Business Growth Strategies For CEOs: Top CMOs On Marketing Strategy Implementations

Moving to a Blue Ocean With Growth Gears: Five Steps to Chart a Course for Success

Thu, Jun 20, 2019 | Posted by Don Lee

Whether you are a seafaring sort or not, it’s fairly intuitive to expect that a peaceful, sparkling, blue ocean is much more navigable than one roiled by rolling tides, scary sea vermin and dangerous storms.

This relatable parable constitutes the foundation of “Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing - Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth,” a book by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne which provides a series of waypoints by which to guide businesses into calmer seas.

I recently successfully led a client through the Blue Ocean Shift process prescribed by Kim and Mauborgne, and realized how well the lessons align with similar ones espoused in “The Growth Gears,” a book authored by my Chief Outsiders colleagues Art Saxby and Pete Hayes. “The Growth Gears” does a terrific job of building a process around how to go from random acts of marketing, to a purpose-based method of marketing an organization, by following three pillars—Insights, Strategy and Execution.

Read More

Avoiding the “Popcorn-Tin” Syndrome: Three Steps to Strategic Marketing Success

Thu, May 23, 2019 — “Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu I had an epiphany about marketing strategy recently—and I’d like to credit it to this quote from the great Sun Tzu, but instead, it happened thanks to a large tin-can of popcorn Let me explain: I was working with a client that, shall we say, was not focused on strategy, and the head of marketing, shall we also say, was, instead, keenly focused on doing stuff to show their worth. In this “Marketing of Things” mindset, this marketing leader (who shall remain nameless) felt the best marketing ploy du jour was a large can of popcorn. Across the country, clients received multiple varieties of popcorn, along with a note asking for more business. I’m sure plenty of people enjoyed sharing the kernels of this marketing leader’s labors—but few, if any, made the connection to the company’s services—and even fewer picked up the phone.

The Digital Crystal Ball: Three Ways to Use Predictive Analytics at Your Company

Fri, May 17, 2019 — The crystal ball—oft spoken of in folkloric terms, but never available when you need it—has entered the realm of the possible. In our switched-on world, where digital interaction is present virtually every moment of an individual’s life, we as marketers now have the tools to peer into the future—using data, and not crystalline, to gaze forward at where our business is going. Predictive analytics—the process of using new and historical data to foresee the result, activity, behavior, and trends of our consumer base—is the key that is making successful businesses, well, successful. Enterprises primed for growth in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace are using predictive analytics to gain a deep understanding of the customer base to maximize revenue, efficacy of marketing budgets, and, of course, profits.

A More Perfect Union: Four Keys to Credit Union Profitability

Thu, May 16, 2019 — U.S. credit unions are in crisis. For years, buoyed by a “hometown banking” distinction and bolstered by government regulations allowing for the expansion of their membership ranks, credit unions enjoyed unprecedented growth. In fact, just two years after President Clinton signed the 1998 Credit Union Membership Access Act, more than 10,000 credit unions dotted the landscape. But then, the technological age arrived in its full fury, delivering tools and benefits that traditional banks used to restore their edge. Though credit unions enjoyed a higher level of customer satisfaction, they were not as keen to what their customers and members were needing. This allowed the traditional banks to use enhanced technologies to raise the customer expectations bar—and close the gap.

When the Economy Turns Down, Will Your Company Be Ready? A 10-Step Practical Guide to Preparing Your Go-to-Market Program

Thu, May 9, 2019 — John C. Maxwell, the American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books on leadership has a wonderful quote about growth that says: “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” There may be another version of this we should be paying attention to, and I think that version is: “Change is inevitable, so is an economic slowdown.” With the long economic growth we have been experiencing sometimes it’s challenging to remember that we will not always have the economic tailwinds that have been boosting us along. The most recent ITR Trends Report (April, 2019) continues to forecast a cyclical market slowdown. Their latest report states that “The U.S. economy has moved a little deeper on the backside of the business cycle….and the shift in momentum and outcome will feel more pronounced the further we go in 2019. Our analysis continues to point to a probable first-half-2020 bottom for this business cycle.”

Growth Insights for CEOs

Moving to a Blue Ocean With Growth Gears: Five Steps to Chart a Course for Success

Recent Posts

Avoiding the “Popcorn-Tin” Syndrome: Three Steps to Strategic Marketing Success

The Digital Crystal Ball: Three Ways to Use Predictive Analytics at Your Company

A More Perfect Union: Four Keys to Credit Union Profitability

Stay up-to-date with the latest from Chief Outsiders

When the Economy Turns Down, Will Your Company Be Ready? A 10-Step Practical Guide to Preparing Your Go-to-Market Program

With CMOs located: