10 September 2008, Geneva: Big bangs, dark matter and future business

At 09.28, two tiny dots appeared and cheers of joy and relief rang out around the CERN control room deep underneath the French-Swiss border. It indicated that the large hadron collider had reached “full beam” – two streams of billions of protons were spinning around a 27km circular tunnel in opposite directions at almost the speed of light, accelerated by the world’s most powerful magnets. Over the next few weeks, the beams will be smashed together, simulating conditions like those that existed in the trillionths of seconds after the Big Bang.

It will generate a new age of physics – understanding the world around us. It may find the predicted “Higgs Boson”, that gives matter mass. And if we follow the logic of super-symmetry, that everything has an opposite, then it will find “dark matter” which is supposed to fill two thirds of our Universe. It may tell us about new dimensions beyond time and space, and many other phenomena that our minds have not yet predicted.  The anti-matter findings could come quickly, but other interpretations may took a number of years.

Many other big initiatives might similarly reshape our thinking, and our world:

• Mars: “Phoenix” landed earlier this year, a 6m vehicle designed to scour the planet’s surface looking for water and carbon that offer the possibility of life.
• Genetics: “1000 Genome” mapping the most common variants of human DNA, from which we can assess susceptibility to disease, and improving health.
• Space: “Ligo” project seeking “gravitational waves” as first predicted by Einstein in 1916, by looking for ripples in space-time using the reflections of mirrors.
• Life: “Corot” telescope launched into Earth’s orbit is searching for Earth-like planets beyond our solar system, assessing the habitability of planets.

This week’ s spectacular CERN events all seem a million light years, from my own days as a particle physicist, in my research lab seeking to replicate superconductivity at temperatures closer to room temperature. By cooling my exotic compounds down to almost Absolute Zero (-273 degrees Celcius) with liquid nitrogen, we were able to make particles behave in mysterious ways, to escape the bonds that normally hold them together. Some of these mixtures even managed to “superconduct” at temperature 125 degrees higher, a real breakthrough.

At the time it seemed slow and irrelevant to the real world (which is why I soon moved to the supersonic, kerosene-fuelled world of airline marketing). Yet in recent years it has started to have a fundamental impact on business, and the way we live. Nanotechnologies, for example, now enable your windows to shine brighter, and car scratches to dissolve away. They are rapidly changing the whole structure of medicines, the natural as well as artificial ways in which we can enhance wellbeing.

23 August 2008, Beijing: Puma 9.69 seconds, KFC 19.30 seconds, Coke 37.10 seconds.

Lightning didn’t strike twice, but three times for Usain Bolt when he struck three golds and three world record times in the highest profile, and most competitive events of the Beijing Olympics.

We watched in awe and amazement. It was phenomenal, unexpected and truly inspiring. We wondered if man could run any faster, we thought that Michael Johnson’s record would last forever, but bolt munched his KFC, downed his Coke, put on his Pumas and showed the world what the world’s most remarkable sponsored athlete can do.

He is likely to have won much more than a bag of gold thanks to his sponsors. His personal sponsors Digicell forked out in excess of $1 million for the second time in a year (world record bonuses), and kit sponsors Puma rewarded him even more handsomely. Meanwhile a deal between BMW and the IOC earned him a new BMW, whilst that doesn’t include the sudden rise in appearance fees to around $250,000 at track meets from Zurich to Tokyo.

Of course athletes are not rockstars or footballers, and Bolt is still an emerging talent, however he will have earned at least $15 million from running down the track a few times this year – more than Carl Lewis earned in a lifetime.

More broadly, there are 12 "Worldwide Olympic Sponsors" where the highest level of sponsorship, costing an estimated $70-plus million each, with only one, Lenovo, based in China. Others are Coca-Cola, Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, GE, Atos Origin, Kodak, Manulife, McDonalds, Omega, Panasonic and Visa. As the price tag has risen, so has the sophistication of sponsorship deals, although the actual sponsor budgets are typically around 10 times the amount they pay the IOC, spending on supporting events and advertising around the world. There are also local and supporting sponsors too.

Exclusivity for sponsors is managed with paranoia. Non-sponsors Nike for example, have had to be ever more creative in securing impact from their athletes involvement in the Games using “guerilla” tactics. Back in Atlanta in 1996 they bought every billboard site in the city, to get more exposure than official sponsor Adidas, and for a fraction of the price. Adidas complained, and the organisers got wise to such tactics (the boards are already bought up for London 2012). They had to be even more creative in Beijing, although fellow unofficial sponsor Puma stole the limelight this time.

Other brands were being creative too. Samsung created “head pods” for people to watch the many different sports by putting the 360 degree pod like helmets on as they sat in the coffee shop, or even in the stadium. They could have the best view in town thanks to surround-stadium vision and head-wrap screens, but also be there in person to sample the atmosphere too. Similarly, BMW’s Mini were making their mark on the Chinese capital, with customised rickshaws combining bikes and Mini rear-ends. Another very “mini adventure” for its passengers!

Coca-Cola was the most effectively-marketed “Olympic” brand within China according to CSM Media Research Olympic Performance index which measures the impact of brands sponsoring the Olympics before, during and after the games. The Atlanta drinks giant had an uncertain start, concerned about associating its brand with the PR-disasterous torch relay. But once the games began, Coke regained its fizz, and has truly left its mark on the nation. Samsung (the head pod brand), Adidas (the most popular strip sponsor) and Volkswagen (the car that led the marathon every step of the way) also did well in the homes of China.

Meanwhile Sport Markt claims that the Olympics as an overall brand has 52% unprompted awareness, with 54 per cent of Americans interested in the games, 48% of the population in the top five European markets showing strong interest, 63% in central and Eastern Europe, 56% in Central/South America and 51 per cent in Africa and Australia. This dropped to 42% in Asia, but in China itself, research showed that 53% of respondents were very interested in the Summer Olympic Games, with a further 36% interested.

14 July 2008, London : Back to the future - Inspiration for a Downturn

Bananarama, the eighties pop band with hits like Cruel Summer, Robert de Niro's Waiting and Venus, were phenomenal on their return to the big stage last night. From what I remember of them (it was 20 years ago, and I was very young!) they were all pop, pink and plastic - this time they were cool, classic and compelling.

It made me think of the current economic downturn - the doom and gloom, the pessimism and anguish - last week described by the US Federal Reserve as "the perfect storm" - sky high oil prices, falling house prices, rising inflation, falling stock markets, loss of confidence.

And it reminded me that everything works in cycles - just like the return of Banarama - maybe 2008 will feel like a cruel summer, but as we all know, downturns are followed by upturns.

Downturns are moments for rethinking, for focusing on what makes you special, for getting close to customers, for smart and bold moves, for shaking up the market, for asserting yourself competitively, for reaching out to new customers, for staying positive.

Indeed, analysis in my new book "Business Genius" (just published) considers the business cycles of the last 150 years and find that the points of maximium innovation come just before the upturns, and that these companies bold enough to invest whilst others are losing their heads (a Kipling quote in there, somewhere) are the ones who go on to be winners.

So here are 10 strategies for surviving, and thriving in a downturn:

1. Strength – downturns sort the wheat from the chaff, the robust business models from those developed on a wing and a prayer. Some companies will go under whilst others will be ripe for acquisition. Look at the airlines, the banks, the supermarkets.

2. Speed – some companies have the foresight and agility to respond to changing conditions, and others don’t. Virtual companies, franchised brands, and small businesses can flex business models, reduce costs quickly, and respond to changing consumer motivations.

3. Focus – we know we don’t need all our products, or even all our customers - 80:20 revenue, 90:10 profit - but we are usually too lazy to do the analysis, and make the hard decisions to focus on the value creators, and eliminate the value destroyers.

4. Icons – customers typically focus more on the big ticket savings – downsizing their houses, buying a smaller car, taking fewer holidays – rather than the small items, which can be less prone to reduction. Travel less, but still buy Starbucks.

5. Selective – whilst customers might buy less, they become more selective about where they spend money. In emerging markets, people might have little money but still want a Louis Viutton handbag or an Audi car.

6. Value – the mid market that combines smart quality with a good price becomes fashionable again, good quality and design but at better prices – a Swatch not a Rolex, Gap not Calvin Klein, Pret a Manger not Carluccios.

7. Innovation - applying innovation to other areas from business models to sales channels – reduce cost and risks by moving to a franchise model, improve speed and efficiency with direct sales, move to minimal (and eco friendly) packaging.

8. Upturns – follow downturns like night follows day – so as long as you can survive the slump, the winners in the next upturn are those who invest during the downturn, change the industry structures, redefine value. Low cost airlines become mainstream, online banking the norm.

9. Stories – brands are storytellers, typically about dreams, achievement, fulfilment - helping confirm to customers why they are buying. In downturns brands need to evolve to tell a different story – about practicality, restraint, choice and good value.

10. Champions – there is ultimately no better tactic than to be on the customer’s side during a downturn – emitting empathy and support, helping people to save money, in more human and collaborative ways, reflecting the time, balancing prudence and passion.

