This post explains why businesses and customers look for 5-star reviews, how “fake it till you make it” works for companies and individuals, Why in the digital big data world, fake reviews will be found, and finally some tips to protect yourself; in the meanwhile, from fake reviews.
Category Archives: Corporate Social Responsibility
Why Authentic Value Proposition ?
The lingering pandemic, the Ukraine war, supply chain problems and inflation has all types of organizations reviewing their “value” proposition. The idea of an explicit contract in B2B and an implicit contract in B2C used to involve fewer parties. If there was a serious dispute there was arbitration, courts or government regulators who would step in and try to sort things out. No longer true in the world of instant social media. Think of Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase situation.
For everyday business it’s simply keeping your promises to your customers. To be fair, our experience is that Elon Musk is pretty good with Tesla in keeping customer promises. No matter how the Twitter acquisition plays out.
Since marketing is about customer value, it’s important to clarify the idea of value proposition in these challenging times:
Purpose of a Corporation : What every American needs to know
The most exciting thing for business over the 2019 summer was when the Business Roundtable put out a Statement on the “Purpose of the Corporation.” Signed by 181 American CEO’s all of whose brands are well known to consumers or businesses, the statement reflects the changing times. Download the Roundtable Statement here and check out the 181 signatures from many CEO’s of companies you are already familiar with.American politicians have been telling us what we know to be true – the “American Dream” eludes most folks today due to rapid changes in globalization and technology. Thankfully, leaders of American businesses have taken notice and have decided to move their focus from the “next quarter” to “long term shareholder value” on the shareholder element and have included all stakeholders in the “Purpose of the Corporation”. The times have truly changed in the last decade with all stakeholders having a voice on social media and the old dictum of “just focus on shareholder (short-term) value” can no longer work. See Eric Posner’s article “Milton Friedman was wrong” in the Atlantic.
Five Tips to align your Website content to your Annual Report
A recent LinkedIn post discussed how there seems to be significant differences between what the biggest companies say on their websites and what they put out on the annual report. Naturally, the annual report is the more recent management thinking on all matters of the organization. In the pre-Google world one could argue that theContinue reading “Five Tips to align your Website content to your Annual Report”
Non-Profits must start preparing for 2014 giving season- A look at High Net Worth Donors
The US charitable giving season corresponds to the Thanksgiving-New Year period and now is a great time to start preparing for the 2014 giving season. With about 1.5 Million non-profts – think of any social cause- and there are hundreds if not thousands of charities operating in that space offering stiff competition for donor dollars.Continue reading “Non-Profits must start preparing for 2014 giving season- A look at High Net Worth Donors”
Of 2013 resolutions: being outward oriented towards those you serve
This post is inspired by an Indian music radio station that was assuring its listeners that 2013 is "two thousand tera" (tera is yours in Hindi and also means thirteen– thus two thousand tera). All music to be played in 2013 was going to be what listeners wanted and liked- the announcer said as the NewContinue reading “Of 2013 resolutions: being outward oriented towards those you serve”
“Unwatering” New York subway tunnels within days: US Army Core of Engineers
Imagine the New York subways with 300-400 million gallons of water after Hurricane Sandy. Well, the US Army Core of Engineers "Unwatering" team are at New York and expect to get all this water out in a matter of days pumping through about a mile of subway at a time. The Unwatering team gets itsContinue reading ““Unwatering” New York subway tunnels within days: US Army Core of Engineers”
Sustainable Innovations : the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) approach of OECD
It's hard to wrap your mind around the concept of sustainable innovation and the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) of the OECD is a nice way to think about it. So what is sustainability? Well, it is how you use the earth's resources and what you will leave your grand and great grandchildren! Sounds simple and rhetorical butContinue reading “Sustainable Innovations : the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) approach of OECD”
Sustainable innovation in the supply chain: over 2 kilos of trash/person/day
According to the EPA in 2010 each person in the US put out Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)- popularly known as garbage/trash equal to 4.43 lb or over 2 kilos per day. If you look at the number of garbage cans on the weekly trash collection days- you know that the number has not decreased andContinue reading “Sustainable innovation in the supply chain: over 2 kilos of trash/person/day”
Kraljic Model: Reducing risk perceptions and the 2009 Hyundai Assurance Program
The 2009 Hyundai Assurance Program is a great illustration of reducing risk perceptions even in B2C (Business to Consumer) situations. Keep in mind that the Kraljic model was originally developed to understand B2B (Business to Business) buying behavior. Kind of like relationship marketing that B2B marketers always practiced and B2C marketers have enthusiastically adopted – more as technology allowed easy availability of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and SFA (Sales Force Automation).