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Digital Strategy Conference: Our Journey Comes to a Close

by Kelly Kubrick on August 31, 2015

Thank you for participating in Digital Strategy Conference

Although Digital Strategy Conferences are no longer being produced, we invite you to continue learning how to increase your organizations’ level of digital maturity using the dStrategy Digital Maturity Model.

In 2013, the journey began with a model and framework for understanding the six key dimensions of digital maturity.

The goal of Digital Strategy Conference was to provide inspiring examples of digital strategy; while the goal of our Mapping Digital Maturity workshop was to provide a process for establishing your organizations’ level of digital maturity by giving you benchmarks from industry.

We met those goals and so did you.

Since then, hundreds of organizations and over 1,000 attendees from across sector and industry have helped their organizations increase competitive advantage and/or succeed in delivering on its mission.

Who Attended:

Senior directors and managers from across the organization responsible for planning, managing or integrating digital initiatives, along with their digital team.

Successful digital initiatives are due to the effort of high functioning teams, therefore, we encourage a team approach to your conference education.

Today’s opportunities for business improvement using digital processes and technologies extend across the organization. In addition to sales, marketing and communications, Digital Strategy Conference informs and educates those responsible for internal communications, social business and workforce management.

What you learned:

  • Digital strategy definition and models
  • How to assess digital maturity
  • Data strategy fundamentals
  • Performance measurement and digital analytics essentials
  • Content Strategy – content, technology and experience
  • Paid, Owned and Earned Media – the pillars of digital marketing
  • Case studies and applied learning from peers and colleagues

Thank you all

Today, our journey comes to a close. We thank to the entire #dstrategy community for its contribution, enthusiasm and support since we first proposed Digital Strategy Conference.

We wish you all the best and much success on your future initiatives.

Andrea Hadley and Kelly Kubrick, Co-founders, Digital Strategy Conference and Workshops

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Kelly KubrickDigital Strategy Conference: Our Journey Comes to a Close

Welcome to Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2015!

by Kelly Kubrick on April 3, 2015

First published on the Digital Strategy Conference blog on April 2, 2015.

Ready for round 5?

Wow – five? It’s our fifth Digital Strategy Conference already. So glad you could join us! Get ready to learn from over 40 top marketers and digital experts from across North America in Vancouver’s UBC Robson Square,  here to share their organizations’ experiences in tackling the ever-evolving challenges of digital. From May 11-14, we’ll explore topics including digital fluency, the intersection of social and community, content strategy versus content marketing, and digital’s potential for filling the sales or lead generation pipeline.

No hype. Real world case studies

Be prepared to take lots of notes as we hear real-world case studies on specific ways that organizations are taking advantage of data to improve business results. Not hype. Real-world.

Our agenda aligns with the Six Dimensions of Digital Maturity, the foundation of the dStrategy Digital Maturity Model, a framework and business planning tool designed to help you assess your organization’s current level of digital maturity.

New this year: Mapping Digital Maturity Workshop

Interested in learning how to assess your organization’s digital processes and their state (ranging from ad hoc to optimized)? For the first time in Vancouver, we’ll be offering our “Mapping Your Digital Maturity” workshop. Join us for a very practical, hands on workshop to dive into the dStrategy Digital Maturity Model on May 11, 2015 – the day before Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2015 kicks off.

We continue to believe that digital impacts horizontally across function, and that its lessons can be leveraged across sector and industry. Please take advantage of the experience and insights shared by the conference speakers. This is your chance to hear lessons learned, recommended approaches and landmines to avoid.

Shared perspectives increase insight

Share those insights when you get back to the office – the more perspective our collective community can bring to digital, the better.

You’re among friends, so ask questions, lots of questions. Tweet your thoughts, introduce yourself and network like no one is watching. I look forward to meeting you!

Kelly Kubrick
Co-Founder and Chair, Digital Strategy Conference

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Kelly KubrickWelcome to Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2015!

What are the foundations of a company’s digital strategy?

by Kelly Kubrick on January 31, 2015

First published in Marketing Today, the Canadian Home Builder’s Association (CHBA) member e-newsletter, January 2015.

