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One does enjoy a ‘Proper Whiskey’…

We’ve seen Celebs collaborate and introduce new products to the market place.

We had Dr Dre… with the Beats Headphones. Which were a phenomenal success.

Now you have Mr Conor McGregor… introducing you to some ‘Proper Whiskey’.

My nephew text me and told me about it! – He said ‘Check this out… you going to try some?’

You know you have to, right? – similar to the Beats… if Dre… a master of his art, knows a thing or two about sound… must have done a good job on the headphones…. McGregor must have teamed up with some of the best in the world… and I’m sure Conor likes a drink or two… must have have produced a half decent Whiskey!

It’s not always about endorsements. I feel, you got to go one step ahead.

Collaborate with experts and bring out a new product, for the World to enjoy.

Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine – came together to produce and introduced the world to Beats Headphones.

And you can’t argue how successful they have been. Good or not… that’s a personal opinion… but they sure have made a buck or two for the founders.

So Connor… has done the same.

Along with Bushmill’s former distillery manager, David Elder… they have produced the Proper No. 12 Whiskey.

And straight away… you know it’s going to be big! You know it’s going to be popular… and it’ll sell lots. If you like blended whiskey or not… you’ll be intrigued.

And the marketing has started…. and what timing. You may (or may not know) Mr McGregor has a big fight coming up soon also…. so timing is perfect.

Not only that… his social media following is huge. And what a better way to promote your product..

So there you go…. the future isn’t about Endorsements.

It’s about Collaboration.

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Last week was crazy! Clocked up several miles… but more importantly, I’m now 20 points away from my British Airways Executive Club – Silver Status!! 

What does that mean Bal?

Not much to be fair! – basically… it means – I’ve spent an obscene amount of money on travelling…. flying… with BA!

Not just flying. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in my car. I don’t mind that…. I’m in my environment… I’m listening to my music… I’m singing along… loudly at times. 

Then there’s the train. Getting my paper orange ticket… 

Okay… when I’m on the London Underground… it’s all contactless…. thankfully to my Oyster card, it’s quick to get around.

Now… all of this got me thinking… which mode of transport is the most ‘digital’ or has ‘innovated’ the most. 

For me…. I think… the airline industry. 

Everything from the mobile tickets/passes…. to the security checks (those scanning machines where you just stand with your legs apart)….

I got off my flight from Sofia, Bulgaria last week. From the moment the plane doors opened – and to me being in my car (I had parked in Heathrow T5 Pod Parking) took me 20mins. That included, getting off the plane, from B terminal to A terminal in T5… then those passport scanning machines… onto the self driving Pod to take me to my car… and into my car!

Secondly… it’s got to be the car industry. We’re hearing a lot about self-driving cars… (which I believe will be soon on our roads). We have the Tesla auto-pilot function in Tesla’s…. now called the ‘Enhanced AutoPilot’.

Fully electric and capable of doing 300+ miles. Then there’s the BMW’s, Mercedes, Audi’s of this world… who have the hybrid models. The Japanese who were the first I believe with the hybrid cars – continue to innovate – remember Toyota investing a huge sum of money into Uber.

Finally… it’s the trains I feel.

Not much has gone into them. Unless I’ve missed it.

I keep hearing that Virgin Trains are doing a lot – with paperless tickets… and they have a Digital/Innovation team working on several items.

Yes – there’s HS2 – a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham. Which will extend to the north, through Nottingham and back to London. When will that be? – a few years for the whole thing yet.

Might have the first flying cars by then 🙂

 

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The Cheaters Edition…

So, I was relaxing at home one evening… and watching a bit of TV (I know.. crazy right, how on Earth I get time to watch a bit of TV is beyond me!) but there I was, watching a bit of TV and an advert came on for Monopoly.. The Cheaters Edition!!

We’ve all been there…. at family get-togethers, Christmas, Events, etc…

… and there’s always one, (or two) who cheat! – So this, in my opinion, is a great idea!!! – The Cheaters Edition!

I’m so going to buy this!

But it really got me thinking – I remember, when I was a kid, there was one version of Monopoly.

Today, there’s a few…

And then.. there’s Digital versions – that’s right, you can download a version onto your phone/tablet. You can play it on the computer – you can play against friends… there’s so many options!

