Book review: 'Velocity'

Author: Ajaz Ahmed & Stefan Olander
Publisher: Vermilion
Pages: 256
Price: Rs599

Sometimes, it seems as though social media, smartphones and tablets have gathered together to disrupt the status quo of businesses. The effects of new technology can be seen in the shrinking readership of newspapers, the closure of physical bookstores, music and film piracy and the instant backlash on social networking sites against a company that suffered lapses in its service.

This digital landscape, which is young and keeps changing at a rapid rate, is a difficult one for many companies to negotiate. Ajaz Ahmed and Stefan Olander attempt to codify business laws for the digital age in Velocity. Ahmed is the founder of digital agency AKQA and Olander is vice president of digital sport at Nike. Their combined experience gives them a vantage point to observe changes across industries and throughout the book, they draw upon their own experience of building digital campaigns and products.

Instead of a lengthy discourse, Velocity is organised so that it seems like Ahmed and Olander  are having a informal conversation, which helps them present their ‘laws’ without the monotony that afflicts so many business books.

Their first suggestion is an obvious one — that corporate bodies must stop resisting technology. The authors cite the case of the American music industry, which resisted mp3s and file sharing but failed to staunch its popularity. “What if the music industry had, instead of attempting to end the anarchy, tried to monetise it?... What if it had understood that audiences want all their music to be portable and they love to share it?” The second law says, “It’s easier done than said.” The authors discuss the ‘Beta’ approach of doing things that is unique to internet companies. Because of the speed at which changes occur in the digital world, companies should focus on execution and learning from real-time user feedback instead of debating pros and cons of change endlessly.
The third law deals with advertising. Here, Ahmed and Olander argue that unlike traditional media, digital advertising isn’t just about grabbing eyeballs. Instead it is imperative that meaningful connections are established with consumers. They cite examples like Nike Training Club, a mobile app that provides professional fitness coaching to users. “It has accumulated over fifty million minutes of training. That’s fifty million minutes of connection and empowerment for the same price as a thirty-second commercial.”

The remaining laws, though relevant, aren’t unique to the digital world. For instance, one of their laws stresses the importance of taking difficult decisions and obsessing over details, which is something that applies to successful companies across time, platforms and industries.
Problematically, the book doesn’t discuss failures. In one chapter, Ahmed discusses how he advised a client against investing money on marketing in Second Life, a rage a few years ago.

Ahmed’s advice turned out to be sound as Second Life didn’t really take off. But in an industry where companies like Twitter become unexpected hits, it would have been interesting to know how one could learn from mistakes. Another important point that hasn’t been discussed is monetisation. There isn’t much understanding or consensus on how companies can make money by employing digital strategies. Despite these failings, the book does present the broad principles of how technology can be used to a company’s advantage, making it recommended reading for corporate executives.