Building the Foundations of Your Company’s Digital Strategy

The digital realm can identify both opportunities (new revenue streams, distribution channels, and operational efficiencies) and threats (shifting customer behaviors, higher service expectations, decreased asset utilization). So much so that, actually determining your company’s digital strategy can feel overwhelming. Don’t let it.

Instead, think of it this way: “Digital strategy is the process of identifying, articulating and executing on digital opportunities that will increase your organization’s competitive advantage.”

Digital strategy leads to competitive advantage

Think of digital as your company’s chance to create value that no other business is capable of. To succeed at digital, there are six process areas – the Six Dimensions of Digital Maturity – your company will need to address as you tackle digital:

  1. Your human resources: Who are the people who will help plan and execute your digital initiatives?
  2. Your technology resources: Which technologies will your business need to use to implement your digital initiatives?
  3. Your data strategy: Data is an output of digital and the differentiator from its offline equivalent, allowing you to drive continuous improvement in your processes. What is your plan for leveraging its available insights?
  4. Your content strategy: Digital demands that companies produce content efficiently and accurately across multiple platforms and channels. Are you ready?
  5. Your channel strategy: Which channels – for marketing, transactions, distribution – can you realistically support, in a sustained, profitable way?
  6. Your social business strategy: Prospects and customers assume your ability to interact and collaborate – are you prepared for the transparency that will result?

Next, assess your company’s capabilities in each dimension. What are your strengths? Where are the gaps? What steps can you take this quarter? Where should your capabilities be this time next year? What will be your competitive (digital) advantage?

To help you get traction, we developed a self-assessment tool; a way to score your company’s digital efforts. The lower your score, the more opportunity there is to improve. The higher your score, the more you have optimized a given digital process. Interested in learning more? Take our dStrategy Digital Maturity Benchmark Survey to add your insights.

The result? You have a more concrete idea about where to prioritize digital efforts and investment. Once you have your scores, you can “map” your results to visualize a digital maturity road map. Stop feeling overwhelmed and begin building your company’s digital foundations today.

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Kelly KubrickWhat are the foundations of a company’s digital strategy?

Does your company have traction with its digital strategy yet?

by Kelly Kubrick on September 16, 2014

First published in The Voice blog of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, September 15, 2014.

How to get traction with your company’s digital strategy

We cannot avoid the impact of digital on our plans for the future. Here’s a sample of business headlines from the last month:*

  • “Best Buy’s web sales rise as store sales fall”
  • “UPS tests pickup points for online orders”
  • “Staples says its omnichannel strategy increased web sales in Q2”

Offering opportunities (new revenue streams, distribution channels, and operational efficiencies) with simultaneous threats (shifting customer behaviors, higher service expectations, decreased asset utilization), digital feels overwhelming.

Instead, think of it this way: “Digital strategy is the process of identifying, articulating and executing on digital opportunities that will increase your organization’s competitive advantage.”

Digital strategy leads to competitive advantage

Think of digital as your company’s chance to create value that no other business is capable of. To succeed at digital, there are six process areas – the Six Dimensions of Digital Strategy – your company will need to address as you tackle digital:

  1. Human resources: Who are the people who will help plan and execute your digital initiatives?
  2. Technology resources: Which technologies will your business need to use to implement your digital initiatives?
  3. Data strategy: Data is an output of digital and the differentiator from its offline equivalent, allowing you to drive continuous improvement in your processes. What is your plan for leveraging its available insights?
  4. Content strategy: Digital demands that companies produce content efficiently and accurately across multiple platforms and channels. Are you ready?
  5. Channel strategy: Which channels – for marketing, transactions, distribution – can you realistically support, in a sustained, profitable way?
  6. Social Business strategy: Prospects and customers assume your ability to interact and collaborate – are you prepared for the transparency that will result?

What are your company’s current digital capabilities?

Start by assessing your company’s capabilities in each dimension. What are your strengths? Where are the gaps? What steps can you take this quarter? Where should your capabilities be this time next year? What will be your competitive (digital) advantage?

Learn more at Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa from September 29-Oct 1, 2014 – and save! Ottawa Chamber Members get $100 off.