6 June 2008, Jūrmala : The Brilliance of the Baltics

Jūrmala, the small Latvian seaside town 20 minutes from the capital Riga is one of the world’s most engaging places. Whilst it doesn’t quite have the exotic appeal of the Caribbean or Indian oceans, it was once the favoured holiday resort of the Soviet elite, with its 40 km of endless white sand, dense unspoilt forests, original wooden houses, and the most beautiful sunsets.

I had come here to work with Best Marketing in bringing together the best marketers of the Baltic countries for two days of “Marketing Genius Live” … challenging the old models of marketing, exploring the emerging best practices - from Abu Dhabi (Syeneditt) to Arizona (Virgin Galactic), Beijing (Shanghai Tang) to Barcelona (Camper Shoes) – and thinking how can we apply these to the heritage brands and hi-tech innovators of the Baltic region. Companies like:

• Aeroc: rethinking and innovatively segmenting the building materials market in order to sell faster development to one customer, amazing architecture to another, rather than bricks.
• Go Travel: designing propositions that are less about flights and hotels, more about helping people to explore the world, engage their passions, with more aspiration and profit too.
• HansaLeasing: what is the iTunes of car leasing – any car, anywhere, anytime, paid by the minute, with the key always in your pockets – the next generation of Zipcar in Estonia?
• Lattelecom: considering what it means to be truly customer centric – and learning from diverse pioneers around the world like 118 118 and Skype, Apple and Vertu.
• Laima: exploring the possibilities of Latvian chocolate, and its many adjacent markets – is it about food and drink, or taste and luxury, or wellness and belonging?
• Olympic Casino: the environment is a global challenge, and even gambling can do good – perhaps by applying the lessons of M&S “Plan A” and GE’s “Ecomagination”.
• Spice: why do we go shopping, and what more could it be – one of Latvia’s leading malls considered how to transform the retail experience, learning from Umpqua and Virgin.

As I ran along the deserted but sparkling beach early the next morning I felt inspired by the opportunities of the small but beautiful country of Latvia, and its adjacent Estonia and Lithuania.

Small companies and small markets, but with innovative people who do not see their business sectors or geographical borders as their mental boundaries. Latvia recently became the 4th fastest growing exporter in Europe, Estonia is building a reputation as the new tech capital, and Lithuania is a practical hub for companies going eastwards and westwards across Europe.

Today’s world is a vast portfolio of niche markets, and sectors blur in the mind of consumers. Big businesses are not the most loved or most profitable any more, and nor are the big countries. It’s time for the smarter, faster, smaller companies and countries to shape our unlimited markets.

Thinking of where you are now, and relying on a legacy of past success, is almost irrelevant compared to the potential of new ideas and innovation.

My ambition is that our two days “Live in Latvia” will be the start of a network of inspired marketers and brands, maybe even facilitated by myself and Best Marketing, working together to share ideas and build confidence, to collaborate and think creatively … and maybe to come back each year to the beautiful place called Jūrmala, where the world is full of possibilities.
I hope to be back again soon!

2 June 2008, Istanbul : Bathrooms + Cosmetics + Electronics + Finance

Eczacibasi is Turkish for “the pharmacist”, and indeed what is today one of Turkey’s most innovative and diverse companies, has its origins in the pharmaceutical business.

That has all now changed, with the recognition that a fast changing world of nanotechnology and global brands, and the old pharma business being sold off in order to invest in Istanbul’s hyper-active property boom. Kanyon, recently voted one of the world’s top shopping destinations symbolises the new Eczacibasi, and now occupies the site of the old drug factory.

Marketing and innovation are the priorities for the business today – driving its many businesses such as Vitra bathrooms and kitchens, Villeroy & Boch tiles, Selpak tissue paper, OK condoms, and licensed brands such as Nivea and Schwarzkopf. On the B2B side, Eczacibasi is becoming a leader in mining, welding, electronics, ceramics, property, medical care, insurance, and fund management.

For almost two years we have worked with all of Eczacibasi’s marketers in a unique “Market Accelerator” experience – bringing together real business issues and projects with new ideas and techniques – driving a more customer-centric, innovation-driving, value-creating agenda across the business. Indeed the business repeatedly seeks to double its market value at least every 5 years.

This week, “Marketing Together” was the annual gathering of those marketers – updating each other on their progress, seeing the connections between brands, catching up with the latest consumer trends and marketing ideas from around the world. It was a tremendously inspiring day.

Eczacibasi is now a genuinely international business, “helping to make peoples lives better”

Of course, there is much more to do, but it is a tremendously innovative company – transforming a tile business into luxury “bathroom culture”, developing the mirrored “Ladycard” credit cards in Ukraine, helping hairdressers to acquire Toni & Guy franchises in order to promote its hair colour, taken 4-ply toilet tissue to the hills of Kazikstan, and liberating the joy of sex in a culture where such words were previously unspoken.

The value-doubling challenge from the CEO is no small target. It can only be achieved by working differently and smarter – not just the same and harder. What are our assets? How can we exploit them in new ways? What can we do that nobody else can? How can we combine our capabilities to drive innovation? Together, brands and marketers can do so much more … smart connections and networks really are the key to any business that is serious about significant and sustainable growth.

23 May 2008, Berlin : Fusing the old and new worlds in retail.

Berlin is a fascinating city. The last time I visited, almost 20 years ago, the wall was still being dismantled. People were walking around in disbelief.” Trabbis” (the old East German Trabant cars that ran on elastic bands) were spluttering alongside their new cousins from BMW and Mercedes. Today Berlin is one of the world’s most contemporary cities. Steel and glass, design and efficiency confront you at every corner. The space around the Brandenburg Gate, then a wasteland, is now crowded with commercial buildings, each competing to have their ego closer to the icon of Germany.

Berlin was a symbol of all that was wrong with the world, of a terrible past and uncertain future. Now, despite a national economy still struggling to come to grips with a post-Industrial, post-communist world, Berlin is a beacon of the new world order, competing with Moscow and Beijing, New York and Mumbai as global megacities.

Retailing is in need of a similar reinvention. I was here to deliver the keynote on “Creative Genius – Innovations for the 21st Century” at the Retail Leaders Conference, this year in Berlin.
Retailing might seem like a modern business, but the physical world of shopping appears to be more interested in architecture and property development, than transforming the experience of its customers. Whilst the likes of Amazon, eBay, And Net a Porter have built innovative retail models online, shops have lagged behind. Most shops are still boring square boxes, with piles of products on shelves, seeking to maximise transactions in the space available. Not much thought about the individual, their experience before and after purchase, or indeed the broader role that a retailer might play in people’s lives.

Of course there are great retail examples around the world – like the emotional experience of Build a Bear Workshop where you give birth to your own living teddy bear complete with birth certificate, or Tchibo where impulse shopping is de rigour, ranges change weekly, design is fused with low price, and people can;t help but buy, sometimes with a coffee to stimulate their impulses further. Or retailers could look to Umpqua Bank’s transformation of finance retailing, inspired by Starbucks and Gap, fusing the physical and virtual experience to create great social places that look after your money too.

21 May 2008, Moscow : Nike v Adidas in the Champions League.

It was the all-British final (well 10 of the 22 players were British) that transplanted itself to Moscow, as Russia sought to showcase its new role in the sporting world. It was the battle of American (Glazer) and Russian (Abromovich) owners, the most important 90 minutes of the year for Manchester United and Chelsea FC, but most significantly the dual of the world’s leading sports brands.

In the past, footballers used an old pen to scribble their names or numbers on the sides of their boots. This year’s final saw players running out in their designer boots, personalised to the occasion. Wayne Rooney has his signature stitched into his black and lime green Nike space age shoes, a mesh case surrounded by plastic technology more often seen in racing cars. Didier Drogba was not left behind, with his Adidas black blades, ready to power his way through the best defence.

Nike and Adidas kicked off, and after a nervous start Nike (and their new Ronaldo sub-brand) showed why they can claim to be best footballers with a strong header. Just before the break Adidas volleyed the ball back to equality. The second half saw the Three Stripes start to dominate, but the Swoosh stayed firm. In extra time Adidas lost its cool, and luck started to shine on the brand from Oregon USA. A penalty shoot out is always a nervous affair. But it was the men with a “just do it” attitude stayed cooler, and went home with the news coverage, the financial windfall, and champions of Europe.

16 May 2008, London : My interview with Richard Branson

Meeting Richard Branson was the most scary and exciting experience of my business life. He’s a hero who I have watched, dismissed, admired, worked for, talked about, laughed at, but never failed to be impressed by. U2’s Bono said that there are two people, in his view, who light up any room when they walk in – Bill Clinton and Richard Branson.

He walked in the door. We were alone. We were backstage before the London Business Forum. My task was to spend the next 2 hours interviewing him in front of 2000 people. He’d heard about my new book, Business Genius, and wanted to see it.

Next he was asking if he could take a copy and if I could sign it for him. I thought this was supposed to work the other way. He’s an incredibly relaxed, interested and nice guy. He wanted to know what I thought of Virgin sponsoring the London Marathon (fantastic) and of Alan Sugar (not so fantastic). He’s an incredibly good listener. He brought along his father too, well into his nineties. This was a special day for Richard because his Dad was there too.

It was nearly time to go on stage. He wished me luck, and gave me a hug. I thought I was supposed to be looking after him. The warm-up acts, Magnus Lindkvist (the frowning, futuristic Swede) and L Vaughan Spencer (the Ali G-style rapper of the business world) came off looking exhausted but exhilerated. Mike Oldfield played his Tubular Bells, and we were on stage.

