http://www.inside-out.co.nzBusiness Plans, Marketing & Online Consultantshttp://www.inside-out.co.nz/Blogs/Strategic Planning/6/176/Business Innovation versus Imitation - the case for change.aspx
There are primarily two ways of doing this, either through imitation or innovation. Standing still isn’t an option, so to move forward you can either take the best of what is out there or try to innovate and come up with something truly original, truly new.

Both of these approaches require you to understand the market, your competitors and your customers. Imitation stops here though and looks to take the best on offer and consolidate that into an offering that fits with the businesses customer mix. Imitation is relatively easy and fast, imitation is cheaper because you know what you’re going to try can be done. The implementation risk is smaller, however the market execution risk is higher.

There are many examples of Innovators and Imitators. The following two examples show the difference in sales an innovator enjoys. Firstly look at the Apple iPod and Microsoft’s Zune. The Zune by all accounts is a perfectly acceptable piece of hardware but sales have never taken off. Since launch Apple had sold 170m iPods by the end of 2008, Microsoft in comparison had sold 3m.

The other example is the way Nintendo have innovated against Playstation and Xbox with the Wii. Instead of competing on hardware specs they did something different and developed a whole new gaming experience and in the process captured the largest share in this competitive market. While Xbox and Playstation battle it out by being very simple, Wii has extended there sales by being different. In 2008 sales were Wii 10.2m units, Xbox 4.7m units and PS3 3.5m units.

There are regional imitation examples, look at Redbull and in many markets you will find local imitators, V for instance in New Zealand. Another local beverage example can be found in the competitive beer market. Lion Nathan has had a huge success with Steinlager Pure and has reinvigorating a stagnant brand. But with this success comes imitators, Independent Liquors “NZ Pure” taking things a little too far perhaps - clearly copying not only Steinlager but also dropping a Heineken star reference into their design too.

Innovation clearly requires more effort. Once you have looked at the best that the market is offering you need to stop and sit back. You need time to think and play with your business and your products or services. You need to think about what would make your customers lives easier, better, faster, cheaper. What is really important to them. This process take some time but it’s surprising what you can do relatively quickly and for relatively little investment.

What you do need however is a commitment to make that investment in time. To stop and challenge the team to do something better. You can’t do innovation alone, it’s better to do it with a small team to bounce ideas around, stretch yourselves and be creative. A number of businesses have innovation processes that allow their teams to work on whatever they think will add value to the organisation. Google has 20% time - a full day a week you can devote to a project that will make google better. WL Gore, the manufacturers of GoreTex have a similar programme. You can read a great case study of their innovation culture in fastcompany.

Imitation can be a valid strategy in some circumstance. Perhaps if you’re looking to just be a regional competitor. You might be operating in a small country or small town, in this situation imitating and taking the best of Brand X or Brand Y to remain current and competitive is a valid strategy. That is until an innovator comes to operate in your market and then you’ll be a step behind and in trouble.

The point I’m making is you have a choice, we all need to choose how we move forward. Do we imitate or innovate. This is a choice for settling for the status quo or striving for greatness. One path will lead to survival the other path could revolutionise your business.

]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:36:43 GMThttp://www.inside-out.co.nz/Blogs/Branding/2/174/My Social Media Mistakes in 140 Characters....aspxLinkedIn and Facebook to varying degrees and have been blogging for a number of years, so I’m not new to social media. But I was surprised by the change to my business day when I started using Twitter.

