Just when I thought that I had learned everything there is to learn about marketing, I get reminded of a marketing altruism that I have forgotten.
It sounds so simple for indeed it is. For those of us in the profession, it is so easy to get caught up in the different exciting and powerful aspects of brand building that often we lose focus on the customer and we end up releasing material that makes our brand the hero. Perhaps, it is no wonder why some launch and even multi-million peso advertising campaigns fail to catch fire. This is because far from focusing on the customer the campaign has focused on the brand or worse, on the technical details of the advertising campaign.Marketing is about making the customer the HERO.
Anyhow, here are a couple more points I brought home from the class discussions:
- Innovation must be a winner across the value chain to ensure acceptance and ensure limited or no resistance
- As a senior leader in one's organization it is so easy to lose sight of one's responsibility to act in the best interest of the shareholders, the trappings of power can sometimes make people inward looking
- Any business must be able to answer this question convincingly - who are you and why must you matter to the customer?
- Intense business competition does not need to be a zero sum game - when done smartly it can result in market expansion
- There are 4 corporate drivers of shareholder value - the firm's strategic business design, efficiency of asset use, reward system and corporate culture, and capital structure and cost of capital
- Value based (read: EVA) is becoming a pervasive philosophy in many successful companies, replacing traditional metrics such as EPS, etc.
Confused Weather
The weather in Boston is in a strange place right now. It cannot seem to make up its mind on whether it wants to be winter or spring. Hence, I have in my cabinet winter clothes and spring clothes. One of my classmates even brought 5 suitcases of different clothing.
Anyhow, back to the salt mines for me yet again! In the meantime, let me leave you with pictures of confused plants. Even they can't tell if it's still winter or already spring.
