66% Sing From The Same Song Sheet

Image by nickwheeleroz via FlickrThe recent survey from McKinsey on how companies use strategy to "beat the market" had some nice insights but the one that stood out to me was that only 33% of companies say they use novel insights in their strategic planning. Now think about this for a second. That means two thirds are using exactly the same research as their competitors to drive their strategic thinking. While this lack of motivation to uncover new insights has been a topic in other articles recently, it astounds me that McKinsey has the number so high. We have become so dependent on the Internet to get information, which is great. However, if we do not step outside and uncover insights that are truly specific to our needs (and not published for all to see on the Internet) then how will we be any different than our competition.

Macro generic industry data is great for getting a picture on some of the forces that are driving an industry, I use them all the time, but business needs to get to the micro level drivers that are specific to their buyers and business, to be able to build a brand that is relevant both to them and their buyers. I do not believe for a second that this can be done without spending the money and uncovering new insights about ones buyers and marketplace on a regular basis.

If you are keen to see the entire survey click on the link below.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Putting_strategies_to_the_test_McKinsey_Global_Survey_results_2722

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5 Forces Of Competition Revisited

I often use the classic strategic tool Michael Porter introduced in the 1970's when he first came to Harvard. I love Porter's 5 Forces because it makes organizations look at what business they are REALLY in, by having a real look at all the competition that surrounds and influences them, not just their obvious direct competitors.

From HBR On-Line

So often people ask me "have you read this new business book on strategy?" To me the disposable world we live in that is always looking for the next thing, often forgets the most powerful tools we already have. Porter's 5 Forces is an example of this. It does not need to be improved on as it adapts to every business environment. I love the fact that it reinforces that business strategy starts by looking at your competition and industry, at the same time you are looking at the consumer or customer. To often we are too focused on the buyers of our product or service and do not step back and see what is driving the industry we compete in. How has the power of the suppliers of our products changed? What new technologies could make our product or service less relevant in the months ahead? These are few of the critical questions that will never die, and that's why in all my interactions with clients and students, I ask, do you know what business you are really in, and who are the competitors that will influence your success?

I attach a link to a Harvard Business Review page that has a great 15 minute video with Michael Porter and the evolution of his 5 Forces. Take a coffee break and listen to it, then ask your self when was the last time your organisation really looked at their industry with such depth.

http://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy/ar/1

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Joiners Vs. Creators, Who Drives the Web?

A few years back Forrester Research published their Social Technographics that laid out the Social Network Population in a ladder format. It had "creators" on the top and "inactives" on the bottom. You can see in the 2010 version that "joiners" and "spectators" drive the activity on the social web, which is no surprise as these activities take the least commitment to stay involved in the web.

To me the interesting question is how do you engage your customers at different levels of the ladder? What are you providing in your on-line world that is relevant for your "creators" as well as relevant for your brand. The same goes fore those that just like to be "spectators" of your brand on-line. What are you doing for them that keep them wanting to come back and share with others? I think it is a worthwhile exercise to review the Social Technographics Ladder and ensure relevancy for all.

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The Amazing World Of Scotch

A few weeks back I attended the Edmonton Whiskey Festival as a gift from wife for Christmas, and I was blown away by just how sophisticated the Scotch business has become. You see back in the mid 1980's when I worked in an ad agency in Toronto we had Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch as a client and I was lead to believe that Glenmorangie was one of the real special bottles of scotch you could buy. The brand had a great history with the 16 men of Tain who so carefully crafted Glenmorangie, in fact one of the print ads we ran, which is below, was a wonderful woodcutting illustration style of the bottle signed by the 16 men of Tain .

Mid 1980's Glenmorangie global Print ad that ran in Canada

My point is Glenmorangie was well represented at the festival I attended but they were just a tiny sample of the amazing number of special single malt scotches on show that evening. While Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and Glenmorangie are some of the better promoted single malts in the world, there is indeed a whole larger world of wonderful brands and products to be explored, and truth be told, better marketed.

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If At First You Don't Succeed

Image via WikipediaEvery so often Nait (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) asks me to instruct a continuing education course for them dealing with marketing and business. This past weekend while I teaching a course on delegation and teamwork, I was reminded just how important allowing people to fail is to building trust, respect and innovation. Some companies thrive in allowing their people to fail and then learn from there failures. 3M makes it mandatory for people to fail. In their mind if they are not failing, then they are not learning and inventing new category defining products.

So back to what struck me this past weekend. I was watching with the class a DVD on the design consultancy IDEO, and a quote from one of their great talent jumped out and smacked me in the face. The quote was "enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius." Now I am not sure if this was his original thought or he borrowed it from some other great mind, but it quickly reminded me that people need to be encouraged to try things that scare them, things that just might not work. Too often business cultures breed stagnation and like mindedness in product design, business models and marketing communications.

In my mind the reason so little marketing activity jumps out at people and very little is differentiated and relevant, is because no learning was done it the development process. No one was encouraged to try new things and know it was ok if it didn't work because they knew they would learn from it and be even better next time. Maybe that is why I love the idea of beta sites in the webbed world. Beta sites and their thinking says we'll figure this out as we go along, some things may not work and we're fine with that because it will make the things that we do well for you become even better.

So make a mistake today and celebrate it. Then get back up and fix it so your next idea is even better.

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Try Before You Buy

Image via Wikipedia

Building new business relationships that you can trust is getting harder than ever. So much hype exists in the noise of business building, that "trust me I can do it" becomes the key differentiator in many cases. With this reality, your past client references are critical, but in some cases these are not even enough if you do not have a referral from some business your prospect knows deeply. Many times I have come across the words "Sure you have done that for Coke but have you done it for Ted down the street?". Once again proving the point that if your story is not relevant to your prospect then you are nowhere.

With the palpable desire out there for the building of a trust bridge that is relevant to both parties, one solution becomes starting the relationship with baby steps. In 2000 I was living in Singapore and leading McCann Erickson's pitch for Caltex (Chevron's brand in Asia Pacific and Africa). To build trust and prove our relevance to Caltex, we were tasked do produce a TV spot that would bring to life the campaign we had wowed them with in the initial pitch process. In other words they wanted to give us their business in all of Asia Pacific and Africa but they were not quite sure our walk matched our talk. So they agreed to pay all out of pocket costs to produce the spot and we agreed to commit our time to bring it to life. In the end we went up the road to Malaysia to shoot a rally car spot that highlighted Caltex's Havoline motor oil. The spot turned out great  (see below and look for me being sprayed with mud!). More importantly, Caltex learned how we worked, and we built our relevance to them every day we were in that Malaysian jungle. Within weeks the awarding of the business to McCann Erickson was formalised.

So as you approach building your business in 2011, try taking some baby steps with your prospects. Prove your relevance by suggesting a trial project that is fair to both sides and go out there and build some trust.

 

 

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The Business Christmas Party Can Be Costly

Last night I held my firms Christmas party. It is a small affair attended by those that I think have been good souls to and for Bamboo Strategy over the past year. Business stories were shared, including a few business travel nightmares, all in all it was a great time to chill out with some really good people.

Banter at Bamboo Strategy's Gentleman's Evening 2010

It was after the party when I read about a recent poll done by Travelodge in the UK, that hangovers from Christmas parties will cost the UK economy about $1 Billion this year. Now I did not suffer any loss in productivity today but clearly based on this study, many will this holiday season. Enjoy reading the very interesting post Christmas party poll results from the attached link below.

http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news.php?CID=&NID=6864&Title=Hangovers+Will+Cost+the+UK+Economy+%A3620+Million+this+Christmas

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