I have been exploring the meaning of innovation and technology from a very broad and day to day living sense for some time now, and how this relates to the Club Industry and the way that we do business. When I think of innovation and technology, I think of the marketing groups referred to as the all important Generation X’ers and Y’s. They are of course the building blocks of today and where our future growth lies. Bear with me, whilst I explore some meanings and it will become clearer why later….
The Collins English Dictionary defines Innovation as "something newly introduced such as a new method or new device". Compare this to the Wikipedia definition (Wikipedia being the free open source online encyclopedia which anyone can edit if they feel that they can improve on what is there) which defines innovation as "a new way of doing something. It may refer to incremental, radical, and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes or organization".
The Collins English Dictionary defines Technology as "the application of practical or mechanical sciences to industry or commerce”. Wikipedia, on the other hand, defines Technology as “a broad concept that deals with a species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts and how it affects a species’ ability to control and adapt to its environment". Now that one, I really like!
In a practical sense, if you put the two together, in a sandwich, for your customers benefit, what could you get? My take, is that by utilizing technology (tools that assist us to reach our customers) we can improve our ability and extend our reach of targeting our existing & future customers. And one of the most important elements of both innovation and technology is that by definition, they are NOT constant. They are continually evolving, just like our environment, our customers, and consequently so must we!
For the Club Industry, this presents tremendous opportunities if we embrace it as an industry. In a Marketing sense, I see technology as a way of innovating the way that the Club Industry can market to the population and in particular to Generation X and Y’s. We have all heard these labels but who are they? In simple terms, Generation X’ers are the 18 – 28 year olds and Generation Y ‘s are the 29 – 42 year olds. I hear you say but my membership is mostly 55+. The issue is that these demographics are important because they are a key to our future growth. Although challenging to understand, important to do so.
We are currently developing a new look Clubsational which will incorporate many new features to incorporate what we have learn't about online technology, innovation and emerging trends particularly from the Generation X and Y population. Part 2 of this article next month will delve into Gen X and Y in more detail. In the mean time, check out Clubsational as a tool that your Club can utilize as a part of their Marketing Communication Strategy from only $12.00 per week. Email your enquiry to justine@clubsational.com.au (www.clubsational.com.au).
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