Book Summary Preview :
Brand Clout

The Big Idea

In the fast paced world of 21st century economics, even change has changed.  The only way to keep afloat these days is to truly abide by the old Darwinian adage, adapt or die.

David C. Flynn shows how one organization can continually morph and still be the most recognizable household name by building up brand in this time of chaos.

 

Shift Happens

To say that we lived in a fast-paced world has become passé.  People and companies are caught in a perpetual state of motion, and for businesses, it becomes a choice of keeping the pace or becoming defunct.  Because of the constant changes the marketplace goes through, companies are faced with the complex and unique challenge of applying fundamental principles to the newer and more intimidating market arena.

Technology has changed almost everything we know about products.  Not only has it affected the ways a consumer perceives, evaluates, and buys a product, but it has also begun to change ways companies buys, makes, sells and delivers its products or solutions.

Understanding Your Business Model

A business model is the ultimate departure point for any future changes or plans with regard to a company.  Thusly, it should be flexible enough to be able to withstand a considerable amount of revision as times demand.  This allows for a certain amount of morphing on the part of an organization, keeping its brand relevant in a changing landscape.

Five Key Components of a Business Model:
Only by understanding the five key components of your business model will you be able to skillfully manipulate it to meet all your customer/client needs, despite whatever changes may happen in your environment. 

Not knowing your business model leaves you vulnerable.  You will not be able to respond to changes as quickly or as well

The five components are:
Target Audience - Your specific group of customers.  Who are these people, and what are their needs and issues?  How are they motivated? 

Profitability - How will your company earn money?

Profit Protection (Strategic Control Points) - How will you protect your position from competitors?

Portfolio - What does your portfolio contain today?  What are you providing your customers with?  How does your portfolio change over time?

Brand - How are you defining your brand?  What is its personality, as a person, as a product, and as an organization?

■ Anticipating Shift

The Sonar Model®

The Sonar Mode® is a tool for guiding a company through an evaluation of their current business model.  This model helps to see the future, in the sense that it allows a company to clearly see where it’s headed, and thus design a business model with the goal of the future in mind.

It is not a strategic planning process, but rather a template for strategic thinking.  What’s the difference, you say?  The author quotes Henry Mintzberg’s 1994 obituary for strategic planning:  “Planning always as been about analysis - about breaking down a goal or set of intentions into steps, formalizing those steps so they can be implemented almost automatically, and articulating the anticipated consequences or results of each strep.  Strategic thinking, in contrast, is about synthesis.  It involves intuition and creativity.  The outcome of strategic thinking is an integrated perspective of the enterprise, a not-too-precisely articulated vision of the direction.”

While strategic planning assumes that the world will hold still as you implement the plan, that the planners can detach themselves from its implementation, and that all plans should be formalized, strategic thinking allows for the dynamism so needed in this day and age. 

 

Want to read the rest of this summary? click here >>