Twitter doesn't seem much at first. Short messages of 140 characters from people you follow. However it does profoundly change things, some good, some bad. You better take notice though because I don’t think it’s going away. Here’s my thoughts and my mistakes so far;

1. Each Social Media Site is different and has it’s place. Now when you start looking at all the different social media sites it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. However there are generally many categories of sites; business sites (linkedin, plaxo and many more...), personal sites (facebook, bebo, myspace), bookmarking sites (digg, technorati, stumbleupon etc), then you have video with YouTube and Twitter which which is just different.
2. How Twitter is Different - The main difference between say LinkedIn or Facebook and Twitter is in the social group you form. Whereas LinkedIn or Facebook are groups of “friends” who have to request the links and then be approved, on Twitter you just follow people. This makes a huge difference. Just to make this clear I can follow Barack Obama, he doesn’t have to approve me as a friend, I just follow him and twitter is his outlet to his 2 million followers. My experience is that Twitter is more about influencing and spreading ideas. Not that Facebook isn’t but Twitter is becoming a place where you follow what is happening. Just as you would once rely on hearing the news on the radio now you can hear it break from your followers and interact with them as well.
3. But what is really different? - It’s interesting how social media is being touted as something new, something that will revolutionise the way businesses market themselves. The reality is that social media is really leveraging word of mouth interactions. As social media and online marketing become more powerful, mass media is loosing it’s influence as channels fragment and audiences diminish. Now this is good, for too long many businesses have been able to coast and have simply relied on a well oiled mass marketing machine. Businesses have played it safe and under invested in innovation and over investment in advertising. Word of mouth and building customer loyalty are still the most important thing you can focus on in your business. What the new social media channels have done however is re-level the playing field back towards the innovators. The advantage of big is no longer as strong. That’s what’s changed.
4. Be careful don’t make my mistakes! Each social channel is different. One thing that is happening with social media at the moment is the rationalising or linking that you can do between the various accounts. You can use programmes like Tweetdeck to manage various Twitter accounts and post tweets back to your Facebook account. You can also link your Facebook Pages back to Twitter accounts as well. These linkages mean that you can update in one place and have the status updated across multiple accounts and platforms. Be careful though. I recently tweeted and posted to my facebook account as well. Low and behold I had two of my facebook friends come back to with comments like “I've read and re-read your status, but for the life of me I can not understand a single word you've written”. Remember each of these communities is different and you are operating under different constraints. Where you might need to contract and abbreviate in Twitter you don’t need to in Facebook or LinkedIn the same extent. So my advice from personal experience is that you should actually write each one for the audience. Don’t take shortcuts!

So what do I do - Firstly I have to admit I’ve been spending too much time on Twitter as I’ve been “researching”. I think it’s a very useful tool to monitor what’s new what’s interesting, what’s worth reading online and a useful way to start interacting with new people. LinkedIn I find useful to keep in touch with what business contacts are up to. And Facebook is really for friends and family - I probably need to spend more time with these people in real life too!

PS - if you want to follow me on twitter please do. I'm not quite as interesting as Barack Obama but I do try to link to some interesting business stuff!
]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:36:43 GMThttp://www.inside-out.co.nz/Blogs/Strategic Planning/6/168/Lessons from a Global Entrepreneur.aspxDaniel Isen Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business Review. Daniel spoke to a small group from the IceHouse about his experience and views of global entrepreneurship from his start up experience and his research while at Harvard.

There were several stories and lessons that stood out for me;

Distance is Irrelevant - One of Daniel’s interests is understanding what makes highly entrepreneurial countries tick. One of the aspects that underlined high entrepreneurial countries, as measured by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, was the belief that distance from markets was irrelevant. Whether it was Israel, Iceland or New Zealand all despite their small size and distance from their key markets operated as if the distance was irrelevant.

Power of Focus - a clear simple vision and focus can be as strategically powerful as any physical advantage such as resources or intellectual property. One example which Daniel gave was of a small generic drug company that with no more than a clear strategic vision and great execution completely transformed the scale and scope of the business. It’s not about the uniqueness of the idea but how well things are executed.

Sales is the Key - if there’s any skill aspiring entrepreneurs should focus on developing it’s sales. The entrepreneur has to sell their concept to the bank, to suppliers, to staff, to customer, over and over and over. The three key skills are sales, manufacturing and counting but sales is the key! So focus on developing your sales to kick start your entrepreneurial journey.