*Source: Internet Retailer, August 21 – September 4, 2014
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Kelly KubrickDoes your company have traction with its digital strategy yet?

Wrap up: Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2014

by Kelly Kubrick on May 2, 2014

From April 29 – May 1, 2014, I had the pleasure of watching our second Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver unfold. We returned to UBC Robson Square and expanded the content to offer two tracks per day for all three days; nearly twice as many sessions as 2013. As co-founder of the event, I was pleased to moderate two tracks as well as present the latest on digital maturity.

On the presentation side, Andrea Hadley and I presented the Six Dimensions of Digital Maturity and provided initial findings from our dStrategy Digital Maturity Benchmark Survey 2014. I also facilitated three “Mapping Your Digital Maturity” sessions, each one intended to help our attendees better understand the benefits and mechanics of mapping their organization’s digital maturity.

Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2014 Key Stats:

In anticipation of testing an experimental session format – a Google Hangout with a virtual panel of speakers scattered across North America, we published a series of “Future of Work” blog posts in advance of the panel, to introduce everyone to those speakers.

As a digital analyst, I thoroughly enjoyed the task of moderating our Data Strategy and Analytics track, especially as it brought together analytics friends and colleagues old and new:

  1. David Jenkins, VP Data Intelligence, Traction
  2. Bryan Robertson, Senior Analyst, OpenRoad Communications
  3. Brent Dykes, Evangelist for Customer Analytics, Adobe and Author, Web Analytics Action Hero
  4. A panel that tackle how to Drive Competitive Advantage with Analytics and Data

On a personal note, my favourite sessions included Tim Goudie for the intriguing way he deconstructed Coca-Cola’s sustainability efforts via our digital maturity model; Ann Handley of MarketingProfs, simply because I’ve been a fan for years (I have her and C.C. Chapman’s book Content Rules on the bookshelf behind me) and Eric Hellweg for his thoughtful presentation on the impact of digital on the Harvard Business Review‘s processes and organizations.

Mark your calendars for Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2014

It was another great gathering and I’m already excited for next year. However, before then, we’ll gather Canada’s digital strategy community here in Ottawa, from September 30 – October 1, 2014 at Carleton University. Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2014!

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Kelly KubrickWrap up: Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2014

Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 Wrap Up

by Kelly Kubrick on June 6, 2013

Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013We did it! Ottawa came together to get strategic with digital – and what an adventure: Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 has finished. Thank you, thank you, thank you – to our attendees, to our speakers, to our sponsors and to our team – you ALL rock.

Following the success of Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2013, Ottawa dove deep into the fundamentals of digital strategy. Over 20 speakers delivered a packed agenda of content, tackling key areas of learning including digital maturity, content strategy, mobile strategy social business strategy. We heard some amazing keynotes and case studies – from arts to tourism to pizza – from a wide range industries, and across sector.

Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013The room buzzed with great conversations and the #dstrategy Twitter hashtag was on fire!

As in Vancouver, I was particularly pleased about the audience’s response to both our definition of digital strategy and to the dStrategy Media Digital Maturity Model. The model is a business planning tool that my business partner, Andrea Hadley and I developed to help organizations identify necessary resources / investments to implement digital strategy.

Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013To learn more about the model, please feel free to listen to “Understand Your Organization’s Digital Maturity” podcast from IABC Ottawa’s The Voice – many thanks to Danny Starr for a great conversation about digital strategy!

I’d also like to thank Chamika Ailapperuma and Arianne Mulaire, who put in yeoman’s effort to capture the sessions via the Ottawa 2013 blog posts and  Twitter.

What a great experience – I can’t wait for next year!

Updated – thanks to Les Faber of WebFuel and David Bird of Bird’s Eye Marketing for their blog posts on the conference – enjoy!

  1. WebFuel: Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 Recap
  2. Bird’s Eye Marketing: Ottawa Digital Strategy Conference Review of Day 1 and 2

See you next year!

 

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Kelly KubrickDigital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 Wrap Up

Digital strategy for Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Members

by Kelly Kubrick on May 23, 2013

First published in the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce email Newsletter, May 23, 2013

What is Your Company’s Digital Strategy?