• What’s he most proud of? Launching his airline with one old 747 and no experience.
• Does he do his own emails? He reads them on paper, and dictates answers.
• Have a mobile phone? Yes but keeps losing it (until it rang mid-session!).
• How does he divide his time? 30% on his businesses, 70% on doing good.
• Prioritise his time? He keeps his own pocket diary (and has a great PA).
• Will he run (his) marathon? Yes. He’s swimming 2 hours a day to get in shape.
• How does he manage his businesses? Hands off influence and inspiration.
• What about finance, risk, decisions? Big decisions are about doing the right thing.
• Excel spreadsheets? No thanks. Not even sure of difference between net and gross.
• Scariest moment? When his co-pilot jumped out the hot air balloon and left him to it.
• Buy his own food and clothes? No, cant you tell. Always the same jeans and shirt.
• Where go on holiday? Neckar with friends like Larry Page, and pull up the drawbridge.
• How keep his brand fresh? Keep focused on the detail – the little things matter.
• Terminal 5? No he doesn’t plan to use it – preparation is always important, isn’t it.
• His best attribute? Listening – respect every person, and you learn so much more.
• What’s he spend his fee for speaking today? His various AIDS/HIV projects in Africa.
• Business leader he most admires? Steve Jobs. Coming back. Transforming his market.
• His biggest failure? Don’t remember - always look forward, never back. Screw it, lets do it.

The audience laughed, cheered, and as he departed he invited everyone to join him and his family in space on Virgin Galactic in less than two years time. He really did light up a room, We walked off stage. He was buzzing. Great gig, he said. Unusual questions too. We hugged once more, he signed some of his books this time, and he was off to catch a flight to Kenya.

Phenomenal.

9 May 2008, Rome : The space business inspired by Romans.

The Colliseum. The Roman Baths. Circus Maximus, Those ancient Italian warriers left us with monuments of breathtaking architecture and scale. As I was driven through the city, I was inspired by their size and ability to endure after thousands of years.

Maybe it was fitting, therefore, that the (don’t snigger) fast-growing world of Self Storage chose Rome for its annual convention. In the States, self storage is now used by 1 in 10 people (as we acquire more stuff, we seek to declutter, we move more often, transient in our careers and lifestages). In Europe only 1 in 50 people use self storage, so a significant opportunity.

And whilst one self storage company has created a modern icon (a lighthouse) on a sprawling suburban landscapes, inside these facilities, the dark passages, neon lights and metals doors look more like a set from a sci-fi movie, where monsters and aliens lurk around every corner. Surely its more than the lock-up? What about helping people do what they do? Relocation is a profitable business. Interior design even more so. This is what customers do, not what conventional self storage businesses have done. Maybe that’s the biggest opportunity. Extend the experience. Think problem not product. This solution not service.

I wasn’t sure how my Einstein Picasso keynote speech would go down with the lock-up types. But they loved it. This is what their industry needs, they said. This is what they keep telling their colleagues. However somebody needs to take the bold step forwards – to be the Steve Jobs, the Nicolas Zenntrom, the Amancio Ortego of their industry.

Shape your market, shape your destiny, or forever live in a shadow shaped by others.

30 April 2008, London : Lovemarks in a new blue world.

As Bob Geldof said in his closing act, the Royal Albert Hall is more used to artists and rock stars than to business people and politicians. But we had both. The annual convention of the Institute of Directors, was an eclectic mix of doom and delight, corporate sponsors and genuine leaders, strutting stars and serious CEOs, national introspection and new global thinking.

Kevin Roberts kicked off, direct from Heathrow airport, with his usual fusion of passion and brands, or Lovemarks as he rebranded the genre. What’s his? The All Blacks, Shanghai Tang, HP Sauce. What matters most in the hyper connected, warp speed world? People and emotions. So stop trying to bombard your customers with messages, logos and choice. Do something special for them. He’s also bored with turning the world green. Like our new book proposes, green issues are one of the biggest opportunities for business growth, but maybe to turn the world blue rather than green.

We then had the non-confrontational contest between the Prime Minister Brown and Crown Prince Cameron. Whatever their politics, I left liking Cameron and not Brown (not my normal way of thinking). The Conservative challenger was inspiring and evocative in his vision of business and society (except when he made the rather stupid assumption that every business leader attending must have had a private education), whilst the PM was gruff and heads down, talking about numbers and hard choices, and legitimacy and equity, and lots more things that I got completely lost in. He is the world’s worst communicator. He thinks that facts and logic will win people’s hearts and minds.

The Saatchi & Saatchi CEO was right, it’s an emotional not a rational world, Mr Brown. Maybe there was more than one meaning to his description of an emerging blue world.

18 April 2008, Antalya : Heads up for leaders, heads down for managers.

Antalya is where the beautiful people of Turkey hang out. Hillside SU, for example, is one of the most extraordinary hotels you could ever visit – inspired by history and future, night clubs and art galleries, but certainly not trying to imitate every other luxury hotel you might visit. They avoid the curse of sameness by looking across borders, geographies and sectors, inspired by other worlds.

My task at the Akbank Leaders Summit was to challenge and inspire the top 500 managers in the business to truly think differently about their role. Their culture, inevitably is one of heads-down hierarchy. Nobody dares do anything much, doing their jobs safely and with minimal disruption. This is no different from 90% of the worlds large companies, and particularly those in areas such as banking. But the world moves on, and the challenge from their chairman was to change too.

Leaders and Managers are two different animals, united in one person. Managers are heads down people. They make decisions and deliver the plan. Leaders are heads up people. They create the future and inspire people to follow them. Leaders have the courage to challenge the conventions, the rules and taboos, they work across and upwards as well as down.
Leaders should remember three very special words

• Ubuntu – the Afrikaans word for togetherness, together you can each so much more
• Otako – the Japanese word for being remarkable, something people talk about
• Tutku – the Turkish word for passion, throwing your whole self into the challenge

Leaders need all three of these, and businesses need real leaders more than ever.

9 April 2008, Barcelona : New agenda at the World Retail Congress 2008.

Barcelona saw retailers converge from every corner of the globe – from leading US economists to officials of the Chinese Governments enterprise unit, the mood was immediately set in terms of economic downturn, price inflation and a gloomy time ahead for retailers. However the CEOs of both Carrefour and IKEA quickly challenged this pessimism by arguing that there is no better time for innovation, and that those who engage customers and invest in their businesses during the downturns are also those who thrive in the inevitable future upturn.

My challenge was to introduce “the customer agenda” – a surprisingly unusual starting point for many retailers who are blinkered by the thrills and spills of property development and sales per square metre. So what are the emerging trends for retailers? How are the motivations of consumers evolving and refocusing, and where are the best opportunities to innovate?

The customer agenda polarises for different people round one of three domains

• Me – all about me, my expectations and desires, my wellbeing and reputation
• My world – all about my family and friends, local and related, fast and connected,
• The world – all about the big issues in the world, such as ethics and environment.

Consider some of these trends that relate to these areas, and how retailers could use them as the catalysts for innovation and competitive advantage:

• Personal – what I want, when, where and how eg MyShape, Quintessentially
• Wellbeing – being healthy, wealthy and happy eg Innocent, New McDonalds
• Desire – aspirational, indulgent and luxurious eg SampleLab, Adrenalin Store
• Connect – sharing passions, beliefs and tribalism eg Nike Women, Garden.com
• Express – projecting your identity and opinion eg Livestrong, Facebook Fashionfix
• Participate – contributing and collaborating eg Jones Soda, Tripadvisor.com
• Simple – quick n easy, aggregating and editing, eg MyDeco, 3Luxe, Apple
• Authentic – the original, heritage, or even used, eg Wholefood, Kikkoman
• Good – ethically, environmentally and socially eg M&S Plan A, Visa Swapshops

And what about customer loyalty which continues to fall? Well stop thinking about databases and club cards, points schemes and rewards – start thinking about people and relationships, service and empathy. Look east – to China for example, where loyalty is to those who are your friends and family, and rethink loyalty in a more human, local and emotional way.

1 February 2008,  Seattle:  Microsoft searches for Yahoo

It could be the defining moment in the story of search, the moment Google's luck ran out, the story of how Microsoft finally did seize the road ahead. Or it could be one of the biggest white elephants in business history. $44.6bn (in cash and shares) is a lot of money for a business that has lost its way in recent years, and watched its shareprice decline as Google rides high.

Yahoo shares have fallen 46% since reaching a year-high of $34.08 in October and just last week Jerry Yang cut his company's revenue forecasts and said it would have to spend an additional $300m this year trying to revive the company.

According to Nielsen online, Google has a 56% share of the search market in the US, compared to 18% for Yahoo and 14% for Microsoft's Live facility. Microsoft, itself, admits that its search business has been losing business in recent years, and is said to have been making friendly overtues to Yahoo! for at least the last year.

However the real context is the future of the search business, and its primary revenue stream, online advertising. As consumers get comfortable with web ads, and companies get better at using them in relevant, engaging ways, the huge TV and direct mail budgets are moving online. In Europe alone, 52% of adults are regularly online, spending more time doing so than watching television. the annual value of of online ads is projected to reach 16bn euros ($22bn) by 2012, more than double that of 2006, says Forrester.

