Automotive CEOs: 3 Action items to lead in an Autonomous Future.

As an automobile company CEO, you know that self-driving car had been pointed out as one of the most important trend in prominent Electronic technology shows and reports such as CES (Consumer Electronic Shows) and Fortune magazine. As a graduate student in Integrated Marketing Communication, Northwestern University, who is very interested in the automobile industry, I have found two articles which address the subject that you are going to be interested in.

Daniel Newman, the author of the first article which is titled ‘Autonomous Cars: The Future of Mobility’, says that autonomous cars are not just the technology that makes them possible, but what this means for our future. He also argues that autonomous driving will not only enable people to work, eat, sleep and more on the go but also save 300,000 lives per decade. Even though there is no change in the next five years and people may wait until the prices drop, autonomous cars guarantee your company as the future relevance of one like Ford did. (Ford’s bold shift in the autonomous industry positions itself as the car company to beat!) 

                                                            Illustration by Peter Arkle 

The other article “What The Future Of Mobility Means For Today's Transportation Industry” by Joris D’Inca and Carolin Mentz talks about the threats and potentials for incumbents who are not in this trend, they will find themselves left behind with the increased competition and innovation. If the incumbents of transportation industry keep their traditional methods, they may save money. On the other hand, they have the risk of loss of value and commoditization which means low possibility to make profit. If they invest in the autonomous cars, it will require great effort such as technology and data investment, but it will promise the long-term revenue and opportunities to grow. The best part of this article is this “The game is about to change, and the rule will, too.” 

Based on my review of these two articles, and my studies in the Northwestern Medill IMC program on new technologies, here are 3 action items that I think should be considered. 

§  Weigh Success Outcome – You should see a big picture even though there are            some risks.

§  Become Trend-Aware – You cannot be a market leader if you are behind the              trend whatever the reason is.

§  Take an opportunity – There are always chances where innovation begins.

These 3 action items will give your company a great competitive advantage over other brands and help your company be a market leader in this fast-changing world.

Jeehae Park

Jeehae is a graduate student at Northwestern University in the Integrated Communication Marketing program (graduating in December 2017) who is specializing on Digital & Interactive Marketing and Brand Strategy.

You can contact Jeehae Park Twitter or Linked in