Marketing on stereoids

I admit, marketing isn't an easy game... it is a game about vision, market and customer intelligence, segmentation, Cluetrain, business models, way-to-market architectures and pricing. And that is the easy part. Yesterday, I read that Apple has already sold one million iPads in just one month. This is what marketeers would call a "ticket to heaven" but then again, not every company is Apple and Apple is of course not an everyday company. Throughout its history, the company has been in the business of market making: the first personal PC, the design PC (iMac), the iPod (userfriendly MP3 player), iTunes (Online music store), the iPhone (the cell phone 2.0) and now the iPad (Funky tablet PC meets iPhone). And of course, when you are the first to enter the market, you can do it with a bang although I must be honest and say that others (Napster, Nokia and Microsoft) had already tried this years ago either miserably failed or launched their products when the market was not ready for it. So what is the game then? It's finding your cash cow and milking it, it is looking for operational efficiency to lower your production costs and increase your profit margins but mostly it is about finding new markets and being the first to launch your product. That's what we learned in this month's marketing module.

To begin with, we had a brilliant teacher (Prof. Dr. Rudy Moenaert) who taught us the ins and outs of marketing during the first part of the course. There was a nice intermezzo by the way from Steven van Belleghem who was presenting his new book"the conversation manager" and the art of starting up brand conversations by means of social media. The second part of the course consisted of playing the markstrat game - a simulation game where you are in charge of positioning your product (close to the customer) and conquering new markets. There were four teams and my partners in crime were Mr. VC, Donald Trump and Furrycoat. For two days we had to come up with strategies to defend our market space, launch new products, find out what our competitors were doing, digest enormous amounts of data and market research...basically we were body doubling the marketing department. How to be the winner in your segment is one thing but what we found out is that market making is where the big money is to be found. Being the first to enter the market gives you an enormous competitive advantage and puts you in a monopoly position. New markets are not price-sensitive because price reference and comparison effects are non-existing. This means that - whatever price you put on your product or service - there will always be a group of innovators and early adopters that will want to buy your product.
In the end, marketing is about bringing consistency in the organization: defining you ambition in terms of a "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" means that you align products and services, your business model and customer value proposition, your ABC segmentation, sales force and marketing efforts and bundle this into a unique proposition around one or more competitive advantages: Product/service, price, customer process and image (the so called CODA framework). That's the game of marketing and if you're not willing to go through the pain of putting effort in this, well there will be no gain. That's what we found out during the markstrat game and that's why we should congratulate Zappos, Miss Moneypenny, Mr. Oiseau, Boyscout and Beckham with winning the game and applying the ground-rule of marketing : don't  get even, get everything.

The ROI of an eMBA

Why on earth would you do an MBA - well, that's for me to know and for you to discover. We will be dealing with modules such as accounting, finance, business economics, technology, marketing, operations, managing change,  strategy and entrepreneurship over the next two years.  That's long you might think but actually, it's not.  Not if you look at it from the perspective of a lifelong learning experience.

Learning has always been one of the fundamental drives in both my personal and professional lives. I do not see this MBA as an assignment but as an experience.... a journey with no destination actually.  And because there are so many beautiful sayings with the word journey in it, I want to share some of these with my fellow students.  We're seventeen of us - most are in their early Thirties, like Soulsister - mother of two, sings jazz and works in the hospital.  Then we have Boyscout - works as a sales engineer and is a natural born leader.  Oh yeah, then there's Boy Wonder - who already managed an internet company at the age of 12 and is the youngest in class (roaring Twenties).  Here we go with the first batch of "journey" mantras that you can use for your next reflection moment:

Life to me is a journey - you never know what may be your next destination. (D. Russell)
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. (Lao Tzu)
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. (Matsuo Basho)

Now, whom else have we got in class? Well there's Donald trump, works as a project manager in the health care industry and loves to cook. Mr. Oiseau is a lobbying ornithologist - early Thirties and quite introverted (but we're working on that). Beckham works in insurance and is a passionate soccer fan.  Then there's Miss Moneypenny, a caring mother of two who's always in for a dinner party. I mean, in the possible event of us throwing a party: we have cooks, musicians, party makers and cocktail shakers - that's gonna be a real bash.

And if we ever get on the wrong train, we still have Dr. Phil, our trusted adviser and counselor - married with children and whose mantra always makes me laugh: "a dirty mind is a joy forever".  Now, if you ask me - this is the ROI of my MBA - it is not a monetary thing, it is not a prestige thing, it's about going with these people on a journey where we focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. (Greg Anderson).   Remember that we are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. (Stephen R. Covey) and to close with the famous words of philosopher Captain Jean Luc Picard: Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.
And now it is time to boldly go where no one has ever gone before: the first take home exam on Integrated Performance Management, BSC, Management accounting and control.... Beam me up Scotty.