Then… there’s the collaboration with McDonalds!

Shows the diversity of the original game.

And that’s only a great thing.

This is exactly what should be happening. Looking at variation to appeal to new customers, crowds and consumers.

Looking at how to engage with different ages. Looking at how to attract more customers. Looking at how to grow the brand – moving it into digital.

If you own a business or work in a company, how are you ensuring you keep growing and keep attracting customers?

By the way… I wasn’t one of the ‘cheaters’ at the traditional Christmas Monopoly game in the Bansal household… honest. 🙂

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Weather Technology…

Who remembers when the weather was simple, and straight to the point? – you know what I mean… Michael Fish on the BBC using those magnetic symbols…

What a throwback! – love the shirt!!

You know where I’m going to go with this… that’s right, why haven’t I got a shirt like that!!

Ok… the magnetic symbols were replaced by TV screens. Why? – because it was easier, quicker and less work for Michael to do.

That’s right – the Screen Technology helped to quickly move around different regions of the country – zoom in and be more specific about weather. Remember the remote control they used to hold – where they’d press the button to move the screen to the next one! – fabulous times….

What technology did… and does today, is improve the process.

The process is – the weather person to share with us what the weather is going to be like. Is it going to rain. Will it be warm. How windy will it be…. etc…  Technology helps the whole process and experience.

With advancements in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality – combine the two and we now have ‘Mixed Reality’ – there’s so much more you can do.

You can immerse yourself in the weather! – well… we’re getting there.

One weather channel used technology to share what the weather will be like.. but not only what it’d be like, but show what will be happening. In this case, it’s a hurricane. Lots of rain. Lots of wind.

Now we can imagine what it’d be like. But showing it – well, that’s a whole new experience.

Rather than me talking about here… here’s the weather video…

Remember… it’s about the process…. AND the Experience – make it memorable.

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Review of Apple’s Event… and the New iPhones

Yesterday… Apple had their Event. Their main conference.

Some brilliant new items were announced, along with the new operating system… iOS12. Did you follow it? – Have you watched it all? – if not… don’t worry, I’ll summarise it here for you.

1. New iWatch

That’s right – there’s a new iWatch.

Packed with many new features – like it detects when you fall over, and has much more going on the watch face – but the one feature that really stands out is that it’s got the ability to carry out an ECG! Detecting low and high heart rates, shows Apple is leading the way with wrist worn health care technology.

2. New iPhone XS

Let’s be honest, the iPhone X has been a major success. It’s features (face recognition and much more) has been well recieved by customers. And now… well, there’s been an upgrade! You can now have the iPhone XS.

In fact, you can have an XS or an XS Max! The Max has a bigger screen… bigger screen than what you’d look at on an iPhone 8 Plus!

We were expecting it… and oh boy, doesn’t it look impressive!!

And it’s packed with some brilliant features…

One of the main features which i’m personally looking forward to is the Dual Sim!- that’s right… the iPhones will be able to accommodate 2 sims!!

3. …and one more thing.

The iPhone XR!

That’s right… a ‘lesser version’ of the X. It’ll be available in several colours… and therefore, here’s the full iPhone line up…

iOS12 will also have some great features…grouping messages and notifications on the home screen…. and much more. So much, I’ll have to test it out, and share it with you in an up and coming blog post.

One thing I did like about the Apple Event, was that they announced it on Twitter… and if you ‘liked’ it… then they notified you when it started. Ensuring no-one missed it. Brilliant marketing. But then… wouldn’t expect anything less. It’s all about having the ability to Think Differently.

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WiFi Enabled Door…

Recently I was sent a brilliant video – of a chap who had some issues with his smart, voice enabled, home.

In case you haven’t seen it – here it is…

Now, the funny thing is – we’re heading in that direction.

Most of us have the Amazon Alexa in our homes, or the Google Home. Both of which carry out commands when we talk to them – and if you don’t have either of them, then I think it’s time you looked at investing in one.

More and more items are becoming ‘connected’ and more and more, we’ll be doing by just talking. Because it’s the easiest thing to do.

To tell someone… or in this case, something… to do something… it easy. Why have to lift the arm, raise the finger and exert that pressure to turn the light off switch off.