24 January 2008, Spaceport America : Virgin Galactic launches SS2

Virgin Galactic has released the final designs of the craft that will take fare-paying passengers into space. It is a refinement of the X-Prize-winning concept - a rocket ship that is lifted initially by a carrier plane before blasting skywards.

SpaceShipTwo, SS2 is larger than the original SS1, able to carry two pilot astronauts and six fare-paying passengers. They will fly initially from the newly constructed Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, starting 2010  Watch the SS2 preview video

The journeys will last about two-and-a-half hours, and seats cost $200,000. Virgin Galactic says more than 200 individuals have booked, and another 85,000 have registered an interest to fly. Book now at www.virgingalactic.com

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has his own scheme, as does the Paypal founder, Elon Musk. Currently, the only way to buy a trip into space is to pay for a seat on the Russian Soyuz launcher. Tickets purchased through Space Adventures cost a reported $20m and take the recipient to the International Space Station for a short holiday.

23 January 2008, Davos : World shaping in the snow

This year's World Economic Forum opens amidst global financial turmoil. The threat of “the worst recession in 60 years” will be uppermost on the minds of the 27 heads of government, 113 cabinet ministers and several hundred corporate titans – everybody from Sergei Brin to Tony Blair, Michael Porter to Paulo Coelho. Can they save the world?

The agenda reflects the mood of a turbulent world, with debates such as "planning for a global recession" and "if America sneezes, does the world still catch a cold?" The role of emerging countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East will be more important than ever in answering these and other questions:

• Dividing the world again: will old fault lines destroy new international collaborations?
• Mysteries of the mind: advances in brain research, knowledge, memory and learning?
• M&A mayhem: the impact of private equity, and the of the credit squeeze?
• Hedge funds: how much power do they really have over global markets?
• Minority shareholders: why 1% shareholders are having a big influence over business?
• State funding: the implications of state funding, worth $12 trillion in 5 years?
• Human greatness: what makes people “great” and the impact of culture and taboos?
• Waterless world: will a third of the world live amidst water scarcity by 2025?
• Nuclear energy: balancing the need for nuclear power with the threat of weapons?
• Cure for cancer: prospects of a cure that would save 11 million lives a year by 2030?
• Cyberspying: how vulnerable are governments, companies and people to e-spies?
• Iraq: how to improve security and stability in the world’s most dangerous region?
• Silent dialogue: an experiment to find out what happens when the talking stops ...

21 January 2008, Seattle: Starbucks for a Dollar

Starbucks has started selling a $1 cup of coffee in certain stores in Seattle as a trial.
The premium coffee brand, with a small (sorry, tall) latte usually costing closer to $6, saw its shares fall 40% last year due to falling custom and higher costs of energy and food (including paying more for its Ethiopian coffee).

McDonalds have launched a gourmet coffee, alongside other low-cost competitions, and some other coffee – such as Pret’s – just tastes better. Last year, founder Howard Shultz was also brought back as CEO of “the third place”.

10 January 2008, Las Vegas : Bill Gates' Farewell Gig

In his last ever keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, Gates speculated on the future of technology in the next decade. He believes screens, from television sets to mobile phones, will go high-definition, connect seamlessly, with consumers using "natural user interfaces," such as speech recognition and touch-screen technology. Simple navigation will be key.

More funky was when Gates wondered about what his last day at Microsoft would be like after he steps down in July. In his self-deprecating video he awkwardly tries rapping Jay-Z's Big Pimpin. "It was great," Jay-Z tells Gates, before turning to the camera and whispering, "not so much."

Gates calls Bono off-stage during a concert to beg for a job playing with U2, only to be denied. Stephen Spielberg shoots down Gates' audition reel. Jon Stewart rejects Gates' request to co-anchor The Daily Show. And both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama turn down his pleas to serve as their running mate. In the video, Obama isn't even sure who's calling him. "Bill?" Obama says into the phone. "Bill Clinton?"

Watch the Gates retirement video 

7 January 2008, Dehli : The world’s cheapest car

Last week the world’s fastest growing car manufacturer Tata Motors announced plans to acquire two of the world’s most famous luxury brands – Jaguar and Range Rover. This week it launched a car that is likely to do for rural Indians, what Henry Ford’s Model T did for Americans.

100,000 rupees ($2,500) will buy you a shiny new “Nano”. It might not have air conditioning, electric windows and power steering – and only a 624cc engine - but it’s still got a modern, cheeky design, 5 seats (and crucially, 4 wheels). It also achieves 50 mpg petrol consumption. Tata is clearly targeting the huge local market, and indeed other emerging markets.

India currently has almost 65 million scooter riders, but only 6.5 million car owners. However, with Tata’s help, that number is likely to double within 5 years, and with the Indian car industry growing at 17% every year this century, and 14km of new road built every day, the $145bn Indian car industry is likely to contribute twice as much to the nation’s GDP within a decade.

Of course, all this is not such good news for climate change, and reducing the world’s carbon emissions. The reality, of course, is that emerging markets will quite rightly grow and increase their material consumption. The challenge is to do this in more environmentally-friendly ways. The developed markets, meanwhile are the ones who need to consume, and emit, less.

1 January 2008 : The Marketing Agenda 2008

Marketing connects consumers and business. It’s therefore interesting to look at the business and customer agendas (below) and consider marketing role in connecting the key factors for 2008. Bringing together many sources, here is the “Marketing Genius” Top 10 for 2008:

1. Individuality: from segments to insights, what really makes people tick?
2. Niches: there is no mass market - youth, boomer, gay, digital, green
3. Customer power: doing business on their terms, engaging their uncontrollable voice
4. Innovation: what’s a better idea, including the channel and application too?
5. Engagement: cutting though the noise to gain attention in relevant, enduring ways
6. Affinities: engaging customers through clubs and charities that matter more
7. Real green: making it real through recycling, carbon, organic, local, ethical
8. Networks: making your own networks, and working with customer's communities
9. Cocreation: from user-generated content and collaborative innovation
10. Advocates: customer loyalty is much more than a “net promoter” score

At the same time marketers will continue to strive for more influence within their business, and more effectiveness of their actions:

- Influence (the point is not that they need to be on “the board” which is more about independent governance, but rather that they should be a key part of the CEO’s team, driving market-driven strategic, business-wide innovation and customer thinking)

- Effectiveness (measuring and improving the ROI of marketing, not just short-term, but its role as the by far most significant driver of shareholder value – driving the future profits through better market and product focus, and better innovation and relationships)

However marketers can only achieve this through engaging customers on the factors that matter to them, and doing so in more innovative ways.

1 January 2008: The Business Agenda 2008

My new book “Business Genius: a more inspired approach to business growth” is published in March 2008 (it seems a long time since I was sitting in the Catalan mountains last summer exploring the real challenges of growth and entrepreneurship, innovation and change).

So if you’re a CEO, or anybody else in the business, who cares what matters to the CEO (don’t we all) then here are the “Business Genius” Top 10 issues for 2008:

1. Growth: new ways to stimulate and sustain demand in new and existing markets
2. Profitability: profitable growth is what really counts, through focus and perceived value
3. Global: managing complex and virtual organisations, whilst acting locally
4. Innovation: more strategic (business models), more disruptive (markets), more lasting
5. Sustainability: reducing and resourcing – environmental, social, natural, ethical
6. Reputation: protecting image in a transparent world of customer power
7. Talent: attracting and retaining, growing and energising the best people to work for you
8. Customers: retaining best customers, learning and getting more from them
9. Intangibles: learning to manage and unlock the intangible assets that matter most
10. Stability: maintaining confidence and market value in volatile markets

Get a sneak preview at www.businessgeniuslive.com

1 January 2008 : The Customer Agenda 2008

Happy new year, and let’s as we mean to go on by thinking like customers - and by customers I mean consumers to anyone in an FMCG business still obsessed with their retailers.

At the moment I’m writing another new book “Customer Genius: transforming your business from the outside in” which will be published later in 2008 (eventually there will be four genius books – exploring business from the left and right, future back and outside in!).

Whoever you are in business, the customer agenda is surely your agenda. So here are the “Customer Genius” Top 10 issues for 2008:

1. Wellbeing: health and fitness, education and happiness, for you and your family
2. Doing more: enabling customers to do achieve richer applications, new possibilities
3. Status: premium lifestyles, personal identity and recognition, desire for luxury
4. Instant: expectation of speed, drive of impulse for anything, anywhere at anytime
5. Right thing: about me (eg education), my world (eg community), the world (eg poverty)
6. Connected: online and mobile, interactive and informed, everything on my terms
7. Authentic: real and genuine, heritage and original, natural and human
8. Exploring: travelling, learning, aesthetically-good arts and adrenalin-fuelled adventure
9. Surprise: more spontaneity and responsiveness, entertainment and excitement
10. Anchors: something to hang onto in a fast, crazy world - trusted, familiar, enduring

But don’t take my word for it, get out there and talk to some of your own customers (ask open questions, listen to what they really say, dig deeper to understand motivations and dreams), and then reflect on what really matters most to your business this year.

