Business. Before coming to the SAP SAPPHIRE NOW conference, I didn’t support businesses at all. (Interestingly enough, I live in a world run by businesses and corporations.) I support my local businesses at home though, because I feel as though the interactions that my local business owners and I had were genuine, and when I was purchasing something from my local grocery store, I didn’t feel as though they were trying to sell me something. I felt as though they were helping me get just what I needed. I suppose I thought this way because of my misconception about businesses back when I was in elementary school.
Ads can be misleading, if you only let it mislead you. As humans, we like to do things on our own accord- or at least I do. I like to think that the path I’m taking, is a result from my own decision, which isn’t completely true, but that feeling of independence feels good. With ads, I feel as though businesses are pushing me to buy their product, so I resist.
This only stems from my bad experiences with ads as a kid. I remember watching Spongebob Squarepants with my sister on a Saturday morning when a commercial for the new candy called “Juicy Drop Pop” came on. I wanted it so badly! The ad showed a teenage boy squirting the liquid candy onto his tongue, and what I thought was some wild chemical reaction at the time, the candy made the boy scream “WOO HA HA HOO!”. Being so naive and desperate, my sister and I begged our mom to go to the grocery store, so we could buy ourselves that same candy. My weak little fingers couldn’t handle the resisting plastic packaging around the candy, so my sister tried her candy first. She dropped the liquid candy onto her tongue and screamed “WOO HA HA HOO!”. I was so excited, and when I finally opened the packaging and tried the candy for myself, I can’t begin to explain that sheer disappointment I felt. The commercial lied- so did my sister- but the commercial was made by adults! I remember wondering if what they did was legal or not.
SAP SAPPHIRE NOW tugged at the little grudge I had against advertisements, and showed me that businesses can also be good. Here’s a quick summary of what I learned.
1) Businesses are like spider webs, and they’re all interconnected. It’s also this interconnectedness that allows for each and every one of their developments.
2) Businesses and corporations don’t specialize in one thing- they can also be the jack of all trades rather than a master of one.
3) Data is so important, but what you do with that data, and how quickly you process it is even more important.
4) It doesn’t matter if you discovered or created something as the cure to terminal illnesses such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). If you aren’t able to articulate what you want to say in a simple enough way for people to quickly grasp what you’re saying, your discovery will not progress. If you are trying to sell an idea, but are not personable, your discovery will not progress. Delivery is key, and mastering this very element is essential to marketing.
Blog post by: Linh Diep
