The Future of Software

The way we obtain, use & pay for software is changing fast on a number of levels today. Avid has at a subscription model, while Adobe & Microsoft are both moving there fast towards a subscription service. Software companies are also moving in a smart manner to directly own the customer relationship and cut out the middle man in the sales process as they aim to make the sales to the customers directly. One thing that is for certain is that we will no longer own the software on our computers in the future. So is any of this good? What are the benefits for moving to subscription software?

Let’s start off with the subscription models. Subscription models do one amazing thing with version numbers. A subscription model outdates software version numbers on day one. Every subscriber is automatically updated to the latest version of the software and the version of the software becomes irrelevant. The updates to software may be more akin to World of Warcraft in which all subscribers are all up to the same version of software (with exception to add ons). How subscribers pay, is another deal as each software company will have their own method.

Software companies want to own the customer relationship directly & will start to move away from 3rd party sales. This means you will be purchasing or subscribing to your software through an app store on a given platform or the web site of the software company. Software companies will be able to have direct contact with their customers and better control the flow of copies of their software as they may start to require internet sign-on & validation. Larger platforms like that of Apple, Amazon, Android, & Microsoft have app stores and control the apps, music, books & movies that are available to purchase while taking a portion of the profits.

With subscription software, the game changes for software companies. No longer will software companies be content with selling a certain number of units of software as they will shift focus on how to keep a long and on-going relationship with their subscribers. This means they become focused on how they can get their subscribers to be subscribers for life. Software companies must work hard to make their products compelling to stay with the services. Focus will change to making a better service & giving better value. This aspect will be good as the software companies goals will become more aligned with their members.

Cloud computing & storage is starting to become a theme with applications as you can save your documents into the cloud and access the documents on any computer you can sign-in with your software account. The cloud services are still in their infancy and have a ways to go, but look promising.

The dark side to subscription software is that when you can’t afford the software, your software goes away. *Poof* it’s gone. No more. Whether companies will store your data in the cloud until you pony up for the next payment is yet to be seen.

Personally, I am excited about the general direction in the future of software, and I wonder if we are even going to use the word software in 5 years from now or not. We are arriving at an age of apps and they are everywhere. There are many details to work out, and I am sure there will be bumps in the road, but they lead to a brighter place.

What makes a great brand & great brand experiences?

Why do some brands shine so brightly above others? In a highly competitive world of brands we see Apple, Disney, Nike, & Coca Cola as prime examples of strong brands that function extremely well and dominate in visibility & mindshare over others. What makes those brands function so exceptionally well in this regard? It all has to do with consistent brand experience of a given company product to that of the customer.

So what is brand experience? A great brand experience is each and every touchpoint with a customer on a consistent level and basis from start to finish. A truly great brand comes from a company knowing who they are at their core introspectively and projecting that out in every aspect of business.

Let’s look at an example of a full 360 view of a Apple brand experience:

Prior Brand Touchpoints: You see Apple products everywhere in your day to day life. From iPods white earbuds to laptops, iMacs & iPads in public places. You also see the commercials on TV along with the billboards in major cities. You exposure to Apple is inherent to your daily life and you know something about them prior to your personal brand experience.

#1 First Touchpoint: You hear about Apple through the excitement of another whom is already having a great brand experience which causes them strongly suggest or discuss their experience with you in a positive light. From this reaction you are now more open to the possibility of Apple. This first touchpoint to you is the later portion of the brand experience to another where it begins to spread itself.

#2 Second Touchpoint: You look at the website of Apple.com and have a great experience navigating, learning & watching videos about their products. You may even go as far as desiring one of their products. In this case you may or may not purchase one through their online store.

#3 Third Touchpoint: You walk into an Apple Store. You like the layout, the clean messaging, the presentation of computers & devices. The staff is young, energetic, and helpful in answering questions. You touch the hardware, interact with the software, and see first hand how remarkable their design, look, feel, & function is. At this point you decide to purchase a product to take home.

#4 Fourth Touchpoint: You purchase your first Apple Product and take it home in a simple yet beautiful plastic bag. The person that rang you up is the same person whom helped you in the store and used their iPhone / iPod to ring up the sale with no cash register at all.

#5 Fifth Touchpoint: You open your Apple product from it’s simply & beautiful packaging. This isn’t the standard packaging you may expect from other companies, yet a remarkable experience that makes you marvel at the presentation Apple designed for you. The product is pristine & wrapped in a single piece of plastic you peel off the screen void of fingerprints.

#6 Sixth Touchpoint: You start up your device and set it up. It is up and running fast and you found the process pleasurable & simple. The software works seamlessly with the hardware, and you are up and going.

#7 Seventh Touchpoint: You have had an issue with your Apple product and have had interaction on the phone, or through their genius bar in their stores and the service you have been given was personal where they worked on your computer right in front of you with suggestions or even fixing the problem.

#8 Final Touchpoint 360: Your entire experience with Apple from start to finish comes full circle where you now are at the point to quickly, easily, and without hesitation recommend Apple to friends, colleagues, & family with nothing but enthusiasm. This perpetuates the brand in a viral manner and grows Apples base.

Apple also does some amazing smart things in terms of controlling all the experience pipelines including owning /developing the hardware, software, stores, online, advertising, genius bar, etc… Because this isn’t left to 3rd parties, Apple has a very tight control in how they are presented / represented. When Apple is in the hands of 3rd parties in cases like that of AT&T, Best Buy, & now Verizon they are subject to be dinged based on the experiences the customers have with the 3rd parties which is helpful in selling product but potentially not as powerful in terms of controlling the brand experience.

At the end of the day the logo is only the representative icing on the cake because it only means something positive to the consumer if the brand experience is positive. One bad customer experience can destroy a brand if it isn’t dealt with or remedied.

A good example of a tarnished brand experience could be seen as Enron, Exxon, and BP as one thing went extremely wrong which deeply tarnished the experience to consumers in a major negative way or were handled by mis-behaviour that was not received well by the public.

So in conclusion when you think of creating a brand experience you may start to look at the entire pipeline that a customer touches you from customer service, billing, packaging, advertising, PR, to that of the actual product itself and ask yourself if this is the experience that properly represents your brand.

A great brand is true to it’s core values, it’s being, & doesn’t deceive. A great brand is in the race for the long run for a relationship, not the short term gain. Brands don’t become great overnight successes with the case of a few exceptions. A great brand becomes great as it wins customers over one by one over time and is comfortable with itself as itself. A company truly needs to know who it is before it can even begin the process of being a brand. The logo is only the reminder of the experiences that constitute the brand.