Many businesses are aware of the potential digital represents – perhaps for cost savings and improved efficiencies; perhaps for increased sales – but ultimately, for improvement in the overall business. Yet, there is also a sense of feeling overwhelmed by digital and its never-ending waves of change. Which path to take: web? Email? Mobile? Social? All of the above? What to do?

Digital strategy is about competitive advantage

Take a step back to see the larger horizon: your company’s digital strategy is about more than the latest buzzword. Instead, its potential makes it about the larger issue of competitive advantage – identifying it, articulating it, and achieving it.

Yesterday, digital opportunities were limited by bandwidth and a lack of critical mass in the marketplace. Today, digital allows us to better connect our people – customers, constituents, donors, employees, partners – to improve the experience of doing business with our organization. Improving that experience pays off – retaining a customer, employee or supplier is simply more cost effective than acquiring new.

Yet, we’re also challenged by the simple reality that the way our digital stakeholders interact, learn and share has outpaced business’ ability to respond. And every succeeding generation appears to have an instinctive understanding of this world which most of us are still learning. Great. Now what?

Address organizational expectations vs. operational readiness

Make a plan that addresses the realities of organizational expectations and operational readiness. It will become the road map that connects the reality of where you are and where you need to go, to meet those evolving expectations. Identify the risks digital might bring, but don’t let them stop you from uncovering new opportunities. Finally, take advantage of the insights digital data generates – it’s what makes digital fundamentally different from our offline world.

In reality, digital is impacting across all channels, is forcing transparency, and is making it easier for new competition. Organizations that take digital out of its marketing and technology silos and see it a competitive advantage are weaving their digital strategy into their business strategy – challenging what was, acknowledging what is and planning for what could be.

Get advice from other companies facing the same challenges

What’s the next step? Attend Digital Strategy Conference, the first of its kind in the National Capital. From June 3-5, 2013, benefit from three days of advice on how to articulate your company’s digital strategy.

Ottawa Chamber of Commerce members receive a special discount!. Please visit members only section on the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce website.

It’s time to get strategic with digital.

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Kelly KubrickDigital strategy for Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Members

It’s a wrap: Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2013

by Kelly Kubrick on April 30, 2013

What an excellent three days!

I’m back from Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2013, where we dove deep into the fundamentals of digital strategy. Over 20 speakers / 20 sessions, great conversations in-person and via Twitter (search for the hashtag #dstrategy).

My brain is full.

In particular, I’m very pleased about the audience’s response to the dStrategy Media Digital Maturity Model, a framework that my business partner, Andrea Hadley, and I developed. It’s intended as a business planning tool, to help organizations better understand all the moving parts needed to develop their digital strategy.

Thanks to the furiously-fast writing of Joanne Probyn, we were able to capture an overview of the sessions via the Vancouver 2013 blog posts.

Finally, huge thanks Big thanks to Juliana Loh and Trevor Jansen for their expert photography and visual media services. Take a moment to enjoy the show for yourself via the Vancouver photo gallery.

And the countdown is now on… we’re only a few shorts weeks out from Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 – hope to see you at the University of Ottawa from June 3 – 5, 2013!

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Kelly KubrickIt’s a wrap: Digital Strategy Conference Vancouver 2013

Eye of the Storm

by Kelly Kubrick on March 1, 2013

How to find calm inside a surge of innovation

First published by Business in Vancouver, Business Excellent Series – Marketing Digital Strategies, March 2013

Eye of the Storm - How to find calm inside a surge of innovation, part of the Marketing Digital Strategies, Business Excellence Series from Business in Vancouver, March 2013

Eye of the Storm – How to find calm inside a surge of innovation, part of the Marketing Digital Strategies, Business Excellence Series from Business in Vancouver, March 2013

A recurring theme in conversations with colleagues is the sense of feeling overwhelmed by digital – by wave after wave of emerging technologies and trends, by the multitude of channels and the fragmentation of platforms, by the potential they know to be significant, but which is so fluid that it’s hard to get any kind of traction.

