The Road Ahead

I'm putting together a presentation for January taking a look at business trends for 2012 ... and 2020. There will be many prognostications about 2012, but what about 2020? Actually, there are some irreversible trends and forces at work which make future forecasting difficult, but not entirely impossible.

Take a look at the travel industry. I'm amazed that some businesses have not yet reacted to the knowledge that cheap oil (and believe it or not $90 a barrel will soon be considered cheap) will be a thing of the past. What is that going to do for long haul travel? Another growing consumer trends is sustainability and "green" travel. Yet the travel industry hasn't taken this seriously. Oh, there have been some nods in the direction of sustainability. At least one airline has offered customers the option of buying "carbon offsets" when purchasing a ticket. But, what if sustainability really takes off? What then? The Archbishop of Canterbury declared long haul travel to be a sin. If that sentiment catches on, the airlines need to be thinking seriously about a response ... PR or otherwise.

Firing Customers?

A recent news story told of a Tanaka's of Tokyo restaurant patron who was denied a reservation when he called in. It seems that he put some negative comments on a feedback card ... and ended up on a "no serve" list. It turns out that there are 17 other customers on that list.

Another recent story surfaced about a Minneapolis man who was "disenrolled" from the Delta/Northwest frequent flyer program. It seems that he had lots of complaints about the service and had gotten lots of bonus miles and refunds and the airline just wasn't going to take it anymore.

Is this a trend? We used to teach that the customer is always right. I guess the question for these companies came down to "when is the 'customer' really a liability?" That's a serious question, especially in this day and age of litigation and internet forums.

I have to admit that I once "fired" a customer when I was the director of marketing at Hawaii Pizza Hut. We had a woman and her family that came in every week (every week!), ordered pizza, complained, and then asked for a refund or a free pizza coupon. At first (being customer friendly) we accommodated her. But when this became a habit, I had to tell her that we obviously couldn't satisfy her and that, perhaps, she should buy her pizza somewhere else. Now, I didn't bar her from the restaurant (you can't do that), but I did stop giving her free product.

So, is Tanaka's right in not serving a customer who could potentially be writing bad reviews on Yelp!? Good question.

Little Barriers to Big Productivity

Productivity is so very important in business. So it's a wonder that we place so many obstacles to it. Meetings, in particular, can be a sinkhole for time and energy. The shame of it is that there are so many simple things that can improve meeting productivity. Like distributing agendas in advance. Making assignments in advance. Keeping time. Recapping agreements. And many, many more simple ideas. Sigh. I'm looking forward to another week of low productivity.

Brand Integrity for Destinations

Brands and brand imagery inevitably change over time. It's only natural for a brand to keep up with changes in consumer tastes and graphic styles. But unless the situation calls for a radical repositioning (like the Cadillac Escalade, which was a dramatic departure from its failing predecessors) brands evolve ... and stay true to their heritage. A well-considered evolution of brand imagery keeps a brand current without alienating its loyal customer base. Take a look at how Betty Crocker has evolved over the years ...

When it comes to destinations, managing the image is often a problem. In some destinations where there are strict government controls, the development of new buildings and infrastructure can be controlled. But in a place like Hawaii - with pesky features like property rights and a free market - it is much more difficult to control development. But, without some controls, the destination can lose its "look" and, indeed its soul. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about stopping progress, but progress should be consistent with the brand when possible. Is a sixty story hotel appropriate in Waikiki? How about a forty story hotel? I don't know the answer, but the question certainly merits discussion and debate. Is steel-wheel-on-steel rail transit the right rapid transit solution for a resort destination like Hawaii? Should aesthetics be part of the conversation about what transit is appropriate? Once again, I don't know the answer, but I think the issue should be discussed.

Just this week a developer removed the decorative grillwork from a 1960s era building in Honolulu (The "Queen Emma Building - see photo). The developer plans to "modernize" the building by replacing decorative grillwork with a glass curtain. Is that a good thing? It depends on the brand ... and what the brand should look like. I don't have an answer, but I wish these decisions would be discussed and considered rather than leaving decisions that affect the destination brand in the hands of a developer who probably hasn't thought about the bigger picture.

