First 100 days

Before you start (or even before you accept your new role) working for "your" new financial services brand, you'd like to get an objective, no holds barred view on how consumers experience it. Consumer-oriented information sites like CIAO are springing up everywhere.

Maybe you can't ask for the market research just yet, and you certainly haven't got £15,000 to spend on a survey....but fear not, just two clicks away you can get a semi-quantitative consumer perspective on most high street brands.

Or at least the perspective of what Malcom Gladwell would call the mavens.

So, imagine you have been offered a job with a well known banking brand, and want to get the unvarnished truth: try: banks for example and you will see 200+ consumer comments on your employer's products and services, for your brand and each of your competitors...

Aah. The power of the internet

Posted by jonathan at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Michael Watkins writes in his book'The first 90 Days of the 7 vicious cycles new leaders can fall into.

Based on his work in 'transition acceleration' with Johnson and Johnson, he cautions against:

1. Riding off in all directions
2. Undefended boundaries
3. Brittleness
4. Isolation
5. Biased judgement
6. Work avoidance
7. Going over the top

It's the 'work avoidance' that interests me. Watkins is referring to the ostrich tendency to bury your head rather than take the big decisions, or of deckchair rearrangement as a mechanism to buy time.

Watkins counsels executives to be honest about their decision process - especially with themselves.

What starts out as a righteous desire to avoid the quick wins itch , by avoiding a rush to judgement can easily look like dallying...and swiftly become it. Decisions are declaration of strategic intent and commitment.

Real decisions involve the irrevocable allocation of resources, as John Caswell is fond of saying. How many of the 'decisions' marketing directors make fit this criterion?

Posted by Editor at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's great to see that first 100 day accountability is migrating from the political arena into the management arena.
And actually being debated at Davos.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This form of accountability is pervasive as our report explains.

In fact, in many ways CEOs have it easy compared to marketers, for several reasons:

1. Marketing budget allocation is by no means automatic.
2. The marketing function is increasingly diffuse.
3. The role of the function is unique to each corporation
4. The reputation of the function remains poor
5. The flamboyant personality of marketers often conflicts with fellow board members

It is ironic, at a forum whose theme is 'the creative imperative', that the role of marketers (Sir Martin Sorrell excepted) is being largely ignored...

Posted by Editor at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)