31 December, Beijing : China ready to take centre stage

The last year has seen China preparing to move from emerging market to new economic superpower. Signalling this emergence, more than anything, is the Beijing Olympics. Indeed the chief choreographer for the opening ceremony has promised to represent the new and creative, youthful and ambitious nation, rather than one based on heritage and tradition, uniformity and surpression.

Looking at the global economic performance over the last 12 months highlights China’s role as the most successful global economy. Research by Jupiter Asset Management shows how the world’s markets fared in 2007, ranking the best by their 1 year average stock market returns:

1. China 99%
2. Peru 80%
3. Brazil 66%
4. Turkey 59%
5. India 58%

We’ve heard a lot about the rise of the BRIC nations, so less expected were the outstanding growth of Peru and Turkey (although perhaps not given my recent Istanbul experience). Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table are some old favourites like Ireland, Sweden and Japan. The markets with the worst returns in 2007 were

1. Ireland -25%
2. Belgium -10%
3. Japan -9%
4. Sweden -7%
5. Bermuda -5%

9 December, Istanbul : Fast markets, fast marketing

“Speed” was the theme of this year’s European Marketing Conference in Istanbul – with over 2000 delegates, 50 speakers it was an exhilarating event to chair as always (this year being my fourth and last time in the hot seat!).

Fast insights, fast trends, fast channels, fast innovation, fast strategies, fast communication, fast distribution, fast media, fast solutions, fast networks, fast results …

What is driving this speed (particularly when, actually, the world economy is not growing any faster than before)? Is it that customers expect faster answers? Or that competition is just much faster? Or are we responsible for it ourselves - like a hamster running faster and faster, but not getting any further?

• Costas Markides argued that it is better to be “fast second”, to learn from the insights and mistakes of others, and then be quick to come up with a better solution

• Don Tapscott explored the economics of networks, where the connectivity of audiences and businesses drives demand and value created in more interdependent ways.

• Danella Krautsack reflected on the use of non-traditional, ambient, transient, social media (landmarks, clothing, vehicles, nature, packaging) to engage people faster.

• Magnus Lindkvist inspired us to think about what kind of future we are creating for our children, and how we would explain to them the world as it is, and we want to be.

There were many other amazing moments, from international and local sources – TurkTelecom for example is about to launch the world’s fastest commercial broadband service next month; whilst mobile rival Turkcell described how they hand-picked marketing talent to work faster and more creatively as a team.

Download more of the presentations from www.mct.com.tr

7 December, Kiev : Finding Apple in a struggle for democracy

The Ukraine has been through a turbulent time in recent years – who can forget the long evening of the “orange revolution” as pro-democracy supporters refused to accept the initial results of the presidential elections. A re-run proved them right, but since then the reformers have struggled to move forwards, and the latest elections proved inconclusive – although a compromise is in site.

The Ukrainians are warm and welcoming, yet the Russian influence is still very noticeable to an outsider. Unlike most of the rest of eastern Europe, the streets are still full of communist-era icons. The language, the buildings, the department stores, the signage, the uniforms, the interior décor, the cars …

Amidst all this, I delivered the keynote at the Ukrainian EFFIE Advertising Awards – organised by Best Marketing. The audience as always was engaging and eager to learn, both from wester and eastern companies, from real and digital worlds. But there in its midst I met a fascinating ex Apple marketer – Steve Chazin - who will tell you the real story of Apple, its rise and fall, and rise again, and what really makes Steve Jobs tick. Check out his blog at MarketingApple.com

Download The Five Secrets of the World’s Best Marketing Machine

6 December, Bucharest : Marketing in the new Eastern Europe

Romania’s capital is still dominated by the incredible, crazed, indulgent buildings of its infamous former dictator. My taxi driver was keen to show me these “sights”, but more proud of how the city was rediscovering its Parisian-inspired past, with a more stylish, cultured part of town.

The flags were still out celebrating Romania’s national day when everyone had come out onto the streets and the city council had served food and drink to everyone, free – an echo of a socialist era, or of a strong community that has endured many trials and tribulations. As for the “people’s palace”, it looked dark and isolated – about a quarter of it lit up and used for government offices because nobody else wants to go there, and the extensive grounds are unkept scrubland.

The two-day Marketing Genius masterclass, organised in partnership with Stamford Global, was truly exhilarating, for me as the presenter/facilitator (and hopefully for the delegates too – indeed many said they left truly inspired, but that’s for them to say, not me to claim!). To be honest I have never met such a passionate and intelligent audience, passionate and eager to learn.

From the snack manufacturer to the motorbike importer, the mobile operator to the investment bank, the supermarket chain to the cheese maker, they all had their challenges. But by being prepared to throw away their prejudice, to think like real customers, to learn from unrelated industries, to embrace new practices, and insights from around the world – they left inspired by opportunity.

See details of more Marketing Genius masterclasses

See my new Romania Market Watch column

20 November, New York : The Truth about Climate Change

We’ve all now seen Al Gore’s epic powerpoint slideshow, read the book, or watched the movie. And of course, now that the Oscar and Nobel prize committees think that he is a winner, the cynics have started to back lash. Let’s see how many of those critics are still laughing in ten years time, particularly if they live near the sea, hope for stable weather patterns, or care about their children’s futures.

Whilst An Inconvenient Truth is principally designed to raise awareness of a fundamental challenge, the debate at last seems to be moving to what not if – deciding where the trade-offs must come, and how to both reduce our emissions, and fast forward new technologies that help us achieve our ambitions, but in a better way.

Anybody still arguing about the evidence – fools that they are – about whether carbon emissions are really increasing, and how far temperatures and sea levels are likely to rise – need look no further than the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Control. The IPCC has no political agenda or personal ego, simply the best scientific analysis and projections around. So if you’re still questioning the logic, read it, and if you accept it, get on and do something about it – particularly through “green innovation”, driving growth that is also good. 

Key scientific report: www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/index.htm

Graphical presentation: www.ipcc.ch/pdf/presentations/pachauri-un_nyc_2007-09-07.pdf

14 November, Istanbul : Fast Lifestyles

Hillside Beach Club has built a reputation as one of the world’s leading holiday destinations in recent years. Renzo Rosso, the man from Diesel recently swapped his vineyard for the turquoise waters around Antalya and the uninhibited personal indulgences of the beach club. www.hillside.com.tr/HillsideBeachClub/

Hillside, however is much more than a beach resort, having started out as a network of designer fitness clubs catering for the beautiful people of Istanbul – live DJs whilst you work out have now become common but started here first. Indeed, the boutique hotels and spas, exclusive restaurants and shopping malls all start from a simple premise – to capture your imagination, rather than imitate the competition.

CEO Edip Ýlkbahar is adamant that Hillside’s secret lies in its constant desire to create newness, to take ideas from completely different places, and fuse them together into something new and inspiring. Walk into the luxurious colour-changing Hillside Su hotel, and you will be dazzled by the largest disco balls you have ever seen, and then chill out in your room with two double beds – one inside as conventional, and one on the balcony so that you can dream under the stars.

This week marks another lifestyle innovation from Hillside – with the launch of a new hotel, restaurant and shopping experience for the time-poor, lifestyle-rich of Istanbul – Hillside City Club-İstinye - so that you can get the ultimate high speed workout, excellent cuisine, and the perfect gift, all within your lunch hour. Fast cars, fast fashion, and now fast luxury is de rigour in the 21 century melting pot of Istanbul. www.hillside.com.tr/hillside/sports/clubmail/070820_factsheet.swf

9 November, Tallinn: Silicon Valley 2.0 

Whilst the Baltics are still a blur on the map to some people (head north from Poland and you cross into Lithuania, keep going through Latvia, and you arrive in Estonia, and only a 20 minute ferry trip to Finland), they are fast establishing themselves as the centre of the new European economy.

Tallinn was recently described by Fast Company magazine as one of the world’s 25 hottest cities (for technology and innovation, not for the weather than is). Perhaps some of that Nokia-harnessed high tech culture has slipped across the water from Helsinki. Skype now has around 300 people in its head offices here, and many other tech companies are recognising the city as “the new Silicon Valley”.

At a local level, the innovation is perhaps having most impact on government, and using electronic voting and other developments to increase speed of decisions, and public participation in government. Similarly companies like Mobiil-ID are leading the way in wireless identification, enabling a transformation in the way people interact, do business and do their shopping.

www.InnoEurope.eu is a leading event organiser, and business community for marketing and innovation, leadership and customers.

8 November, Riga:  Stenders Soap Factory

The beautiful Latvian city of Riga is admired for its architecture and style. The old buildings reflect a fusion of central European influence, whilst the well dressed women look as though they have just emerged from the latest Moscow boutique or nightclub (the Russian influence is particularly strong here). The shops reflect a rich heritage in art and crafts, although they are complemented by the very latest high fashion branded stores.

“Stenders Soap Factory” is a great example of making heritage a cool, designer concept for the 21st century. With its traditional soaps and fragrances, old wooden cupboards and fusion of aromas, Stenders has build its own quirky personality, but also a rapidly growing footprint across the cities of Europe.