This sense of feeling swamped by digital has flowed into many functional areas: marketing and communications, customer service, sales, operations and IT. It’s a digital deluge and it’s not getting easier – in fact, in the short term it may be getting harder.

There is a solution. It’s one that is often intuitively understood, but escapes our reach. It’s about getting perspective, accepting what is and shifting our thinking. We need to step back, see the larger horizon, and remain open.

An organization’s digital strategy needs to be about the bigger issue of competitive advantage – how to identify it, how to articulate it, and how to execute to achieve it.

We need to ask how digital allows us to better connect our people – customers, constituents, donors, employees, partners – to improve the experience of doing business with our organization. And as we all know, improving that experience pays off – retaining a customer, employee or supplier is always more cost effective than acquiring new.

How do you address these issues? Where do you begin?

You need the perspective that can only come from stepping out of the turbulent vortex and into the calm that will result from having a plan. You need to create a framework to address the realities of both organizational expectations and operational readiness, and then establish a road map that connects the reality of where you are to the evolving expectations of your customers, constituents and members.

One of the expectations you need to address is scope – to help the organization understand that digital is not simply part of a marketing or advertising strategy. It is not the launch of a Twitter account or a mobile application. It is not simply a bulk purchase of tablets for your sales team so that you can claim to have a mobile workforce. Your digital strategy is much bigger than any one sales, marketing, communication or technology tactic.

In reality, digital is impacting across all channels, is forcing transparency, and is making it easier for new competition.  While the majority of organizations keep digital in a marketing and technology silo, those with a holistic understanding and an eye  for competitive advantage are weaving their digital strategy into their business strategy – challenging what was, acknowledging what is and planning for what could be.

What to do?

Here are some basic first steps towards planning your digital strategy.

  1. Identify the risks digital might bring, but don’t let them stop you from discovering and leveraging new opportunity;
  2. Although intriguing, intuition is neither replicable nor scalable; it cannot give you competitive advantage. Instead, take advantage of insights from  data that digital generates – it’s what makes digital fundamentally different from our offline world; and
  3. Depending on your organization’s digital maturity, chances are that the thinking that got you where you are today is not the thinking that will move you into the digital age. It would be short-sighted of you not to learn from those who’ve gone before; it is worth asking for input. Don’t be surprised at how accessible insights of others can be; don’t underestimate that the very nature of digital is how it thrives on openness and transparency.

So, when you are feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and get some perspective. Start looking at the bigger picture of how digital can weave into your business strategy, and then start planning your road map that considers new opportunities, data and openness. Suddenly, the noise and distraction of what’s new today will no longer provoke stress, but instead it will take its place as opportunities to be evaluated against your larger plan.

Co-authored by Kelly Kubrick, Vice-President and Partner of dStrategy Media and Andrea Hadley, President and Partner of dStrategy Media, producers of Digital Strategy Conference.

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Kelly KubrickEye of the Storm

Announcing Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013

by Kelly Kubrick on January 29, 2013

Digital Strategy ConferenceAnd it’s official – Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013 dates and location have been confirmed!

Join us on June 3-5, 2013 at the University of Ottawa to get an in-depth education into the key elements of building your organization’s digital strategy.

As with the Vancouver conference, prepare to be immersed into the world of digital strategy development. In addition to sessions in Defining Digital Strategy and Establishing Digital Maturity, you will be taught by industry experts in five  different educational modules – think of them as your five key areas of learning:

  1. Organizational and Operational Readiness;
  2. Digging into Content Strategy;
  3. Mobile to Multiscreen;
  4. Social Strategy: Earned Media for Community Development; and
  5. Making Sense of Advertising / Paid Media.

For answers to any questions you might have about the conference format and logistics please read the Ottawa conference Frequently Asked Questions.

For those of you with a great digital strategy story to tell, you might consider submitting a case study proposal – but hurry – the Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa Call for Speakers ends March 15th, 2013.

Most importantly – you should register soon as double early bird pricing ends Friday March 8th, 2013. See you in Ottawa in June!

Updated: Still hesitating? Have a quick look at this video from our inaugural Vancouver event!

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Kelly KubrickAnnouncing Digital Strategy Conference Ottawa 2013