Digital consulting companies are often asked to deliver a “data strategy”. A perfectly normal request in a world where data is called “the new oil”. I am going to give you a non-technology answer of how I approach it if

The most fundamental challenge about customer centricity is not knowing what customers want and need. It is the basis for all businesses (creating products and services customers need and selling these to them at a profit) so all companies have some

There has been a seismic shift in the global political landscape. From Donald Trump in the US and his challenges, to globalisation, to Brexit and its implications for the EU, to growth challenges in emerging markets, to socio-political instability and

Whether in politics or business, this is an uncertain time. Where navigation will require far more than the cookie-cutter recipes of the past like benchmarking and rightsizing. There has been a seismic shift in the global political landscape. From Donald

As humans and as businesspeople, we can tolerate a degree of discomfort. Too much discomfort is not easy to handle and we mostly avoid it. The easiest way to deal with discomfort in the past was to do nothing, or

This morning I read an analyst view about the recent problems at MEA telecommunications company, MTN. The broad statement that was made, was that it was time for MTN to appoint a new management team that was more able to steer a mature company. That

Digital native companies are setting customer expectations high in just about every industry and challenging established brands’ business models – a prospect that keeps many C-suite executives awake at night. The annual Crisis Survey from Burson-Marsteller last year found CEOs

We know strong and differentiated brands drive revenue, profit margin and shareholder value growth. Apple, Google and Facebook are three recent examples of this.  Yet, overall, brands have declined in stature over the years. At least many brands are under threat. Just consider how traditional

Words… words … words … When I speak to clients, I hear many different interpretations of what “digital transformation” is, illustrating that the term confuses as often as it clarifies. Some believe that it’s simply a matter of using digital

The world has changed and it requires strategic business change.  We often read that in a digital age, strategy is dead. Now insofar as digital means company agility – as against a lethargic organisation unable to adapt – it is correct, but in every

A  move from a business focus upon industry consolidation and benchmarking for efficiency, to consumer-centricity has a major impact upon brand management. For one, it means brand leaders will no longer have one or two major competitors but many smaller one’s. The

So, does size still matter? (I will publish this article in two sections, this one today and another on Monday.) Section 1  In business, historically size mattered Business has a recent past of industry rationalisation, consolidation and size, where critical mass

Almost all major multinational brands have had some degree of success in the implementation of aspects of digital technology. Most of these are in the areas of social media and applications. Most are driven through good creative content.  What is

Industries converge and change at a rapid rate today. This is changing the entire concept of competition as we know it. Consumers no longer seem to use traditional industry definitions to drive their behaviour.  In a digital age, this is

Just about as long as marketing has been around, CEOs and marketers have debated how to measure success, which tools are the best and which proportion of marketing actually works.   Even with the arrival of digital media, marketers cannot yet

Published on March 31, 2015 John Goldstone of Unilever recently said that he believes it makes more sense to digitally upskill a company’s employees than it does to bring digital specialists into the business (Advertising Week Europe, 24 March). To