We've seen what happens when development isn't consistent with a well conceived brand identity. It doesn't look good.

First Movers Don't Always Stay Out Front

When I was in graduate school, I developed some case studies for Professor Ram Charan. One of them was on the AMPEX company. You may not have heard of AMPEX because it has literally disappeared from the business scene, but back then it was THE dominant player in recording tape and tape players. Dominant. Profitable. And, now, out of sight.

What happened? Sony and others took AMPEX products and made them better. So, while AMPEX was the first mover and early innovator of tape technology it didn't hold on to its advantage. That's true in many other cases. Atari pretty much invented video games, but Nintendo and Sony kept improving them. Xerox invented the mouse, but Steve Jobs saw its potential.

The lesson is that innovation is critical, but to remain successful you have to stay hungry. You have to compete with yourself. You need the restless spirit that asks "how can this be better?" over and over again.

As the saying goes ... today's laurels are tomorrow's compost.

Death by PowerPoint

I don't know why so many PowerPoint presentations are sooooooo painful. PowerPoint itself is a wonderful tool. It can allow a presenter to use graphics to illustrate content - and research shows that generally multi-media is better than single a medium in communicating. But despite the capabilities of the PowerPoint tool, so many presenters just put their text on the slides. Even worse, they put lots and lots and lots of text on the slides. The result is a numbing exercise in visual overload which impedes, rather than enhances, communication. I come from an advertising background and I've learned over and over again that one can only communicate a few points in a communication message. My worst nightmare has been clients who want to shoehorn twenty points into a thirty second commercial. Yet, presenters think nothing of this. Slides are free ... space is virtually unlimited ... so more must be better. The casualty is clear communication. For a comic look at PowerPoint gone horribly wrong, click here Academics and government folks seem to be the worst offenders when it comes to creating dreadful presentations. I guess they feel that they have to prove their worth by piling things higher and deeper. The good news is that there are good books available on creating effective presentations. I recommend them all the time. The option, unfortunately, is death by PowerPoint. And as someone once pointed out - they don't call them bullets for nothing.

Wasted Investment in Branding

Recently, I needed a service call in my home to fix a problem. I don't want to identify the company, but it is a large enterprise which invests lots of money in its brand. The service person was a very nice, chatty guy. As we talked, he proceeded to tell me all about the problems in his company ... how it was losing its local roots ... how disillusioned employees were ... etc., etc. So, all the money that the company had invested in advertising, public relations and community events that had influenced my positive image of their brand ... went right out the window. That's why internal marketing and good employee relations are such a critical component of branding.

Pay What You Want ...

This afternoon I'm going to do some on-air pitching for Hawaii Public Radio. They have an interesting business model. They provide the service at no charge and then ask people to make a voluntary payment. It's interesting and unusual, but it turns out that this model is not unique. Recently a restaurant implemented a "pay what you want" scheme. They were confident enough in their product quality that they were willing to try this. While they had some "cheap charlies" and deadbeats, in general they found that people were paying expected menu prices ... or, surprisingly, some were paying a premium. Which goes to show that when you provide real value, customers are generally willing to pay for it.

On the other hand, companies that provide lousy value get complaints about prices. Once again, airlines are a good example of a business built on cutting corners and squeezing value.

Circumstances Have Prompted Me to Blog Again

I've been silent for some time ... feeling that no matter what, things are taking their own course. What can one do? But then came ... the Arab spring ... occupy Wall Street ... and other evidence that people can get stirred up and make change. And then there's ... the craziness of the political scene and the inability of people to work together. So, maybe it's time to blog again.

I'll start with a recurring theme: the true foundation of prosperity is creating honest value. Not derivatives. No get-rich-quick schemes. No flim flam.

Good marketers and good managers have always understood this. Quality and value stand the test of time. Everything else will eventually come crashing down.

I'm including some wisdom from Calvin and Hobbs.