Do You LEAD On The Web?

Surely by now you have all heard or read about the move from web 2.0 to 3.0, basically preparing to involve and respond to your customers on-line like you never have before. Really you haven't, amazing just amazing. Relax neither have most business leaders.

Well for most of us then the attached article from Donna Hoffman who is a professor of marketing at the University of California, Riverside, and the codirector of the UCR Sloan Center for Internet Retailing, will be a great conversation starter as McKinsey calls it.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Managing_beyond_Web_20_2389

In short LEAD (listen, experiment, apply, develop) developed by the Sloan Center is a simple model that will help companies thrive in the ever changing online world. I am no Internet wizard but I am smart enough to know that you have to be engaging with your customers on-line beyond just pushing stuff out to them. I have been saying for a very long time its a dialogue not a monologue with customers that will be build the brands of tomorrow and one key tool in the marketers tool box is web 2.0-3.0.

LEAD reminds us that beyond starting the dialogue you need to experiment with it and continue to stay engaged with your customers as they themselves experiment with the wild and wonderful world of the web.

Youth Not Feeling "The Love" At Their Bank

I recently finished moderating some focus groups with 18-24 year old Edmontonians. Part of the discussion dealt with how they wanted to be treated by financial institutions in their city. In short no participant felt their current bank was matching the vision of service they wanted from their ideal bank.

So it made me wonder, do banks really value the younger clients, the clients that will be their most profitable in a few short years. This younger generation (gen-y) is as big and will be as powerful as the current dominant baby-boomer generation, yet they do not feel their specific needs are being met by their current bank. My forum did not allow for a deeper dialogue on the issue but it is clear if I was a bank or financial institution in Edmonton, I would be taking a serious look at my youth strategy going forward.

Sustainability Of The Fitest

I have been talking sustainability to my clients for a long time. I believe that to be a successful brand and business you must be differentiated from your competitors while being relevant to your customers so they will continue to buy what you are selling. If you stay relevant you will be sustainable. You stay relevant by understanding what drives the hearts of your customers and deliver on their wants and needs.

So I love a great sustainable story and I have one to share with you. The link below to McKinsey Quarterly I think will provide you with a fresh, albeit not new look, at sustainability. It goes well beyond the current hype around being green and involves the former green leader from the Sierra club turned marketing sustainability leader, Adam Werbach.

Enjoy the read and remember to watch the video as it is I think required viewing for anyone who has been confusing sustainability with being green.



http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/When_sustainabillity_means_more_than_green_2404