What business are you in?

How to dissolve the marketing myopia and the product lens

Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley and Roger L Martin

Not your company's product or the detailed service. But the value you provide to the customer.

Products.
One Tide. Many varieties. One Bounty. Different textures, strength, absorbency.

Technologies.
Febreze technology locks onto the bad odor molecules and neutralizes it.  Quilting technology for paper towels. Film manipulation know how from diaper making to trash bags.

Why procter? According to this Nasdaq article, Procter & Gamble has 38% of its sales from emerging markets. Entering and thriving in a market which calls for a different pricing calls for fitting the circle into a square peg problem. A president of the company decided that a baby diaper in the emerging market should be affordable and cost as much as an egg. Instead of diluting its brand by selling sub par or whittling own the product, they kept the consumer in mind.
Since the company caters to household products, many exapmles in the book are easily relatable. Tide, Diapers, Febreze. 

How Pand G presents data

Books referenced:

A good case study of Four Seasons hotel catering to both home and convention center style. On th elighter side, look at what a casual trip plan can turn into in a scholar speak.

   

Techie stuff
Porter Activity map
OGSM
Assertive Inquiry
Weighted Purchase
BCG matrix
VRIN model
GE Mckinsey 9 box matrix

Q: How many times the deposits, can a bank lend?

A: 8

Hedge funds

Exchange rate mechanism

Efficient-market hypothesis
Block trade
You can insure credit default swap but not someone else's home without insurable interest.

Books referenced


        

Analytics

You are asked for your credit score for mortgage. But did you know that insurance companies too use your FICO score to create an Insurance score that decides your premium. wine companies are able to employ analytics.
If analytics can be used to predict risk, may be regulators should ha used it to see the 2008 financial crisis. In how wall streets quants lied to their computers, the author describes how the risk was averaged over years. But we know how nothing lasts as long as before. Generation gap. Dollar mileage. Why should risk immunity?
And how about some analytics in personal finance. Wait, that annual tax forms is the only reason for any look at the finances at all. 

To Service or not

Dont make your customers unhappy with exorbitant late fees, your customer can become your competitor. Companies use fair algorithms to meet minimum level of service.
What if banks could put a hold on your services instead of late fees? Let they not borrow from telecom the charges for hibernation and reinstating service.

Best Buy as a case

Best buy with an interesting name origin has upto 25000 kinds of items. A laptop charger does not happen to be one of them at my local store.
According to Good, Better, Best Buy, the company prides on owning the last 10 feet to the customer. Once upon a time it was called the last mile, the extra you needed to do to bag the order.
Consumer centricity from the eyes of an MBA student.
With Flexibility of work location, making its own new products, collaboration with major suppliers, Best Buy does shape shift its company. Reward cards were used to gather information for market research.
With a data like 43% sales from 7% customers (alias 7% customers responsible for 43% sales) who wouldn tbe pushed to 'consumer centricity'.

Planning your life as a company

Howard's Gift by Eric C Sinoway

The prologue of the book reminds one of  'Tuesdays woth Morrie' where the mentee writes of the lessons learnt. The author relates the points learnt to events in his life as well as situations in other corporations.

Inflection point is something easy to relate to in everyone's life.

'Start at the end' chapter is intuitive. I have seen at the office jigsaw table, the boundary being made first. Strategic planning which even some kids are familiar with. This chapter can be extended to personal life, when it comes to searching for a partner. Lead the life exploring your interests, then you will meet more people with same interests.

Other books referenced:

   ;

Carter Cast on the drama of comparative living