Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

Meet The Boss

From visionary entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 CEOs, MeetTheBoss TV interviews focus on the business challenges that matter today, clearly explaining the solutions, competitive strategies, people, and thinking around them.

All this week, B2B International is sponsoring the latest thoughts from business leaders around the world:

• Vinton Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google – the so-called “Father of the Internet”, discusses the power of Google, the impact the recession has had on the Internet and what the future holds for how we use the Web
• Ozwald Boateng, OBE, talks about the business of fashion and how to bring something unique to the world of business
• Eric Ryan, Founder, Method, explains how to create a solid corporate culture and discusses how culture drives leadership
• Anne Sweeney, Co-Chairman, Disney talks about being ‘The Most Powerful Woman In Television’ and how to sustain success in a cut-throat industry
• Don Knauss, CEO of Clorox, explains why effective communication is critical to business success
• Nick Hague, Director of B2B International, talks about the importance of market intelligence, how to build your market position and how to target your customers more effectively

Here are just 10 of the many key skills explained on Meet The Boss TV:

1. How leaders interpret situations and what they learn
2. How to develop the next generation of business leader
3. Proven, key strategies to improve innovative thinking
4. How to keep energy levels high in your sales team
5. How to deliver an effective marketing message
6. What companies want from today’s technology leaders
7. How to win hearts and minds during company-wide transformation
8. How to kill projects AND win internal battles
9. Proven, key strategies to make social media work for you
10. Personal management systems and what really gets results

Click on the following link – Meet The Boss TV to listen to this week’s business leaders

Posted in Leadership, Market Intelligence, Nick Hague, Television |
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Chicken Biryani and B2B Marketing

Paul Hague this week reflects on how an understanding of the decision making process in everyday life helps us to better understand and influence the decision making process of our prospective customers.

I was out for dinner the other evening with a colleague and we were eating in an Indian restaurant. The restaurant had the usual extensive menu we have come to expect in such places. Now I’ve got to thinking that restaurants would be an excellent place to segment people. Who takes the lead and calls the waiter? What do people look for when choosing a meal? How influenced are they by price, the specialties and variety? How much information do they need to make their choice? How decisive are they? Do they stick to their choice or does it get changed at the last minute?

My colleague sat happily chatting and would never have looked at the menu if I hadn’t suggested that we take a couple of minutes to look it over and place our order. After a good five minutes of puzzling she quizzed the waiter about every type of rice on the menu, enquired how the sauces were served, and queried the provenance of just about every meat and fish dish. Then, just as I thought we had game, set and match, she called the waiter back and chose something completely different. A man from Mars would, without hesitation, have put her into the bucket of ditherers.

And the man from Mars would have been completely wrong. I know this person well and she is a high-flying consultant in human resources. She commands a daily rate that makes my eyes water and is courted by some of the largest corporates in the country for her decisive advice. With her considerable riches she has recently moved into a palatial new home, bought a sizeable Mercedes as her main car and a little Citroën as a runabout. How is it that a powerful woman who can instruct a board of directors on what they should do to avoid mass disruption in a workforce and who can readily invest thousands of pounds in bricks, mortar and metal, cannot order a chicken biryani?

This paradox got me thinking about decision making. How do we choose things? How do we decide what actions to take from something as simple as a meal in a restaurant to an investment in a company?

Every decision is driven by a need – an objective, if you like. Somehow our brains synthesise the available information and guide the best course of action; the decision. It may appear strange that the decision to buy a house, the biggest investment most of us ever will make, is often based on a couple of visits to the house, an hour or two walking round it and some dodgy advice from an estate agent. If we analyse the cost per minute of the house investment decision versus the cost per minute of the chicken tikka masala decision, we see a difference of at least 1,000 to 1. It is clearly out of proportion.

So what is going on? When we buy a house or a car, we very quickly narrow the options down to just five or six choices with our final selection based on a critical issue. In the case of the Indian meal, there is an overload of information. There may be little to choose between the different meals and, let’s face it, any of the options would be reasonably acceptable. There is too much choice and too much information to synthesise for a very modest return.

I am reminded of a story that I heard years ago about Tootal, who used to be one of the largest manufacturers of ties in the UK. Tootal had a range of ties that was so large it would have embarrassed Sainsbury’s toothpaste display. They reduced it to the 35 best sellers and lo and behold, sales increased and profits rocketed. They made decision making easier; they simplified choice.

The insight I share with you is one of the most crucial in b2b marketing. We need to help customers make their choice – and we need to make sure it is in our direction. To do this we need to understand how our customers are different, we need to recognise their different needs and, now the difficult bit – we must be strong in simplifying our offer so that it resonates better than any others with what they are looking for. If we do this, our products will stand out, they will be snapped up by those who like them and, of equal importance, they will be rejected by those who are looking for something else. And we will all get home earlier.

Read more about the subjects touched in today’s Thursday Night Insight in our following white papers:

Why Is Business-To-Business Marketing Special?
Market Segmentation in B2B Markets

Posted in Decision making, Leadership, Management, Needs, Paul Hague, Thursday Night Insight |
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10 Tips for Success

We’re all looking for hints and tips on what we can be doing right now to ensure we see out the economic turbulence.  Bob Liodice, President-CEO of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers, Inc.) has recently published 10 golden rules to remember when times are tough:

1. Passion And Leadership Are Imperative
The most successful brands are headed up by strong, visible and vocal leaders, who have total belief in the business, the brand, and what it represents.  Such passion is inspiring and infectious; it will spread to others in the organization, who then all play their part in ensuring success.

2. Invest In The Brand And Be Courageous
Now is not the time to cut corners.  Time and time again, studies show that organizations that increase their marketing spend in a recession are more likely than their competitors to grow their market share, increase their margins, and experience better long-term growth.

3. Let Creativity Fly
Now is the time to be innovative.  Customer insights and market knowledge can be used to come up with breakthrough ideas, which might be just the very solution your customers are looking for at present.

4. Develop Trust And Connectivity
Speak to your clients and find out what they need.  Connect with them – and certainly don’t abandon them.  If you can give them what they need and build their trust, they could become loyal customers forever.

5. Integrate All Communications
Employ a consistent message across a mixture of platforms and channels in order to effectively reach your consumer base.

6. Be Accountable
Now is a great time to measure, review and evaluate your activities to make sure that you’re doing the best things in the best ways.  Marketing, market research and finance departments should all work together, and be both responsible and accountable for their actions.

7. Invest In People
Don’t forget the value of your employees – they can make all the difference to your bottom line.  Build their skills, build their capabilities, and build their knowledge.  Take to time to ensure that they understand and embrace your organization’s philosophy.

8. Trust Your Agencies
You agencies are your ultimate ‘brand consultants’; work with them to formulate strategies, and to develop new creatives and ideas.

9. Strengthen The Marketing Supply Chain
Be aggressive in your pursuit for higher efficiency and productivity.

10. Be Socially Responsible
Your consumers will notice and reward you for ‘doing the right thing’.  And, they will certainly notice if you stop doing the right thing.  Think about the bigger picture.

Posted in Advertising Research, Branding, Leadership, Marketing, Supply Chain |
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