Fred Smith. Know his name? Likely not, but he’s the founder and CEO of FedEx. The innovator who changed the concept of package delivery in our lifetime. When he came up with the idea of FedEx, he “borrowed” it from a different industry. Since telecommunications and banking both applied a hub and spoke system of dissemination, he thought that could be applied to delivery services to increase speed and efficiency and enable a new business concept. And you know what his undergraduate professor thought of this “innovation? ” Not much. He got a “C” and a bad peer review.
Out With the Old Process, In With the New – Completely
Remember Webvan? Those pretty brown trucks. We saw one all scuffed up and worn down by the side of the road today and it perfectly symbolized the promise of an Internet-based grocery company that never made it. Lots of theories on its failure have been created, but I am always amazed that most people fail to recognize one of the biggest factors that doomed Webvan. It is a lesson that too few people seem to recognize when running their own business units.
Metrics: Getting Rid of the Voodoo in Marketing
It’s time for marketers to get out of the realm of voodoo and spin, to create a more defensible position for budget dollars and develop a more secure “seat at the table” by being the business champions they are.
Sound too good to be true? I think not. The high-tech industry is finally catching up with more established consumer businesses in the areas of metrics and accountability. This is not a marketing trend per se, but a marketing “practice” trend, which is just as important. This is a must-have going forward. I believe marketing can be a data-driven, metrics-focused art.
Yahoo Partners with Motorola: Should You Care?
Yahoo and Motorola recently announced a multi-year deal where Motorola will pre-load Yahoo Go for Mobile on “tens of millions” of mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. The deal is similar to the deal Yahoo and Nokia struck in January. Currently, Yahoo Go for Mobile is available in US only from Cingular on a single Nokia phone (S60-based Nokia 8862) available since February. 5-10 models are shipping with the service in Europe and Asia.
Web 2.0 Takes Another Step Forward
Market analyst powerhouse Gartner recently came out strongly behind Web 2.0, which we and others see as another step toward the Web 2.0 vision. While Gartner expects the majority of Global 1000 companies to adopt some technology-related aspects of Web 2.0 by 2008, companies will be much slower to adopt the social dimensions of Web 2.0.
Generosity in Business: It’s needed
Business is often about the ‘bottom line’. But there’s gotta be more. The bottom line doesn’t measure the way in which we work, the way in which people learn, and …
Generosity in Business: It's needed
Business is often about the ‘bottom line’. But there’s gotta be more. The bottom line doesn’t measure the way in which we work, the way in which people learn, and …
Solutions Drive Sales
Check out this video. It was made using a Logitech webcam, and uses visual effects that come with the camera. Supposedly, it has triggered a big run on Logitech cameras. …
Basic Marketing 101: Don’t make the customer mad
I couldn’t believe this story ; I thought for sure it had to be a hoax. After all, Microsoft has the economics, savvy, and operating experience to do marketing right. …
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