Sep 28, 2010 | Branding, Communication, Customers, Social Media
Social media, as I keep saying, has changed the rules completely.
In the pre-digital days of mass marketing, the consumer simply ignored most of the stuff thrown at them, and there was no genuinely effective mechanism to measure the waste.
Now, using the tools of the web the task has changed, as we can measure many dimensions of a messages effectiveness very quickly, and effectively, so the waste is measurable, and the degree of engagement, or “opt-in” becomes a key performance measure of marketing.
This is a whole lot harder than going to lunch with the ad agency, and then just throwing money at the TV or popular magazine in the hope that some of it would stick, as we can now measure not just awareness, but the degree of consumer “opt-in” any communication generates.
Sep 27, 2010 | Management, OE, Operations
Continuous improvement initiatives I have seen almost always impose a “finishing line”, correctly believing that focusing on an objective is a key to motivate performance.
However, what they often miss in this approach to improvement is the cultural aspect of continuous improvement, the recognition that there is no finishing line, just the next challenge, and the real management challenge is to build a capacity to improve continuously as a foundation of the culture of the business,not just to address the current issue.
Another of the many paradox’s that exist in our world, to motivate, have a goal, but having a goal other than an inbuilt desire to do it better today than you did yesterday, can be counter-productive
Sep 27, 2010 | Customers, Marketing, Social Media
If you ever needed evidence of the power of social tools on the net to influence your brands, look at what is happening currently to the Wyeth S26 baby formula.
Greenpeace did a couple of tests that indicated there may be genetically modified ingredients in S26, a news program picked up on the tests, and overnight, the “twittersphere” is overrun with negative comments, and I am sure health Minister Nicola Roxons in-box is full.
Wyeth is yet to respond, at least as far as I have seen. Only 24 hours, and the damage to S26, a brand that has taken 25 years to build, has been trashed. If you have not got contingency plans in place to counter this when it happens to you, I think you are mad!
Sep 26, 2010 | Demand chains, Management, Operations, Strategy
A while ago I wrote that there seemed to be the beginnings of some thinking amongst the smaller manufacturing operations I interact with about the relative value of manufacturing in high cost Australia, and retaining control of, and having the opportunity to develop, the intellectual capital involved, rather than sending manufacturing offshore in pursuit of lower costs.
I came across this article reflecting the same view, but amongst some of the biggest manufacturers in the US, and it also reflects the beginnings of this trend.
In Australia, we have let our trade skills erode so dramatically over the last 25 years that if we do start to see some sophisticated manufacturing return to our shores, and the obvious contender is photo-voltaic cells, now almost exclusively manufactured in China with Australian technology, we may not have the technical manufacturing skills to deliver.
If this nascent trend does harden, it will usher in a huge gap in our operational skills capability, one that will take a generation or more to fix, and most importantly to any solution, we need a recognition by federal and state politicians that we have a problem bigger than the next election cycle. The long term investment in education and the culture changes necessary will add another big chunk of time to the reaction, possibly a generation.
Sep 23, 2010 | Leadership, Management
Much of the typical managers time is spent ensuring and managing compliance, ensuring the rules are followed, the standards and timetables are met.
This is all fine, and must happen, but where does the balance between compliance and engagement happen?
We are asking stakeholders, particularly employees, to bring their brains to work, but often ensuring they do not use them because there are rules in place that need to be followed.
It is becoming pretty clear that the old carrot and stick management methods do not work in an environment where creativity and the unorthodox is the priority, to be effective, you need engagement, you need the right side of peoples brains to be at work.
Constantly we are being called on to be innovative, creative, to think outside the box, to seek the differentiator, and participate in a “clever country” but our whole system of education from kindergarten to post graduate, our public administration, and our career planning is geared to conformity in order to get ahead.
There is a paradox here that the post industrial age economies need to come to grips with.
