Executives’ approach on Social Media

September 18, 2009 at 12:25 · Filed under Social Media and tagged: business development, marketing, Social Media, strategy

After many conversations, articles and researches about Social Media, the conclusion is there’s still an educational and impact gap with regard to Social Media on exec-level which partially is sustained by the overly interest and hype around the phenomenon.As a guide in this article I will refer to an article by eMarketer which is published on the 10th of September. According to the article “Executives and Social Media“, executives value but have concerns towards Social Media.
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Strategic principles in the new E-conomy

August 18, 2009 at 11:20 · Filed under Management and tagged: Business, economy, Management, marketing, strategy

A strategic principle, as defined by Harvard’s article Transforming Corner-Office Strategy into Frontline Action, is:
“A memorable and actionable phrase that distills a company’s corporate strategy into its unique essence and communicates it throughout the organization” and has as goal to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

I strongly believe that for two reasons, strategic principles will become crucial in todays and future’s business:
* Generation Y
* Collaborative & co-creational economy

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The Content – Context Diarchy

August 13, 2009 at 11:02 · Filed under Marketing and tagged: Business, business development, internet, marketing, online, strategy, web 2.0

A diarchy is a form of governing by two rulers, diarchies are known for instance from ancient Sparta and Rome and is one of the oldest types of government.
The Spartan diarchy is suggested to be a solution for: a struggle between two Spartan families or to stay away from an absolutistic ruling.
The distribution of power amongst content and context is meant to prevent a struggle between two forces and meant to avoid focus of attention and power of either content or context exclusively. Emphasis, focus and importance on both intertwined is the key.
When reflecting on diarchies and thinking about it in relation to the current phase of the Internet evolution, not only the Content is King (as often is written), but the Context needs to be acknowledged and treated equally influencing as the second valid King in the diarchal rulership over the Internet and business landscape.

This evolution is certainly not new, business already undergo these transitional phases.
First there was the production oriented era, then the sales oriented era (think of Ford and his quote in his autobiography “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black“). Then came the realization and insight that marketing management was needed to have a clearer understanding of the context (marketing oriented era).
Marketing evolved from inward focus (organization) to outward focus (consumer), this is exactly what the Internet evolution is going through as well and forcing businesses to adapt.
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Reflection: “Digital Darwinism”

July 27, 2009 at 11:54 · Filed under Reviews and tagged: Business, innovation, marketing, review, strategy, Technology, web 2.0

Article: “Digital Darwinism”
Source: Strategy+Business

An extensive report with a global (meta-) insight on the evolution of marketing, the E-conomy, the conducting of  business and the role of the consumer.

The title is suitable due to the fact that the marketing ecosystem (as the article calls it) is at an evolutionary threshold.
The transformation is occuring rapidly, those who adapt fast, who understand the new environment and the place of their prosumers will thrive, those who adapt slowly will encounter many challenges and possibly won’t survive.

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The 3 Fundaments of Online Strategy

July 16, 2009 at 09:45 · Filed under Marketing and tagged: Business, marketing, online, strategy

The Online Strategy encompasses those elements of the business- and marketing strategy that must be employed to contribute efficiently and effectively to its goals.

As for all strategies, the Online Strategy should consider the brand, the target audience, products & services and the positioning of the brand. ( read also The Content – Context Diarchy to understand the relation between offer and context in the online landscape )
Be it on an overarching level or on execution level (see the three parts below), consistency is key to achieve brand recognition.
It’s tempting to divert from this focus because the Internet offers lots of possibilities which can be applied, but not neccesarily relevant and this non-relevancy might cause a distanciation of the target audience.

 The online strategy for your business can be divided in three main fundaments:
* Website Strategy
* Internet Strategy
* Social Strategy
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Reflection: “The consumer decision journey”

July 11, 2009 at 19:15 · Filed under Reviews and tagged: Business, business development, marketing, Social Media, strategy

Article: “The consumer decision journey”
Source: McKinsey

McKinsey did an extensive research on three continents, several industries and 20000 customers.
The cyclic Consumer Decision Journey isn’t groundbreaking, I’d say it’s an affirmation -from a company as McKinsey- of what is already known for a while but not carried out in mainstream business strategies.
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Reflection: “For Every Optimization, There’s a Pyramid, So Get Started”

July 10, 2009 at 12:07 · Filed under Reviews and tagged: internet, marketing, optimization, strategy, website

Article: “For Every Optimization, There’s a Pyramid, So Get Started”
Source: GrokDotCom

The want-to-do-it-right-at-once mentality creates a slower optimization path and process whilst incremental optimization is accountable, less expensive and risky.

The article shows a pyramid of five levels:
* Functional
* Accessible
* Usable
* Intuitive
* Persuasive

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Reflection: “Rare Peek at Riches of Past in Rome”

July 8, 2009 at 21:45 · Filed under Reviews and tagged: Business, culture, Mos Maiorum, Roman, strategy

Article: “Rare Peek at Riches of Past in Rome”
Source: The New York Times

Rome’s archaeological authorities have reallocated money to open five monuments which are usually closed, in response to budget cuts.

The monuments in question are:
* House of Livia
* House of Gryphons
* Temple of Romulus (it was probably the Temple of Jupiter Stator)
* Oratory of the 40 Martyrs
* Loggia Mattei

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Reflection: “Priced to sell, is Free the future?”

July 7, 2009 at 20:31 · Filed under Reviews and tagged: Business, innovation, marketing, strategy

Article: “Priced to sell, is Free the future?”
Source: The New Yorker

Article which reviews in extent Chris Anderson’s book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price”.
The radical pressure on prices on all things “made of ideas” is an iron law to mr. Anderson.

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Marketing’s fifth P on steroids

July 6, 2009 at 12:12 · Filed under Marketing and tagged: Business, marketing, Social Media, strategy

As the CEO of Cisco said in an interview, the new paradigm will change the way business is and will be conducted, the fifth P, People also undergoes changes and it creates more oppertunities than ever before.

The term Wikinomics comes to my mind. The trend to outsource processes and functions, and utilize the intelligence of (a set of) the Internet population.

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