News
How to Protect Your Business From Creative Disruption
Ira Kalb Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California Depending on the year you start counting, the lifespan of a Fortune 500 company has gone from 75 years to just 15. In our fast-moving ever-changing world, new technologies and products are disrupting businesses and entire industries at an accelerating rate. Internet The Internet has been a major disruptive force. When’s the last [...]
The Nine Innovation Roles
The following is an excerpt from Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire by Braden Kelley:Too often we treat people as commodities that are interchangeable and maintain the same characteristics and aptitudes. Of course, we know that people are not interchangeable, yet we continually pretend that they are anyway — to make life simpler for our reptile brain to comprehend. Deep down we know that people have different passions, skills, and potential, but [...]
Know Your Niche and Grow It
The fifth of our Seven Pillars of a Better Business is “Stick to the knitting – and stand out from the crowd”. Remarkably, nearly nine out of ten businesses who achieve consistent profitable growth achieve that growth by selling more of their existing products/services to their existing customers and other people just like them. The “sticking to the knitting” strategy is all about getting the most possible out of your [...]
Eight ways to generate new product ideas
Wish you could quickly come up with new product ideas for your business? You can. You just need to ask the right questions... 1. Neglected Niches In any industry there will be several niches that, for some reason, have been unattractive to bigger players or perhaps aren’t served at all. How can you serve these customers at a profit? What product or service do they need? For example, a [...]
10 brands that won’t be around in 2012
Products that have stood the test of time for decades are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate 24/7 Wall St. has created a new list of brands that will disappear, which includes Sears, Sony Pictures, American Apparel, Nokia, Saab, A&W All-American Foods Restaurants, Soap Opera Digest, Sony Ericsson, MySpace, and Kellog's Corn Pops. Each year, 24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a list of brands that are going to disappear [...]
Strategic tests from four senior executives
All strategists grapple with the question of how to create and preserve competitive advantage. But individual perspectives are likely to differ, depending on a company’s strategic journey, the industry it’s in, and the idiosyncrasies of the organization. We talked with four current or former senior strategists from diverse corporate environments and markets about their strategic challenges—and came away with four distinct, thought-provoking lists of strategic tests. Download [...]
How to be like Harley: H-D’s tips for building a brand community
Harley-Davidson is almost as famous for its brand community as it is for its motorcycles. So how has it successfully nurtured and supported its passionate customer community for decades? MyCustomer.com spoke with Markus Kramer, director of marketing operations for Harley-Davidson Europe, at European Customer Experience World 2010 to find out what the company's secrets are - and what other brands can learn from the motorcycle giant. Original story here
YouTube generating 2 billion views a day
YouTube is now generating over 2 billion views per day with the average user spending 15 minutes per day on the site according to the video-sharing platform’s latest blog post. http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/3013520.article?cmpid=MWE01&cmptype=newsletter
Some clumsy phrases but fairly helpful
Do some of your customers and prospects treat you like a commodity? If they do, you’re likely competing on price far more than you’d like. Companies and industries that slide into commoditization almost always have a better option. There’s always a way to identify, quantify and communicate significant incremental value and results for your clients that your competitors fail to do. Part of this is in how you approach the [...]
The Fastest Follower is the innovation winner
In our innovation circles, we like to celebrate the pioneers. They are the folks that establish the trail and go where no one has gone before. We highlight their advancements and hold up their accomplishments. But what often goes unsaid or unnoticed is that many pioneers die right on the cusp of success. Who are the ultimate winners? The Fastest Followers (tm).
Focus is the key.
Growth through Focus: A Blueprint for Driving Profitable Expansion Rather than seek increased revenues and profits by expanding products and markets, companies should follow a seven-step strategy for achieving more with less. (PDF viewer/download)
Developing Cross cultural Know-How
Can you drink rice wine with a group of dignitaries in China and stay sober, as a virility challenge? This was the initiation challenge faced by the author, which prompted further elicitation of practical wisdom on global management. Some people see the world as increasingly converging, and in one sense that is right. Go to Shanghai and find Starbucks with a menu very similar to London or Washington or New [...]
A Model of Innovation Resistance
Innovations impose change on the consumer. and resistance to change is a normal consumer response. Not all change is necessarily healthy and resistance on its own merit may be desirable and useful. The vast literature on innovations has predominantly restricted itself to the adoption and diffusion perspectives (Gatignon & Robertson, 1985). In fact, this restricted view extends across the numerous disciplines that have examined the innovation process: rural sociology [...]
Cut Costs, Grow Stronger
To reduce expenses for the long term and lead the way to recovery, start by taking a strategic view of your capabilities. To find out more about cutting costs and growing stronger please click on the link below. Cut Costs, Grow Stronger
How to do a Turnaround in 5 (not so easy) Steps
"I’ve had my fair share of distressed situations over the years, and I know there’s no shortage of turnaround situations in this environment. So I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned from some hard experiences." As an ex-pat active in emerging markets, I’m usually called in when things look pretty bad. I’ve had my fair share of distressed situations over the years, and I know there’s no [...]
What is Disruptive Innovation?
Scott Anthony, co-author of "The Innovator's Guide to Growth" introduces the concept of disruptive innovation.
Michael Porter on Competitiveness
Michael Porter, the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard, addresses the Columbus Partnership on competitiveness for a region and its urban areas.
The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy
An Interview with Michael E. Porter, Professor, Harvard University. Porter's five competitive forces is the basis for much of modern business strategy. Understand the framework and how to put it into practice.
Networking Is More Than Lots of Names
Networking is more than having a hefty collection of business cards and attending A-list parties. Heidi Roizen has been a Silicon Valley CEO, a venture capitalist, and a corporate board member but “the homework never ends,” she told Stanford Graduate School of Business students. Heidi Roizen may be one of the best-connected executives in Silicon Valley, but to get her next "real" job, she had to do her homework. [...]