Yes – we are becoming more lazy – but you can’t blame it all on technology.

The part of the video that is brilliant, is when he’s trying to get into his house. The voice command doesn’t understand him.

So the door must be connected to the WiFi – and voice controlled. I know I’m beginning to analyse this – but the door should have some feature to open it via an app.

Now this has got me thinking – why aren’t our doors and windows wifi-enabled? When can we have the Next Generation of doors?

Why would you want to have a wifi enabled door? – why not just the lock?

Great point – and yes! – there are wifi (& bluetooth) enabled smart locks you can purchase to attach onto your front door. However there are limitations on what type of doors they’ll work on – maybe I’ll share more on my ‘What Tech items to buy for Christmas’ blog.

But you can see where all this is going… not only plugged in devices –  will be connected to your wifi… but doors, windows (anything… you can power via a battery)…. the possibilities are endless.

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The Trillion Dollar Company Club

You must have heard, how recently Apple become a ‘trillion dollar’ company.

Yesterday, Amazon did the same. That’s right, they joined the ‘Trillion Dollar Company Club’. Not bad for a 24 year old company.

When they went public in 1997, their share price was $18. Tuesday, the share price hit $2,050. Valuing the company, just over $1 Trillion.

Wonder if Jeff would’ve ever thought, Amazon would be the second company to enter the ‘Trillion Dollar Company Club’ when he sat in his office, with a hand painted sign on the wall… selling books on-line.

It’s a brilliant success story.

Only 2 companies have achieved this phenomenal success. Only 2 companies in that club. But I’m certain, over the next few years, we’ll see more enter the club.

It comes down to a few reasons why Amazon and Apple have achieved such success – Innovation.

The ability to keep adapting.

The ability to keep growing.

The ability to keep thinking, trying and venturing into new areas.

To keep going… Business as Usual (BAU) – won’t get you into the Trillion Dollar Club. In fact, it probably won’t get you into any club.

But that’s the problem – you have to invest. You have to grow. You have to think differently.

So, Jeff… is one of the richest people in the world… but what’s the real secret? A few years ago, Jeff shared…

Customer first – we all know that.

Invent, Innovate… yep, got that.

Be Patient. Ah…. that’s something we don’t have these days. We don’t have the patience to let things grow, to understand and see how they turn out.

To keep trying… it’s easier to say – park it/bin it/stop it… if it isn’t working.

How much patience have you got to keep going? to keep learning, re-adjusting and figuring it out?

We could relate this to football. How managers of teams are sacked very quickly, if there’s a number of losses and the team performs very badly.

I remember when Alex Ferguson (the Manchester United boss) had a string of bad results and had one match to save his position. Funnily enough… he won that match and went on to be one of the most successful managers, in English Football, of all time.

I know this very well… because it was against Nottingham Forest.

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Toyota & Uber… Could be quite Super!

Yesterday, it was announced that Toyota would invest $500m into Uber.

Was does this mean?

Well, firstly… It means, Uber is now estimated to be worth around $72bn. Quite a jump from the recent valuation of $62bn.

Secondly, It means… Toyota are certain this is the future because they also invested $1bn in Grab (Uber equivalent/competitor/rival in South Asia).

Thirdly, It means.. self-driving cars will be on your roads sooner than we think.

Yes there have been problems, especially when one of Uber’s self-driving SUV’s killed a pedestrian in Arizona, USA. You could call that a big problem.

Uber have been investing… but, being honest, it’s been a struggle for them. Expensive lawsuits… the fatal accident… etc… and sometimes, what you need is, someone to come along – to confirm what you’re doing is right… to ensure you keep going… keep experimenting.

Toyota is doing that. They know that car ownership will be a thing of the past. We can see trends of that in certain cities… where it’s easier, cheaper and quicker to use the train/underground/subway… or even a bike. Why own a car? – there’s so much expense that goes with it… the insurance, road tax, MOT, etc…

It’s very much similar to the ‘Estate Agent’ industry. They’re going through a massive shake-up. Country-wide, who own 50 Estate Agent brands and employ over 8,000 people, have about £200m debt and yesterday had to raise £140m ’emergency funds’ – which they did, with the help of their board.

Go back 3 years… and look how their share price has tumbled….