The company was established in 2001 by Zane Berzina and Janis Berzins, two young entrepreneurs from Riga. All of the "Stenders" products are sold exclusively in branded shops. By April 2007 the company has already 135 shops in 9 countries – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, China, The Netherlands and Finland. www.stenders.lv 

18 October, Llubljana: Fast Growth in Slovenia

Nestling in amidst Alpine mountains, but with the hint of Italian style and Slavic culture, Llubljana is a small compact town at the centre of a fast growing country. Indeed recent analysis revealed Slovenia (alongside Estonia) to be the fastest growing nation within the EU. www.ljubljana-tourism.si

The relaxed charm of the riverside restaurants in the town centre seem at odds with that speed of growth. Indeed the country is still not identifiable with any strong brands, business sectors or particular aspects of innovations. The challenge for Slovenia is to develop and monetise its own ideas, rather than just being a outsourced factory for other nations. As the country prospers, costs will rise, and Slovenia will no longer be a low cost option.
Just like a company, or individual, nations need a strategy too, if they are to grow profitably and sustainably. Time for the Slovenians to focus on their brains rather than brawn, and to decide what they want to be great at.

1 October, Istanbul: Boom time on the Bospherous

Istanbul is a thriving, exhilarating, dynamic city – its chaotic and stifling traffic jams testament to a mass migration from the country to city over recent decades. However it is also a rising star of the fashion world – with many home-grown artisans, designers and architects now coming to prominence.

Visit the “Kanyon” shopping centre, one of many boutique-laden centres to have sprung up in recent years, and you will be surrounded by the Porsche-driving, Gucci-wearing lifestyle set. Harvey Nichols is a thriving anchor tenant, and the many surrounding stores and bars in the curving open-air malls are testament to a wealthy, cosmopolitan society, at least in part. www.kanyon.com.tr

The head offices of Eczacibasi, one of Turkey’s leading holding companies, sits atop the complex, an example of a Turkish business with a rapidly growing international presence. From Egos hair gel to Selpak tissue paper, Villeroy & Boch ceramics to Vitra kitchens, this is a pharmaceutical company turned property developer is at the forefront of rapid commercial and cultural transformation.

25 September, Budapest: Marketing in the new Europe

With a total population of around 330 million, the CEE region represents a very large and dynamic economic area with considerable potential for further growth. Consumers from new EU member states and candidate countries are evolving at an incredible pace, and it is likely that decades of change in the West will be encapsulated in a much shorter time period in the East. Therefore, identifying and understanding the needs of the consumer will be even more critical than in the mature markets of the West. And now is the time to do so.

The inaugural CEE Marketing Summit brought together a fantastic collection of leading marketers, fantastically diverse case studies, and the most important issues for driving growth and innovation across the CEE. Examples such as Avon’s networked marketing approach to Russia, Erste Bank’s rebranding across local markets, Podravka spreading its love and heritage into new markets, Red Bull exhilarating the sleepy Hungarians along the Danube, and many many others. www.ceemarketingsummit.com/gallery.php

The most significant discussion focused on the differences between markets – how to market differently in Poland from Hungary, Russia from Ukraine, Czech from Slovak republics. The most significant conclusion that this is the wrong way to look at these fast emerging markets. The commonality between segments within each market is far greater than the difference between geographies.

Join me in Bucharest (3-4 December 2007) and Warsaw (12-13 March 2008) in exploring these and many other CEE marketing issues further in the "Marketing Genius" masterclasses. www.ceemarketinglive.com

7 July 2007. Planet Earth: SOS

As Live Earth concerts brought home the urgency and magnitude of our global crisis, with concerts spanning every continent, and watched by around 2 billion people, Al Gore introduced his call to action,  Live Earth’s 7 point pledge on climate crisis:

• To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

• To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral;”

• To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

• To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

• To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

• To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

• To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Have you signed up yet?

29 June 2007. New York : Hello

We will look back on today as yet another milestone on Apple's journey of innovative design and market transformation. The sleek, high tech iPhone - combining phone, iPod, email, internet, and most dinstinctively, brand and design - hit the shelves of US stores today. Even the $499 price tag didnt put off the overnight campers. Apple really is a master of creating mystique, curiosity and love around their products - the buzz takes on a life of its own.

The first TV ad, sreened during the Oscars, carried the simple line "Hello". The New York Times said "the iPhone is so sleek it makes Blackberrys look obese. But even better is the software. It's fast, beautiful, menu-free and dead simple to operate" but added "its amazing, but not yet perfect."  Newsweek called it "a significant leap - a superbly engineered and cleverly designed solution to merging a phone, internet and media player" whilst USA Today said "this expensive, glitzy phone is worth lusting after" ... I want one. 

20 June 2007, Madrid : The Real Deal

Real Madrid received at least £300m in marketing revenues from their £25m investment in David Beckham, according to marketing director Jose Angel Sanchez, and the 1 million Beckham shirts sold in the first 6 months was enough to cover his transfer fee. In Beckham’s two years at the football club, sponsorship revenues from the likes of Adidas, Audi and Siemens Mobile have grown by 137% to £30m, and merchandise by 62% to £36m. Commercial income totals £80m and accounts for 42% of Real Madrid’s total income (compared to less than 10% previously), the remainder coming from £48m match-day sales, £44m from television rights and £16m from tours. Real is now ranked the richest club in world soccer. As he bids “Adios” and heads for LA Galaxy, the new La Liga champions will miss more than just his right footed crosses and free kicks.

18 June 2007. Sunnyvale : Just like the old days.

Jerry Yang is back in the saddle at Yahoo! to revitalise the once pioneering internet but now struggling search business. Yahoo! is an internet giant, but has tended to throw more and more random ideas onto its basic search engine. The company has an annual turnover of $3.2bn, 12,000 employees and more than 500 million individual users. Not bad for a venture that started as a small web site run by a two undergraduate students at Stamford University, seeking to create a directory of cool internet links. Yet compared to the mighty Google, Yahoo! is becoming an also-ran. The two companies are roughly equivalent in terms of staff and audience size - but Google's advertising revenues are 50% higher, and its profits four times that of its older rival. So all is not well in Sunnyvale, California, at the Yahoo HQ. Can Jerry find his old magic a decade on?

10 June 2007, London : Swap Shops

As green is the new cool, so recycled goods now become the thing to buy. Charity shops, nearly new stores, online exchanges. Or simply doing a direct swap with somebody else. Freecycle is a not-for-profit movement that swaps stuff within communities - turn up with your old lawnmower and walk away with bike.

The Visa Swap Shop in London's Knightsbridge is open for three weeks only, enabling people to trade points for unwanted designer clothes and spend them on designer gear they do want. Is swapping the new shopping? As the invitation goes: Welcome to the world of Visa Swap, an entirely new concept that enables you to spring clean your wardrobe and ‘buy’ new clothes without spending a penny. Plus all this can be done safe in the knowledge that your eco-halo will be gleaming like Liz Hurley’s wedding ring.

Everyone has items of clothing languishing in their cupboard that were an impulse-buy, a tad too big or small or purchased under the spell of a particularly enticing discount. Finally there is a way to be green and recycle these pieces whilst exchanging them for something that you might actually wear. Yes, retail heaven is coming to a store near you, as Visa Europe has linked up the the charity TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) and is opening a temporary pop-up shop.

1 June 2007, London : Get funky for the 2012 Olympics

The Olympics is one of the most powerful and populous brands in the world. Each host city takes the five ring emblem and values and presents it in a ever more contemporary, and locally inspired fashion. Logos from Moscow and Montreal to Barcelona and Sydney are still immediately recognised, capturing the athletic memories as well as the zeitgeist.

London, with the help of design firm Woolf Olins has launched the icon that represents everything that they hope 2012 will be ...  Whilst derided in the popular press, brands we should remember, don’t just reflect what we are comfortable with today, but of the changing world which we aspire too. The graffiti-inspired, constantly changing, multi-media and luminous logo followed the brief that it should be “like nothing before” and “reflect tomorrow’s youth”.

In the Olympic world, it is like nothing before. A multi-visual, multi-media icon for the mash-up world. And whilst it challenges me too, I am sure I will grow to love it, as I do the Olympics. So well done Seb Coe and his team for your boldness and vision …

25 May 2007, Vilnius : Baltics from the future back

Strategic innovation is rare. Most innovation is focused on product improvements, incremental changes, which are quickly copied and compromised. Starting from the future and then working backwards is more interesting. It is uninhibited by the conventions, commercial and competitive pressures of today, and naturally a whole host of implied disruptions to the status quo. However the secret of designing a business from the “future back” is the way you link it back into “now forward”, what different business actions you take now which can lead to a more distinctive future.

“Future back” strategy and innovation requires a better understanding of tomorrow – distinguishing the fads from the trends, and the possibilities from the plausibilities – a leadership commitment to this future model, gained only through hands-on involvement in the process, and then a disciplined focus on the capabilities and competitive actions that will create the symbols of change, and quick win results as stepping stones to the future. In Vilnius, our one day “Future Back” masterclass embraced the expertise and foresights of Magnus Lindqvist, the Swedish futurologist and pattern recognition expert who identified “individuality, transparency and speed” as the biggest drivers of the next decade. See www.pattern-recognition.se

17 May 2007, Beijing : Mickey and the magic gourd. 

China has proven a difficult market for Disney so far, but it has now turned to an enchanted vegetable to spearhead its new market entry. The Magic Gourd opens at the end of the month and could be the first of many locally-made Disney-branded films around the world. Based on a 1958 novel written by Zhang Tianyl, and developed in partnership with China Film Group, the story is about a young boy who discovers a wish-granting gourd. The state-run television station CCTV features a cartoon based on the story as well. There are already more than 4,000 Disney Corner retail outlets in China.

