What Do We Want To Be When We Grow Up?

I've heard numerous execs tell me over the years they needed a strategic plan to determine "what we want to be when we grow up." Usually that statement is more than just a statement, it's a judgment. A judgment that their company is rudderless, it is meandering down the road of business.

Sometimes it doesn't matter what we want our business to be when it "grows up." For example, if you want to run an ultra high-end luxury spa and you're located in an impoverished location, it may be impossible to achieve that dream, despite it being what you want.

Rev. Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Church, is a great resource for businesses. He covers this topic. You can try to match the services or prices of your competition, you can build a huge building or campus for your business, you upgrade every software program, your signage, your website--whatever--but don't think that any of those changes that you think would be great will result in business success. They won't unless they are what your customers will find attractive and will pay for.

My company, LaBov & Beyond Marketing Communications and Training, conducts assessments for corporations to give them the insights they need to "grow up." Learn first, analyze first what your customers love and need from you--whether it's what you dream of. Learn who you are to customers before you change who you are and alienate them. A strategic plan is great only if your customers are co-authors of it.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
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Crispin Porter + Bogusky--what they really are good at

CP+B is a famous advertising agency, probably the top agency today. Most of the time, its their creative that gets the attention and I think that's unfortunate because their creative, while outstanding, is not the only reason, in my opinion, why they are so successful.

They get a lot of attention for "shock" advertising--for Burger King: Whopper Virgins, Buckin' Chicken, Subservient Chicken; Coke Zero, the VW ads (Brooke Shields and the "don't get pregnant to get a German minivan commercial), Microsoft (Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld goofing around), Domino's Pizza (the taste test attack on Subway), etc. All unique, sometimes maybe in questionable taste, but always memorable.

I think, there's more to what they're doing than the shock value. If you look closely you'll see that they're very strategic, very business savvy--not just superbly creative. They promote the "German-ness" of VW (the old VW Beetle that they named "Max"), they do competitive comparisons of products (for both Microsoft vs. Apple as well as Domino's vs. Subway), they actually focus on the taste of BK Whopper (Whopper Virgins), not just the price.


Barry LaBov, CEO
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com

In our sound byte world, Crispin is the wildly creative, cool ad shop. In reality, without their brilliant business minds, they'd be just another trendy ad agency.