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Strategy & Operating Notes

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    How to juice quarters, Amazon vs Groupon: a cautionary tale

    The contrast between short and long term vision.

    On the Groupon spam cannon:

    dude, that’s why this quarter is soft, because we did that last quarter.

    And he’s like, I don’t care. Send the email. Fix it next quarter.

    Harvesting short-term revenue numbers usually comes at the expense of long-term brand value and trust.

    (start the video at the beginning for interesting facts about the economics of airports)

    ∞

    Are You Smarter Than Your Customers?

    Brands are acts of co-creation.
    & brands are built upon and defined by what they sell.

    a “product” or a “service” is defined by the customer, not by the producer.
    It needs to work continuously on challenging itself in respect to the utility and value that its products or services contribute to customers.

    As the old saw goes, the customer is always right.

    The greatest danger…is to “know better” than the customer
    what the product or service is or should be, how it should be bought, and what it should be used for.

    The act of shopping is the seeking of transformation, but one of their choosing. Not one that is defined for them (that is for doctors and advisors).

    Businesses are not paid to reform customers. They are paid to satisfy customers.

    The real work is not in finding customers. It’s in embracing the customers that find you.

    via The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker 📚

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    Things can look great on paper. But paper isn’t reality.

    The longer something is just on paper, the less you’re learning.

    As Jaylen Brown said, throw the ball up.

    ∞

    What’s Your Strategy In 3 Words or Less?

    Many strategies contain multiple ideas, but cohesive strategies can boil everything down to one organizing principle.

    There is no universal principle*.

    It is hard to both focus and diversify.
    Or expand and simplify.
    Or change the experience and create a new primary channel.

    If the principle changes, your strategy needs to change too.

    *growth doesn’t count. It’s the outcome, not the foundation.

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    Sometimes you don’t need to strategize or analyze or “dig in and ideate a plan.”

    Sometimes you just need to put your head down and grind.

    Ideas without execution are like opinions; everyone has them and few people care.

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    What loop is your marketing stuck in?
    What groove should you be locked in?

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    What is it your brand actually offers?

    Not the product category or service line or buzzword. Or, god forbid, the “lifestyle”.

    Why do people choose you?

    What is your house speciality?

    ∞

    Brands invest time thinking about their message and how to reach people.

    But what happens if they find you through a channel you didn’t plan for?

    Or join halfway through your carefully crafted funnel?

    Or start at the end and work back to the beginning?

    Is your brand consistent from all angles?

    ∞

    But what do you want your audience to do?

    ∞

    Not talking about something doesn’t mean a story isn’t told about it.

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