15 May 2007, Prague : The Rise of Central Europe

Lower-middle-income consumers in Central and Eastern Europe have been largely neglected by Western marketers and represent a major opportunity for growth, according to new research by Boston Consulting Group. Around 60 percent of CEE’s 350 million consumers - ie more than 200 million - live on lower-middle incomes (defined as above the poverty line up to median household income). This group, which has jumped in size by the steady economic growth of Russia and Ukraine over the past six years, is significantly larger than in Western Europe and controls half of the CEE's disposable income.

The BCG report argues that this market has been strikingly underserved by Western companies. "The media often portrays Central and Eastern European consumers are either super-rich or super-poor … In reality, most consumers earn enough to make purchasing decisions daily, yet they face a lack of affordable goods and services beyond basic necessities. Western companies have a huge opportunity to tap into this segment by creating tailored, affordable offerings." Companies that entered the region during first wave of expansion in the 1990s focused on high and middle-income consumers, bringing similar products as in the West and marketing them in similar ways at similar prices. They also tried selling old and obsolete products from the West. This strategy allowed them to skim the top 15 percent of the market. In the next wave of competition, consumers with lower disposable incomes will become the new battleground.

15 May 2007, London : Heads down for customers?

“European Customer Management World” is supposed to be the state-of-the-art conference on what’s happening in the worlds of customer service, relationships and management. Yet there seemed to be something missing here, between the “heads down” managers of call centres, databases, and loyalty programmes – and the inspirational messages from the likes of

• Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline): "Who is in control? Neither companies or customers, but nature ... See the bigger picture, the outside-inside system ... The bubble of the industrial age is now bursting ... Consumers care more than about product-price transactions, more about their impact on their world ... You can never get enough of what you really need to make you happy."

• CK Prahalad (Competing for The Future):  "Organic growth is at a premium; it is not common or easy; and demands more strategic innovation ... Focus on the next practices not the best practices ... Amplify the weak signals ... Harness the nodal networks, the developing markets, the bottom of the pyramid ... Cocreate in new consumer contexts." 

Most of the EMCW audience seemed stuck in the 1980’s introverted, incrementalist, TQM-compliant, Tom Peters-worshipping world of undirected "customer focus" worship. They really do need a shake up, to wake up and see the new digitally-enabled, collaborative and personal world of customer business. To see more clearly what customer-centric business is about.

8 May 2007, Kalamata : Digital is all Greek down here

Running through the quiet villages of southern Greece - the olive trees and the orange blossom, the old ladies in black and men in flat caps, the horse-drawn carts and the fallen-down shacks – I could be forgiven for thinking this was not Europe. As I accelerated past, with my latest Nike shoes and shades, I felt I was passing from a future age. Is this really Europe of the 21st century? Does the world of 3G and wifi connect down here? Having spent much time in the emerging eastern Europe markets, it strikes me that the new Europe is more about North v South, rather than the old splintering of West v East. Or maybe there is much to be said for their slow, quiet life!

27 April 2007, Rome : The new customer agenda

Visa is an interesting business, one of the world’s most valuable brands, and one that touches us every day. And also a membership organisation that uniquely brings together the banks of the world. The future of electronic, contactless, intelligent payment systems is now upon us – much more than a payment card, much more than payment. We explored “the customer agenda” – in particular customer drive for simplicity and individuality – but also why any brand now needs more humanity, more purpose, and more passion to succeed. Not easy for a company traditionally seen as a background infrastructure provider, but essential if it wants to be trusted and desired. See www.corporate.visa.com/av/nl/index.html?src=home

25 April 2007, Zagreb : Marketing the “ing"

The two most admired local brands in Croatia, according to our Genius survey, are a tie maker and boat maker. Not what you would expect. The tie company, Croata, engages national pride in this reborn country, building on a national heritage in ties (you learn something every day!), whilst the boat company is not about boats at all, but about sailing. It’s passion for water engages customers with a similar passion, building a community of sailors facilitated by the manufacturer. About the sailing not the boats. Brands need to find the “ing” in what they do for customers. This is what customers buy.

19 April 2007, Budapest : In the Heart of New Europe

Budapest is a fantastic, historic city, bang in the centre of Europe – although the long vacated shops with their old, ornate decoration can make it seem as if it is frozen in a pre-communist era. I learnt that Hungarians are an opportunistic race – they have an idea, and rush to make it happen, which often means that half-baked business ideas struggle to survive long. Early this morning, running along the banks of the Danube, I could feel history under my Nike Air cushions. Looking across at the towering parliament buildings, and the lofty Austo-Hungarian palaces from an empire long ago, this was once a mighty city. However Budapest is becoming a thriving centre again, a hub of central Europe, a booming digital town, and with some amazing people too. See www.stamfordglobal.com/conferences/upcoming-events/42

16 April 2007, London :  All the Books in the World

There is no shortage of books in our world. At this week’s London Book Fair you can find every possible shape, size, colour, title. What’s surprising is how few books are actually driven by understanding the needs of their customers, their readers. Publishers tend to commission books on a whim, and authors seem to write them with an abstract notion of reality. For fiction this is fine. For business books this doesn’t work. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have time to read 300 pages to find one or two good ideas, with practical application too … I seek to write Genius books differently (there will be three new ones coming out next year!), with a disciplined “pyramid thinking” focus (thanks to Barbara Minto) and an objective to write something significant on at least every other page.

10 April 2007, Houston : Moleskine gets connected.

If the digitally-enabled, hyper-connected world of Web 2.0 sounds a bit scary for you, then take inspiration from Moleskine, the little black notebooks that have embraced blogging. With its new range of city notebooks, which feature street maps and local information, the brand has also introduced a series of city-focused blogs for London, Milan, New York, Paris, and Rome. Eventually, the blogs will spin out into wiki-style pages of user-generated content with travellers and locals all contributing tips. If a notebook company is brave enough to embrace the new world of social networks, then maybe the rest of us should too. Incidentally, Moleskines’ turnover was up 50% from 2005 to €100 million.

4 April 2007, Riyadh : Customer-Centricity in the Sand

The Gulf is a fascinating market – a fusion of riches and poverty, religion and culture, it’s not easy to apply the largely Westernised ideals of management. And the countries in the Gulf are diverse too, Riyadh for example, having none of the glamour and technology of nearby Dubai and increasingly Abu Dabbi. Yet these are lucrative and competitive markets – just look at the price paid for the latest 3G licenses. So how do you compete? And what does “great” customer service look and feel like in this very different culture? Do people want passion, experience and theatre? Building a customer-centric business is not easy at the best of times, but even harder here. But if you can fuse the Western best practice with local cultural desires and sensitivities, it could be a powerful advantage.

22 March 2007, Manchester : Living Life a Little Better

The “conscience consumer” is now an important segment of our markets, increasingly demanding, discerning and different. Having watched the melting polar caps, the record-breaking weather of this spring, and the passionate call of Al Gore to face up to “An inconvenient Truth”, they want companies to do much more. As Innocent’s Richard Reed says “it’s not about tobacco companies offsetting their guilt by building a children’s playground”, or even offsetting your carbon emissions once they’ve caused their damage, but finding ways to do better business. Ethics and environment are the fast growing consumer motivation, so embracing them at the heart of your propositions and business models now makes competitive and commercial sense too. This is what the Cooperative Bank are doing. Imagine, for example,, a car insurance where the premiums are based on the carbon emissions rather than the driver’s risk (where there is potentially a correlation between the two anyway). A truly differentiated, higher margin, more engaging and socially responsible idea.

13 March 2007, London : Customer and Convergence

Technological convergence is obsessive. Many white papers and consulting hours have been spent considering the implications of fusing telephones with televisions with broadband with mobile. Triple play and quad play mania hit the big time in the UK recently with the launch of Virgin Media. Whilst many other players have attempted to “bundle the wires” the customer didn’t really care. All it gave them was a good price. Virgin’s latest business has typically taken a customer view, realising that the techno gobbledegook is the fastest way to commoditisation, distrust and bankruptcy. They have a more enlightened approach, demonstrating how simple, convenient and more fun it can be in a converged world. Tech companies really do need to stop thinking products, technically sophisticated, but customer irrelevant. Seeing things like customers do, is a far broader, more enlightened view of the market, with bigger and richer opportunities.  Have you seen the iDog?

12 March 2007, Seattle: Cookie-Cutter Coffee?

Howard Schultz, the respected chairman of Starbucks, has slammed his coffee chain for commoditisation in a leaked memo. Schultz is concerned that Starbucks’ rapid expansion has damaged its brand experience. “The results have been stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores versus the warm feeling of a neighborhood store. Some people even call our stores sterile [and] cookie cutter,” he wrote. Now Schultz must grapple with the age-old quandary – how do you stay small when you’re big?

