Would you like to destroy the competition in your field?
That should be everyone’s aim, but how to go about it!
Read what Steve Tobak has to say about this important subject (June 2009). He is a marketing and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley -- a 20-plus year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies:
“An exasperated CEO stood up in the board meeting and exclaimed, “Is that all you marketing &#*$s know how to do, compete on price?!”
Before you get too excited, that CEO was cursing at me. And no, that wasn’t all I knew how to do. But he did have a point, and it’s even more relevant now than it was back then. In today’s marketplace where everybody’s competing for the same shrinking budget and differentiation is hard to come by, marketers often think of price as their only lever.
That’s just incompetent marketing, plain and simple.
There are lots of ways to differentiate a product. You can even create the perception of differentiation, if you’re creative enough. It’s called product positioning and it’s something of an art.
Here are Five fundamental product positioning principles that will help you destroy the competition:
1. Find a product attribute that captures the customer’s imagination.
2. Market share gains are expensive.
3. Reinvent the “customer experience”.
4. Only target up, not down the totem pole.
5. Infrastructure (or ecosystem) as a competitive barrier.”
(To read the complete paper, go to http://blogs.bnet.com/ceo/?p=2316&tag=nl.e713)
What does this have to do with innovation?
Everything.
Innovation is not just about creative thinking – it is about making it real, making it possible.
It is about finding strategies to create products that will achieve the desired product positioning.
It is about more than price.
It is about working in a team -- not in isolation.
It is about multiple disciplines and numerous perspectives getting the job done.
This is the role and importance of "Innovation" -- and NO -- it does not just apply to the automotive industry. It is true of any innovation in any industry -- also the food- and beverage industry.
Jun 15, 2009
Apr 20, 2009
Innovate your professional image!
Did you think that innovation only applied to business? Think again -- what about your professional image. How do you project yourself as a professional in the business world. What about the issues that influence your perceived inage? Read this interesting paper on creating a positive professional image, published in 2005 on the Harvard Business School Working Business site.
Interviewed, is Laura Morgan Roberts
Published: June 20, 2005
The interviewer and author is Mallory Stark
Here is the executive summary quoted from the article:
"People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace," she [Laura Morgan Robers] says. "It is only wise to add your voice in framing others' theories about who you are and what you can accomplish."
There are plenty of books telling you how to "dress for success" and control your body language. But keeping on top of your personal traits is only part of the story of managing your professional image, says Roberts. You also belong to a social identity group—African American male, working mother—that brings its own stereotyping from the people you work with, especially in today's diverse workplaces. You can put on a suit and cut your hair to improve your appearance, but how do you manage something like skin color?
Roberts will present her research, called "Changing Faces: Professional Image Construction in Diverse Organizational Settings," in the October issue of the Academy of Management Review."
To read more about the interview, go to:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4860.html
cmblignaut@ewklibrary.com
Interviewed, is Laura Morgan Roberts
Published: June 20, 2005
The interviewer and author is Mallory Stark
Here is the executive summary quoted from the article:
"People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment, which are rapidly disseminated throughout your workplace," she [Laura Morgan Robers] says. "It is only wise to add your voice in framing others' theories about who you are and what you can accomplish."
There are plenty of books telling you how to "dress for success" and control your body language. But keeping on top of your personal traits is only part of the story of managing your professional image, says Roberts. You also belong to a social identity group—African American male, working mother—that brings its own stereotyping from the people you work with, especially in today's diverse workplaces. You can put on a suit and cut your hair to improve your appearance, but how do you manage something like skin color?
Roberts will present her research, called "Changing Faces: Professional Image Construction in Diverse Organizational Settings," in the October issue of the Academy of Management Review."
To read more about the interview, go to:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4860.html
cmblignaut@ewklibrary.com
Apr 15, 2009
Trends
Many readers would like to know more about trends.
Take a new look at the blog!
New 'gadgets' were added to place different trends (especially trends in food) at your fingertips. Innovation starts with an idea -- it can also start by searching for trends.
Find out what people are interested in.
Find out about their lives!
It makes for interesting reading.
CMB
Take a new look at the blog!
New 'gadgets' were added to place different trends (especially trends in food) at your fingertips. Innovation starts with an idea -- it can also start by searching for trends.
Find out what people are interested in.
Find out about their lives!
It makes for interesting reading.
CMB
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