It feels like 1999 all over again at the 2013 Forrester Research eBusiness & Channel Strategy Forum, whose theme is “Lead the Digital Business Revolution.” About 750 attendees from big brands like Southwest Airlines are coming to grips with a wily consumer who uses digital to disrupt entire industries, just as consumers did when the Internet exploded more than 10 years ago. Only this time, consumers are creating their own digital journeys in far more sophisticated ways, across multiple devices, websites, and social spaces. According to Forrester Research, executives of big brands need to transform themselves into digital leaders to thrive amid a new digital revolution.
Forrester issued the challenge through two opening presentations on November 5, one by Vice President of Research Bill Doyle and the other by Vice President Martin Gill, who recently co-authored the report, “The Chief Digital Officer: Fad or Future?”
According to Doyle, “The digital revolution is at the doorstep. But senior leaders are not devoting serious money or resources to digital. They don’t appreciate the urgency.”