When keynoting the Exchange 2023 event in Cannes, I used the blue dot consumer metaphor to explain the importance of putting the customer at the centre of supply chain conversations. This metaphor is a powerful tool for understanding the modern consumer’s values and the need for all businesses to maximise supply as a strategic advantage.

Before digital maps, people navigated using large, cumbersome paper maps. These maps required significant effort to use; you had to figure out your exact location and destination, then plot the route yourself. The world was vast, and you were shown to be a small part of it, responsible for making your own way.

Enter Google Maps, where you are the blue dot, always shown at the centre. The world now revolves around you, the frame of reference adjusting as you journey. This shift symbolises a fundamental change in business, where the consumer expects the world, and by extension, brands, to adapt to them.

Convenience and relevance

Effortlessness is a key element of the blue dot metaphor. For example, a taxi rank required people to wait and queue while now Uber and Lyft bring the car to you. Similarly, food delivery services like GrubHub or DoorDash bring the restaurant to your door, and streaming services like Disney+ bring the cinema in to your home. The blue dot is about removing effort from the modern customer experience. Businesses need to eliminate any order, returns or delivery friction for their customers.

The blue dot approach prioritises convenience, giving consumers full control over their journey. We need to leverage AI in all aspects of the supply chain today to give customers absolute control and flexibility, true of B2C and B2B customers. Relevance is another critical aspect. In modern marketing, it’s crucial to engage our customers when they are in an active state of consideration. This is why Google Maps shows you a restaurant on the street you are standing, not 10 kilometres away. It is about communicating with your customer within their immediate context.

Personalisation is equally important

Just as you wouldn’t follow someone else’s blue dot on Google Maps, consumers expect personalised experiences tailored to their specific needs. In physical retail, this has been challenging, but advancements in Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change all that. Already a shopper buying shampoo can use an AR overlay to highlight products specifically designed for their hair type, making their shopping experience more efficient and personalised. Think about how we can deliver every aspect of an order to a shopper in a way that is unique to them.

The blue dot consumer also expects instant gratification. Just as Google Maps updates in real time, businesses must keep customers informed and deliver instantly. The lagging of a blue dot on a map due to poor signal is frustrating and reflects the impatience of the modern consumer who expect brands to be responsive, even proactively so.

a product-centred approach to a customercentred one. Old paper maps are a metaphor for, outdated business practices that put the product, process or their own supply chain approach first, forcing customers to do most of the work. Modern businesses must pivot to view the customer as the fulcrum around which everything revolves.

The blue dot approach prioritises convenience giving consumers full control over their journey.

Brand experience

At Exchange, we debated how the blue dot metaphor challenges businesses to view every interaction, product, and service from the customer’s perspective. It’s easy to say a business or supply methodology is ’customer-centric’, but it’s harder to truly embody that philosophy at every level of the organisation.

Supply chains have moved from being seen as a ‘function’ to something of strategic importance as all of these expectations of the blue dot consumer bear down on the brand experience. Failing to deliver on these aspects (instant, timely) result in immediate customer dissatisfaction. While the supply chain and logistics functions were previously seen as ‘warehousing and trucks’ (or those people in the ‘high viz vests’), today there is a recognition that it is often core to the very brand proposition. How a product will be delivered and how returns work can often be the deciding factor for a shopper. The highviz vests are gone, replaced by a tuxedo, supply chain taking its seat at the board room table.

Ultimately, applying the blue dot lens to your business means constantly asking whether your brand and adopted technology and providers are truly customer-led. Is your supply chain strategy personal, contextual, timely, and relevant? Does it provide instant, effortless experiences? By adopting this mindset, businesses can ensure that customer lifetime value, loyalty, and sales success naturally follow.

Embrace the blue dot perspective to stay relevant and connected to your customers.

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