"Front End Thinking"

While the marcom world obsess with all things interactive, who in the organization is doing the "front end thinking'? Really though, as we chase after the coolest web site or web 3.0 application, who is taking the time to see if the insights that are driving the overall organizational communication plan are sound, differentiated and actionable within the environment it operates?

I have met so many web firms, interactive specialists, web n.0 people, and this is all great as it is indeed the current "center of influence" of marcom. However, all this effort around content and the latest way to deliver it, is useless unless someone is minding the overall organizational brand "insight and strategy" store.

When did you last ask, "how do we generate our insights". Are they really insights or just verbatims of what some really tired consumers or customers told us in the last research we did.

If the insights are weak, then the strategy is flawed. If the strategy is flawed then the ideas that spring from it are less than big. If the ideas are not big then the content flowing from it, offline or online, will not be differentiated. If the content is not differentiated then you have little movement in customer action or your bank account.

So while you are being impressed by the latest of the online world, remember to ask about your organisation's "front end thinking".

How to spend 500+ Billion

A friend from Asia mentioned something recently that I think bears repeating.

"quite a situation we're in, the US is spending $750bn bailing out banks /auto (and in essence getting nothing for this save avoiding bankruptcies) and meanwhile China is spending $550bn on capital infrastructure investment that will surely increase their economic and commercial competitive advantage for the end of the recession !! "

I believe strongly that Canadian business needs to take a long hard look at their China Business strategy, because going forward China is the growth model for your business.

Only 17% Have a China Strategy

A study released one year ago by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters stated that only 17% of Canadian manufacturers had a China strategy. Furthermore 20% did not know if they had a china strategy or not!

Just look at the headlines these days that deal with economic gloom and the retrenching of consumers in the United States, and then ask yourself why any smart Canadian business would not at least be developing their China Strategy.

The rewards are huge if you do your homework and get the proper connections built. It is not easy but gaining access to what Goldman Sachs projects will be the world's largest economy in about 10 short years, demands the effort.