The problem with marketing
'Marketing' means many different things to different people. Therefore, a conversation that seeks to allocate marketing resources in the optimal manner is bound to be flawed. To a plant manager, 'marketing' means the money spent to generate orders to keep his plant...
The gestation period of innovation
Usually the term 'gestation period' the time between conception and birth, is used for mammals, but it is just as relevant for innovation. In the animal world, it is a fixed and consistent period for each species, varying from the 12 days it takes the Virginian...
Is RevGen the new functional silo?
In many major companies, there has been a number of new positions created in the last decade to try and accommodate the changes in the strategic and competitive environment. Among them has been the 'Chief Revenue Officer' (CRO) In some cases, this...
Why is strategy so messy?
Strategy is an exercise of informed fortune telling. What will happen if we do this? Is that better than if we do that? How will others react, do the ducks really all align the way they seem to? A thousand questions we set out to answer to allocate our...
The incongruity of innovation funding
When are the funds for an innovation initiative generally available? At the beginning of a project. When are the funds for an innovation project generally needed? Increasingly towards the commercialisation, or completion of a project. To me, this usual pattern...
Embrace the uncertainty in making that tough decision.
Black and white thinking is easy, there is right and wrong, you decide which side of the fence you are on, and stick to it. Luckily, life is not like that. Life is a mass collision of colours, ambiguity built on ambiguity, built on uncertainty. That is what...
9 strategies for more impactful decisions
We are in a climate of uncertainty. The next twist in the Corona pandemic, war in Europe, confrontation with China, and the daily scrambling at all levels of government, stacked onto the usual challenges of making decisions in a business, all make the current...
Earnouts, payouts and pitfalls of SMEs engaging in M&A.
Covid has led to quite a bit of M&A activity amongst the difficulties of trading. I know several 'baby boomers' who have just packed up and left. A number have sold businesses they previously intended to continue for a while, and leave ongoing...
The importance of what we cannot measure
Psychology drives our behaviour, and yet we struggle miserably to forecast the impact it will have. Therefore, we cannot predict behaviour with any real accuracy, except with the benefit of hindsight, or across the average, assuming we ask the right questions....
The single biggest challenge in marketing analytics?
Almost every marketing so called guru, yours truly included, will bang on about calculating an ROI from your investment in marketing. Marketing like any other investment should seek a return, and there should be accountability for those numbers. Almost nobody...