Marketing
Issue No. 39 - February/March 2008
B2B Marketer
Going for the revolution
by Kimon Lycos
The French, they gave us silly accents, glorious vistas and the spirit of revolutions. The way the French cracked on taught us that if you’re sick of something and believe you have a better idea, you have to shake things up a tad to dump the status quo.
Technology can enable us to hold our own revolutions. Sometimes we are stuck in ways that just don’t work, at time stupidly so. That’s when the forces of a revolution gather because rank stupidity that does not change, stirs the passion of those who desire change and just can’t be witnesses, so they do what has to be done. Inventions sprout forth, new technology powers new ways, which requires new thinking and in turn can generate some really exciting changes.
And then someone has to market it and here the revolution can get shaky, because revolutions in technology and innovation often require a vast change in people’s thinking, conceptualisation along with a dose of bravery for being the first to try something new. No matter how cool, brilliant, smart or even needed the revolution is, there will always be resistance to change because it feels safer to stick to old ways and the unknown is a common fear held by all of us, welcome to the human race.
There is however ways that exist to be successful at marketing a revolution and you don’t need to cut-off anyone’s head with mad old ladies watching on while knitting.
One company that comes to mind is Alcidion, which has been leading a much-needed revolution in healthcare. The founders occupied senior positions in healthcare and grew weary witnessing carnage (14,000 preventable deaths per year in Australian hospitals) and preventable harm (40% of test results are not tracked in Australian hospitals). The revolution they started was based upon IT, something that was traditionally alien to healthcare for two good reasons. One, it was expensive and systems were underpowered and two, IT has always had a hard time ga...