Innovation is in Everything - one point to remember when talking about high tech marketing was to remember that innovation is not just the gadget or box but the whole thing, the software, the training, the services that come with it. If you are at parity or worse when you are comparing your product to your competitors then look to innovate in other areas. You can still beat your competition if you can excel around the edges.]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:36:43 GMThttp://www.inside-out.co.nz/Blogs/Promotion Sales/5/166/Don't Fall for an Average Marketing Plan.aspx
Now if you’re not careful it’s easy to accept this as a benchmark for performance and let it guide the expectations when developing a marketing plan. However it's critical to remember that half the market did better than this and the distribution will be spread as well, meaning some businesses will have achieved results much better than this. So how are you going to focus your business planning?

Marketing at the moment is about being bold and brave. Be confident and getting the strongest message out there. If you don’t then you’ll quickly be on the wrong side of that average! One great example of someone being prepared to buck the trend was Citroen. To launch their new dealership they had a two for one car offer. By one car and get another one free. Now this is often done with T Shirts or tops at Barkers or Max but not often with cars.

Talking to Julie Roberts the Marketing Manager for Andrew Simms European, she reported that they sold more cars in April with this offer than in the entire previous quarter. They also sell Alfa Romeo and Fiats and she noted that while people may have been drawn in by this offer, most people ended up buying a different deal rather than the hero two for one offer.

Overall they enjoyed sales that are nothing like the 11.2% reduction in the car sector. The benefits from the promotion went outside of specific sales as well. The offer generated press and media attention that resulted in a boast in awareness for their brands.

So as you’re putting together the marketing plan for your business don’t think about the average, don’t be drawn in. Look to score way above average. But to do this you need to be bold with your business planning.

Average delivers average. Don’t fall for it!
]]>Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:36:43 GMThttp://www.inside-out.co.nz/Blogs/Strategic Planning/6/163/Performance Goals - What are your expectations in 2009?.aspx
Keep Your Expectations High
If you set your expectations high anything is possible. Don't fall into the trap of letting the broader economic situation be an excuse for under performing. I've heard of two businesses that have cut stock and staff numbers by 20 to 30% and then been satisfied that their results were exactly as forecast, 20 to 30% down! Instead keep your expectations high and look for every opportunity to try something new. Obviously your performance goals will vary by sector. If you're in construction or home furnishings things may be tough at the moment, but some sectors are doing surprisingly well.

Review Everything
There is always room for improvement. Right now executional excellence is one of the most important things you can focus on. Businesses have to accept that what has worked before might not work in the new economy. Be prepared to try something new, to be agile and to adapt quickly. Recent research out of customerthink.com stated 58% of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience during a down economy. So get the team involved and find half a dozen product or service improvements you can implement to ensure your business is the leader in your field.

In addition to improving product and service offerings, businesses also need to be reviewing costs. Current indications suggest that this is not going to be a short dip. It's going to take some time for the economy to get back to the top of the cycle.  So smart businesses are reassessing everything. They're looking to create more value for their customers by looking for more value from their suppliers. The top three areas to consider are; review all non essential costs, don't drop your marketing spend instead look to optimise your marketing mix and lastly negotiating with key suppliers to ensure you're getting the most value. Strategically reviewing your cost base is essential, nickle and diming won't help. Remember it will take time for cost savings to flow through to the bottom line so this needs to be a priority.

Size Brings Opportunities
We're a small country full of small businesses with an enormous opportunity ahead of us if we choose to seize it. With a truly great product or service offering this is a good time to increase market share. It's also a good time to focus on export markets. In an international context our businesses are competing against much larger, less nimble international competitors and so have enormous opportunities to grow. These are tough times but they also present opportunities for businesses to set themselves up and position themselves well for the long term. While exchange rates are low, while major competitors are internally focused on cost cutting and layoffs, now is an excellent time for flexible businesses focused on delivering a truly great service.

Keep your performance expectations high!

Let me know what you expect in 2009.
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