6 March 2007, Riga : Creative Hotbeds in the Baltics

The Baltics seem to have leapt from the Medieval ages to the 21st Century - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have embraced their EU membership with gusto. It wouldn't surprise me if the next Nokia, or Apple, did not come out of one of these fascinating, beautiful countries (Skype already has its base with 250 people in Tallinn). In fact they are very different. Latvian capital Riga’s old town gives plenty of clues to its German, Scandinavian and Soviet pasts, Estonia is more like an extension of Finland (just a short boat hop), whilst Lithuania is more akin to Poland. These are high tech cities with more mobile phones, free wifi and laptop carriers per head than virtually anywhere in the world. They are ambitious too. In Latvia for example, there are plans to build “The Wall of the World” containing the signatures of at least a quarter of the world’s population. With a little vodka, anything is possible.  See www.best-marketing.com

25 February, Leiden: From Skype and Kazaa to Joost

The Scandinavian founders of Kazaa and Skype Niklas Zennström, a Swede, and Janus Friis, a Dane have launched a new peer to peer service for TV. Will it disrupt the traditional TV advertising industry in the same way that Kazaa overturned the music industry and Skype threatens telecommunications? Joost is based on P2P software that runs on people's computers and combines TV with the internet. Unlike many other TV internet businesses, Joost is a free service with advertising breaks but offers viewers playlists rather than scheduled programmes

20 February 2007, Belgrade : Rethinking Serbia

Voda Voda is the most innovative bottle of mineral water I have ever come across. Monolithic plastic contains water from the high mountain springs in Serbia’s northern mountains. This is a country seeking a new start. Almost a decade after the many terrible conflicts in the region, Serbia is desperate to present a more positive view of itself to the world. Whilst political uncertainty continues to slow foreign investment, this is a country of intelligent, hard-working people. Yet it is also a nation of two mindsets, one is the contemporary, youthful, blogging innovators – the other is the lets keep things as they always have been. Perhaps that is like most markets. Yet when the “has been” is unchanged over half a century, and the innovators have more white paper than most, it is a country with extreme potential, if it can get its act together. See http://www.cyberpoetica.blogspot.com/

30 January 2007, Paris : Innovators and Adaptors

Innovator or adapter. Which are you? That was the question I posed to the global management summit of one of the world’s leading paint manufacturers this week. And what does it mean to be an innovator? Are they mad inventors, with wacky hair, stuck in a lab, challenging the conventions, with little commercial sense? And what about the adapters? Are they less good? Or just work in more incremental, down to earth ways, with less ambition or risk? You need both of course. But the point is, you need both. Most businesses squeeze out the innovators, they don’t easily fit. But if you want innovative strategies, innovative concepts, innovative products, innovative people, you need a more diverse mix of people. Employ some artists, artisans, musicians, scientists, actors, engineers – and respect them all for their difference, not for their fit. After all, innovation is the only platform from which to create sustained, profitable growth.

24 January 2007, Davos : Less apres ski at the WEF this year.

Climate change, the rise of Asia and the next web revolution should dominate the agenda for the likes of Gates, Blair, and Bono at the World Economic Forum, starting today in Davos. The five-day talking shop in the Swiss Alps brings together business leaders, politicians and campaigners, make up the 2,400 participants from 90 countries. Let’s up hope it delivers because Asia is booming, the climate is in crisis, and web 2.0 could have far more lasting impact on our lives than its first version. Professor Klaus Schwab, the WEF is expected to kick off the event in his Second Life character. He reflected, our "increasingly schizophrenic world" gets "harder and harder to understand", and the need for real debate, and even more tangible action than ever. Otherwise all we will have is a virtual world.

11 January 2007, Los Angeles : Brand Beckham goes to Hollywood.

So David Beckham will leave the galacticos of Real Madrid for the relative small US Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy at the end of the season. The 31-year-old former England captain will sign a five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m, a fee which reflects salary, but also sponsorship and branding rights. His stated motivation is to build soccer as a major sport in the US, but I think it also says much about the South American influence in today's USA.

9 January 2007, Cuppercino : Jobs conjures up the future of phones.

Apple boss Steve Jobs unveiled the long-awaited iPhone at the Macworld Expo in the US. The announcement was greeted with plenty of enthusiasm by many - but not all, including those who had already trademarked the iPhone name.  However as soon as the lights went up and the last strains of James Brown faded out you could hear Mac fans all around expressing their wonder at, and lust for, Apple's new iPhone. Whatever it is eventually called, I want one now!

3 January 2007, London : What is your Economic IQ?

The Economist Intelligence Unit has compiled a trendsurvey forecasting what will affect us up until the year 2020. Among the principal findings are

• Global redistribution of economic power. Emerging markets, China and India in particular, will take a larger slice of the world economy.
• Demographics. Population shifts will have a significant impact on economies, companies and customers. Europe in particular will struggle to grow due to an ageing population.
• Atomisation. Network technologies and globalisation will enable firms to better use the world as their supply base, alongside new forms of fragmentation and collaboration.
• Personalization - Price and quality will matter as much as ever, but customers in developed and developing markets will place more emphasis on personalisation. 
• Knowledge Management - Improving the productivity of knowledge workers through technology, training and organisation design will be the major boardroom challenge of the next 15 years."

Download the full report: http://a330.g.akamai.net/7/330/2540/20060418195140/graphics.eiu.com/files/ad_pdfs/eiuForesight2020_WP.pdf

2 January 2007, London : The Science of Future 

As part of New Scientist's 50th anniversary celebrations, the magazine asked over 70 of the world's most brilliant scientists for their weird and wonderful predictions. Discover the future at http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/science-forecasts

Another great source of future trends comes from “Delta Scan” which is Stanford’s futurist think tank on science and technology. Explore more at http://humanitieslab.stanford.edu/2/Home.

Or for a more jargon-centric view of the future, you can explore Gartner's Hype Cycle. What’s changing? RFID is past its hype peak, whilst Web 2.0 has reached "the peak of inflation". Meanwhile VoIP telephony has reached "the plateau of productivity", ie it's here to stay. See more at http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=495475 

Making sense of the future also requires an understanding of where we have come from. A website that has exemplified this is Futureswatch.org who has created a timeline from 1750 to 2100. Trends are more enduring than the fads which we typically obsess about. Learn more at http://www.futureswatch.org/Timeline.htm

On a similar reflective theme, Time Magazine explores the biggest moments of the last 12 months, and concludes that YOU are the person of the year
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html?aid=434&from=o&to=http%3A//www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1569514%2C00.html

1 January 2007, Geneva : Welcome to 2007

The World Future Society has recently published their annual forecast in The Futurist magazine. Read more at http://www.wfs.org/forecasts.htm where predictions include

1. Generation Y will migrate heavily overseas.
2. Dwindling supplies of water in China will impact the global economy.
3. Workers will increasingly choose more time over more money.
4. Outlook for Asia: China for the short term, India for the long term.
5. Children's "nature deficit disorder" will grow as a health threat.
6. We’ll incorporate wireless technology into our thought processing by 2030.
7. The robotic workforce will change how bosses value employees.
8. The costs of global-warming-related disasters will reach $150 billion per year
9. Companies will see the age range of their workers span four generations.
10. The rise of obese Americans will strain public transportation systems.

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Insights

The big issues of individuality, connectivity and sustainability will challenge and transform the way we succeed in business.

• Customer Power

The fundamental shift in power from business to customer, and diverse individuality of customers, where people don’t buy standard products generically pushed at them. Do you really do business when, where, and how customers want?

• The Network Works

The connectivity of new technologies removes the old market inefficiencies that were the source of many companies’ revenues, and creates intelligent communities. Networks are now about the web of peer-to-peer connections, not just with the centre.

• Green Tipping Point

The rapid rise of our ethical and environmental conscience, at last and urgent as it is for all of us, only amplifies the customer’s lack of trust and engagement in companies and brands.

Amidst all of this complexity, customer expectations continue to grow, competition becomes more intense, and cycle times continue to shrink, capital is increasingly scarce, and shareholders will not rest for anything less than sustained, profitable growth.

From the vision of Apple to the insight of Zara, the passion of Nike and irreverence of Jones Soda, the entrepreneurship of Jet Blue and thrill of Agent Provocateur, the greening of GE to the viral impact of MySpace, today’s leading businesses think and act differently.

Genius = intelligence + imagination = extraordinary results

“Genius” addresses these challenges with a more integrated and inspired approach to doing business - describing how to bring together customers and business, today and tomorrow, intelligence and imagination to achieve high performance.

• Outside in

How to do business from the outside in, rather than the inside out. How to make customers and markets, rather products and capabilities your starting point. How to do business on customer terms rather than your own.

• Right-left brain

How to take a more thoughtful, creative and holistic approach to your challenges. How to be embrace new ideas, rather than be a slave to numbers. How to free your creative side, to focus your imagination in a more intelligent way on what matters most.

• Future back

How to create tomorrow whilst also delivering today. How to seize the best market opportunities, unlimited by real and perceived conventions of your business or market. How to start from what is possible and then turn the radical ideas into practical action.

The fusion of Einstein and Picasso, in terms of their paradoxically opposite approaches (the scientist was the more artistic, the artist more scientific) provides a symbolic way to consider each aspect of business activity. How would Einstein and Picasso develop strategy, build brands, innovative markets, price products, engage customers, measure performance?

© The Genius Works Limited 2008