?The emergence of new competitors in a globalizing world, the economic and political shift from West to East, the competitive and business threats and opportunities arising from advancements in information technology, all of these things are coming at companies faster and more frequently than in the past. Therefore, boards need to ensure that management teams are adequately responding to these developments in a strategic manner.? ? Linda Cook, Boeing & Cargill Board Director
This quote appeared in Spencer Stuarts annual Point of View publication for 2012. It was entitled ?What boards must get right?. It is far too easy to respond to the short term: digital, social media and the economic crisis. The long view gives greater clarity to strategic decisions. Advertising and Marketing Communications organizations are famous for their obsession with the new and the ephemeral ?but it is the long narrative that survives. It is the strategy based on significant insight into the factors that shape our world that matters, not the fashionable new brand name for a recently observed cohort.
In her quote, Linda Cook echoes our view here at the Studio: Pay attention to The Majority World, it is changing the cultural and economic context of everything. Pay attention to the way competition is changing in the global economy, the fastest growing marketing organization in the world is Cheil from Korea. The fastest growing apparel brand and retailer is Uniqlo from ?Japan. Pay attention to information technology: It is more than Facebook, the digital generation are not only famously creative, fickle and connected but it looks like they are analytic, truth seeking and see the world in terms of the abundance of human potential.
Spencer Stuart is focused on the competence of Boards of Directors but their thinking is relevant to marketing. Steve Jobs demonstrated that marketing is a critical component of strategic planning for the whole business. This powered Apple to the heights it now enjoys. You can see how Steve elevated marketing when he describes the three legs of a future Apple in 1998: Breakthrough Platform(s), System Integration and Marketing Power. Marketing strategy and business strategy are symbiotic. As more businesses discover they make media as well as products or services so the line between user experience and brand strategy becomes blurred. This means that anyone interested in developing brand strategy has to be a business strategist not just a communications planner. Taking note of these deeper trends and being able to work scenarios for the business in the context of these trends is what opens up both innovation and defense of market positions.
Here is a great example from the Wall Street Journal reporting on the way Uniqlo thinks:
?A brand like Zara attempts to chase trends, reacting nimbly season after season. When an unanticipated mini-fad for purple crocheted tops emerges, Zara will scramble to move a new item from the factory floor to store shelves in about two weeks. Uniqlo employs a nearly opposite supply-chain strategy: It places gargantuan orders up to a full year in advance, allowing it to negotiate rock-bottom costs for high-quality work. It then passes on those savings to its customers?.
The fashion brand Zara is, as they say in politics, bringing a knife to a gun fight.
Strategy is the art clearing out the muck and straw, as Rumi said, to see the mirror clearly. Then helping great minds make clear decisions.
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Source: http://www.studioriley.com/learning-from-spencer-stuart/
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