Life should be a Bigger Deal

Welcome to our very first 3 Bells Newsletter. Every week, we'll share 3 things that mattered. And ring 3 bells for you.

When most young people in the world are African...

This is one bell I've been ringing for some time, one that will cause some of the most far-reaching changes in the world economy. So it was good to see the WSJ provide new figures. In short: By 2050, there will be 2.5 billion Africans, a quarter of the world’s total population. By the end of the century, four out of 10 people will be African. But that's not the key news. More important are the average ages. I show all my clients two very contrasting population pyramids: one for Europe, the other for Sub-Saharan Africa. The difference is stark. By 2050, nearly a fourth of the people on earth will have passed their 60th birthday; the average African, however, will be just 28 years old. In other words, if it's young graduates, young workers or young consumers your organization needs - you'd better be talking to Africans. Paying attention? Now you know why every global business is beating a hasty track to Africa to plant a flag in the ground and to start figuring this continent out. As the rest of the world ages rapidly, Africa has decades of youthfulness left in it. Provided Africa's governments wake up to this new reality (and invest heavily in health, education - and peace) Africa's young people could be the shapers of the world economy in the coming decades.

Are you ready for a young Africa taking its place in the world? You'd better be, long before all those youngsters enter the workplace and the consumer space.

Are banks approaching their "Uber" moment?

Where is your bank? Point me to it. How many of you looked around in the general direction of your local bank branch, and how many reached for your smartphones? Anyone who has used a mobile banking app can verify: visits to the branch tail off dramatically. I showed up at my own branch the other day, to the bank manager's surprise and consternation. Actually, I had only popped in to say hello as I was passing by...
Antony Jenkins, until recently global CEO at Barclays, brought it home in a recent Chatham House speech: "We will see massive pressure on incumbent banks, which will struggle to implement new technologies at the same pace as their new rivals. That will make it increasingly challenging for them to deliver the returns and profitability that their shareholders demand. Ultimately, those forces will compel large banks to significantly automate their business. I predict that the number of branches and people employed in the financial services sector may decline by as much as 50% over the next 10 years."
The problem is, not all banks will be able to adjust to this rapidly emerging reality. They will be too timid, too rigid or too conservative to cope. And a whole host of "app-only" banks are waiting to attack. The threat to banks right now isn't other bankers; it's the smartphone, customers, the burgeoning "fintech" usurpers - and their own boards of directors.

Are you a banker? The bell tolls for thee. Your industry is undergoing reinvention, right under your feet. If your bank and your career are to survive, you need to be in rapid evolution mode. The future is in clicks, not bricks.

Apple didn't listen to its critics. Great.

Two or three years back, there was much free advice being given to Apple, the world's most valuable company. For a while, it seemed every know-all pundit was telling the firm: rethink your emerging-markets strategy. Your expensive high-end iPhones are fine for the west, but in China and India you are nowhere. Your $1000+ phones make no sense out there, not when perfectly viable Android alternatives sell for less than half that price. Wake up, before it's too late.
Apple, happily, paid no attention. In 2015, the company has just reported a 100% increase in revenue in China, and Greater China now accounts for a quarter of its global sales. In India, Apple has clocked its first US$ 1 billion in turnover. Most of which came from the same expensive phones...
Apple didn't listen to its one-eyed critics, because unlike them, Apple knows what it sells. It doesn't sell 'devices', it sells a user experience, a status brand, a lifestyle indicator, and an aspiration. It sells FEELINGS. For as long as it sells them exceedingly well, it need have no fears about being too expensive. Apple will not suffer by not chasing a different market; it will die if it fails to know itself.
Nonetheless, Apple needs to ramp up in Africa. It sells plenty of iPhones here, but that is despite having a marketing and distribution strategy that sucks. Very limited retail presence; prices way higher than in the US; mediocre store experiences; no advertising. The devices sell on sheer brand power. You can do better than that around here, Apple. But hey, why listen to me?

Before you create a strategy, know EXACTLY what you're selling. You only have to match the market in specs and prices if you're in the me-too business. Those who beat the pack in INTANGIBLE attributes can stay winning - but only if they protect the advantage.