The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is outwardly focused always looking at the market and customers- right? Wrong if you see the recent ouster of Joel Ewanick the CMO at GM
Category Archives: Culture
Character not personality: why 7-Habits Steven Covey is followed across the globe
7-Habits author Steven Covey passed away yesterday and it was just the previous week when a friend and visiting Indian CEO mentioned that Steven Covey’s 7 Habits is a great inspiration for him. And this was before the news of Covey’s passing so it led to this post about why Steven Covey’s ideas resonate across countries and cultures.
The Smiley Curve of Innovation-celebrating the American spirit 4th of July
This is the July 4th weekend in America and celebrations are underway – and it's a great time to think about the Smiley Curve of Innovation. The Smiley Curve came to my attention reading Fareed Zakaria's great book "The Post-American World," and here are some thoughts on "The Smiley Curve of Innovation " this AmericanContinue reading “The Smiley Curve of Innovation-celebrating the American spirit 4th of July”
Stopping J.C. Penney Coupons was a bit like introducing New Coke
The troubles at JC Penney that started with stopping coupons in February sort of reminds one of the New Coke fiasco. In both cases company leaders misjudged what their brand really means to their customer. Here is what happened: JCPenney marketing folks figured that their customers hated all those coupons and keeping track of theContinue reading “Stopping J.C. Penney Coupons was a bit like introducing New Coke”
Innovation in video gaming to go mobile and social: the monetizing challenge
The E3 trade show for computer,video games and related products has got underway at Los Angeles. And there is excitement around developing mobile and social gaming applications amidst the monetizing challenge of these apps. The buzz around mobile and social apps tie in to the changing behavior of gamers who are moving out of controllers,Continue reading “Innovation in video gaming to go mobile and social: the monetizing challenge”
Why is execution so difficult and strategy so easy?
Why is execution so difficult and strategy formulation so easy? This is one of those perennial management and leadership questions. A question that legendary managers like Jack Welch emphasizes and thought leaders like Ram Charan have been writing about. Somehow execution is equated with “tactics” and numerous budding managers and leaders are constantly told about being more strategic- as if great strategy alone will get things done. Here are some thoughts on bridging the strategy to execution challenge:
Innovation and creativity: comes from engaged and caring employees
Numerous organizations in a variety of cultures keep pointing at one critical enabler of innovation. Engaged and caring employees who care for each other, their customers, suppliers and stake holders. For only those who care,care to really listen. And that converts ideas into products and services- that can be profitably implemented. Employee engagement is hardContinue reading “Innovation and creativity: comes from engaged and caring employees”
Organizational bases of power: what’s up and what’s down with the Internet ?
"Power" in distribution channels is a fascinating topic and so is the notion of organizational power on which Jeffery Pfeffer had a book out that this blog discussed in an earlier post. But this post is about the six bases of power (see the lower part of the Wikipedia page) that seem to be changingContinue reading “Organizational bases of power: what’s up and what’s down with the Internet ?”
Why Encyclopedia Britannica took twenty years to go digital- the sales force angle
Finally, Encyclopedia Britannica has gone digital (Reuters 2012) And it took 20 years for the 200 year old organization to do so.Above is a 1988 TV commercial and you can see the PC in evidence. PC makers were already giving free Grolier Encyclopedia discs alongwith the IBM PC’s that came with Windows DOS. But BritannicaContinue reading “Why Encyclopedia Britannica took twenty years to go digital- the sales force angle”
Marketing is about segmenting and diversity is about *not* segmenting
Marketing is all about segmenting so that you have viable “buckets” of customers for whom you can develop product or service offerings, get a reasonable price as you communicate your offering and deliver it without excessive cost. “Stereotyping” is thus at the heart of conventional marketing and it is “stereotyping” that is at the core of diversity issues in organizations.