I've just read eConsultancy's article on Changing Company Culture. Some of it seems slightly utopian from a digital point of view, but the angry-youngish-digital-man in me finds it encouraging that other marketers are suffering similar disappointments.
For me, the biggest issue is a generational one that will take both time and forward-thinking companies to change - the simple fact that CEOs and the rest have limited (at best) digital experience.
Is this the last generation of executives that didn't grow up with online marketing? I suspect not... It will likely take another 10 years before a groundswell of companies begin to employ digitally-able execs.
That's not to say mega-businesses haven't already been changing. Coca Cola's Content 2020 strategy is rooted in digital and there are notable UK businesses that clearly "do digital" well. Barclay's recent thrust in consumer experience and digital innovation has been very noticeable.
However, it's not these outliers that we should be thinking about. It's the long tail of thousands of SMEs which continue to lag behind in the digital economy.
The most galling thing is that it's precisely these smaller businesses that have most to gain, least to loose and the best opportunity, unencumbered as they are by unwieldy organisational change.