Why? well… On-line estate agencies have become more popular and more and more people are using them. They’re less and less going to the high street. Countrywide own all the high street estate agents.

Technology is enabling customers to do things quicker and easier.

Toyota know this. They know self-driving technology will, one day, be the norm. We’ll have self-driving cars. There’ll be phases of it… as the technology gets better and better. People won’t want to own cars. They’ll just summon a vehicle to them… use it to get from Point A to Point B.

We kind of do that with taxi’s, right? Summon them to pick us up from Point A and take us to Point B.

Uber made it easier via an App.

Toyota know a thing or two about cars.

Combine the two together…

It’s all about collaboration.

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Got an Idea… but not the brains!

Recently, on Twitter… someone was saying, how they want/need more money… so I replied, I’ve got a few ideas, could make them work.

…Don’t have the brains. Fair enough, you may not have the knowledge right now, but to make a business or startup work, you need passion.

That’s where success comes from. Passion.

Brains… well, you can learn as you go along. You can learn on the job. You can learn from others. What the heck… you can even learn from various YouTube videos that are available!!

The ‘I don’t have the brains’ bit… I don’t believe. Not picking on Claire… there could be a whole host of other things that are preventing her from starting her own little business… but I do hear this a lot from other folk.

The usual comment is…

I don’t know how.

Do you think Bill Gates knew everything to get Microsoft going?

Do you think Steve Jobs knew everything to get Apple going?

No. But they learnt. They had a passion to get started and then they learnt. They ‘collaborated’. They worked with others. Microsoft and Apple both had co-founders. You could argue, they were the brains behind the company!

Bal… what happens if you’re not really passionate about anything?

Then find a hobby. Choose something that interests you. Something that’ll keep you occupied. Something that you’ll look forward to. Try different things…. You’ll find something you enjoy, and then you can become passionate about it.

We are living in an ever changing world…. it’s becoming easier to get a start-up going. Easy to talk and collaborate with others… local universities have days/evenings where you can pop along and meet others. There’s also meetup… app/website where you can find other like-minded people, who may be meeting up… and meet up… and talk…. and share ideas… and learn from them.

So there you go… want to earn some more money? Become passionate… Learn and use those skills. Because we all know… skills pay bills.

 

 

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Hotels…. why am I still using a card key?

Most of you may know, I travel a lot.

Quite a bit. On planes, through security and immigration. Taxi (usually Uber, mytaxi or Lyft) and to the hotel.

Now, usually… the process of travel is getting a lot easier. I don’t need a ‘paper’ boarding pass… it’s all on my mobile phone. In fact… (not showing off) but I’ve even used my watch!

Uber or mytaxi is also very easy. In fact… up to the point of reaching the hotel, if I didn’t want to… I wouldn’t have to speak to anyone, nor would I need to show any form of payment nor would I need anything to hold (like a receipt or card of some sort).

You know where I’m going with this… why are hotels behind the trend?!

When are hotels going to start rolling out… at high speed and on a large scale… mobile phone door unlocking and entry?

We’ve seen the technology. We know it exists. So why is it taking so long?

Even in some hotels… having to queue up at reception desk… to let them know I’m here… honestly?! – how is it that, Canada know I’ve entered their country by me being able so do all the necessary work via kiosks and computers… but when I’m at the hotel, I need to queue and wait!

Ok, there’s mobile check in now being more readily available at hotels…

But once again… the whole process is not being looked at. The whole process from end to end. From the moment, I need a hotel… to the moment I check out.

We all talk about an integrated world we live in. How more and more ‘things’ are connected. Why aren’t hotels more connected?

Ok… we can’t do everything at once, but there can be improvement steps.

Progress over Perfection.

Why not have some services available via mobile phone. Why not use QR codes. Why not use iBeacons. Why not just do something to make the process a little easier…

Yes – this post has been a bit of a moan. But I also see it as an opportunity.

Opportunity for us to a) think about what we do… and are we looking at the end to end process…. and b) whichever industry we are in, are we really connected? – are we really taking advantage of the various API’s that are available out there… and truly being ‘connected’ and serving our customer the best we can.

By the way… not sure what API’s are? –

noun

COMPUTING
  1. a set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications which access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service.

Watch out for my next blog post… with an IT Architect who’ll explain this a little more…