gone are the days when companiescould more easily follow traditionalindustry cycles, benefiting from thelag time inherent in customer feedbackand competitors’ responses. Technologyhas destroyed latency; decisions arebeing made immediately and all at once.Customer feedback is torrential and nonstop.7 Competitors can react in lightningtime: the actions of so-called “overthe top” companies in transportation,retail, media, banking, and paymentsset competitive terms and responserequirements on a regular basis.<strong>Digital</strong> disruptors are making movesthat establish new terms of competitionand customer expectations that thenrequire rapid responses from the majority.The whole cycle spins faster, creatingfar greater potential for what <strong>Accenture</strong>terms “big bang” disruption, whererapid test-and-learn cycles are justone possible defense. 86 M. Spelman, T. Cooper and M. Robinson, “Remaking Customer Markets. Unlocking Growth with <strong>Digital</strong>,” January 2014. http://www.accenture.com/us-en/landing-pages/customermarkets/Pages/home.aspx7 R. Wollan, D. Palmer and N. Jain, “<strong>Digital</strong> Customer: It’s time to play to win and stop playing not to lose.” www.accenture.com/gcpr138 L. <strong>Down</strong>es and P. Nunes, “Big Bang Disruption.” http://www.accenture.com/bigbangdisruption9 BBVA Press Room, “Changes to BBVA’s Management Committee. BBVA changes its organization to accelerate the Group’s digital transformation,” March 21, 2014.http://press.bbva.com/latest-contents/press-releases/bbva-changes-its-organization-to-accelerate-the-group-8217-s-digital-transformation__9882-22-c-107570__.html
<strong>Digital</strong> Double-<strong>Down</strong>: How Far Will Leaders Leap <strong>Ahead</strong>?9<strong>Digital</strong> transformers in their own wordsThe new structure will be an important factor in converting an efficientand profitable analogue bank into a digital knowledge-services business.After setting up the platforms, which are the foundations of our digitalproject, we can now accelerate the creation of new products and servicesfor 21st Century customers.”Francisco Gonzalez, Chairman and CEO, BBVA 9
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