Demand chain innovation pay-off
Turning a supply chain 180 degrees to become a demand chain is an inordinately difficult organizational challenge, not because it does not make sense, but because it requires organizations and the people in them to be able to see what has always been there, but from...
Accountability of marketing expenditure.
Too often marketing is seen as an expense, to be cut when things are tough. Often this is an outcome of a lack of accountability for results emerging from the investment made in marketing. It is in the interests of marketers to pro-actively take responsibility for...
B2B sales process evolution
Part of a small current assignment is looking for a simple ERP system for a SME client, now too big to rely on spreadsheets and simple accounting packages. Automatically, I went to the web, looking for user groups of similar software, and it got me thinking. The web...
Customer planning with the customer
You would not build a house without a plan, so why would you set out to manage your major customers without some sort of plan. For most businesses, their key customer base is the core of their commercial sustainability, so it is worth investing a few resources to...
The Demand camps and freemium
Demand for a whole host of products appears to be splitting into two camps, the price sensitive camp, and the risk averse camp. What other explanation can there be of the situation where you find people willing to pay for something that is on the net, just a "click"...
Portfolio management from the outside
Currently I am involved in a portfolio management exercise that covers brands, products, and projects on the books for a modest sized but rapidly growing business. A pretty standard exercise that most thoughtful businesses go through on a regular basis as a part of...
Social media, more than just a place to put party photos.
Social media is more than Facebook, Twitter and U-Tube, it is a suite of tools that enables rapid connections to be made, it creates and leverages knowledge, and enables very rapid development of an organisation of those who may be unconnected physically. Imagine,...
Aristotle said we get the government we deserve.
Here I am in a regional NSW town, now a bit late at night, engaged by a client to assist in the strategic development of their business, and after a very long day, lifting my head to discover the premier of the state has changed, again. This follows yesterday, when...
The CEO as Brand Manager.
Building a brand is about the consistency of action thought, and expression over a long period of time, and only the CEO can ensure that this happens. The CEO must be the chief brand manager, as the brand is the business, it is not the packaging, or advertising, it...
What do we want in a leader?
The mess the liberal Party finds itself in is a sad reflection on their collective capacity to address the issues surrounding climate change in a sensible and reasoned manner, at least I think so. It is pretty clear that humans collectively carry a heavy...