Business and Marketing News
Let’s just concede that Silicon Valley is the biggest hub for Web activity, and that it has some real advantages over other locales in terms of engineering and programming talent, fundraising and industry attention. But Silicon Valley’s tech-centric view –which is less oriented towards media and content smarts and culture– doesn’t always hit the bull’s … Read more
Company data such as customer lists, transaction records, location data, social media and customer behavior patterns often prove to be valuable assets. But for many companies, data is little more than an after-thought. What are the best practices for identifying, valuing, leveraging and protecting data assets? That’s the subject of “Data Leverage: Unlocking the Surprising Growth … Read more
Kids aren’t media consumers, they are “knowledge managers,” constantly evaluating content and data, and discarding what doesn’t help them build their personal brand. How can brands adjust to the new reality? That‘s the challenge posed by youth marketing experts Gregg Witt and Derek Baird in The Gen Z Frequency: How Brands Tune In & Build Credibility. … Read more
The power of a corporate behemoth is such that it dissuades companies from providing new services because they’ll be squashed. And the irony is that the behemoth may not even be competing in these areas yet. It only needs to nod in that direction. Microsoft was in that position before the government’s 1998 anti-trust action. … Read more
Giant companies buy other companies all the times with the goal of diversifying, maintaining revenue growth and leveraging their infrastructure (See Disney, Fox). Such acquisitions are designed to be “Big to Bigger.” But can companies seed their own farm teams via new business units, startup acquisitions and partnerships? Can they truly transform their companies to … Read more
Uber and Airbnb have radically impacted taxis/car rental, hotels and vacation rentals. If they have their way, they’ll soon be disrupting a whole new set of adjacent local industries, including food delivery, local tours and “experiences.” Business Week’s Brad Stone, author of “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and The Age of Amazon,” and one of our keynoters, has been … Read more
The desperation of the startup founder is well documented in such great books as The Startup Playbook. They’ll say and do anything, right? But we don’t hear too much about the decision-making challenges that startup CEOs face as they get beyond the startup phase and prepare their company for the next level, whether it is a … Read more
Businesses are working hard to move their customers to subscription-based models, with real results. McKinsey has estimated that subscription-based e-commerce, for instance, has enjoyed 100 percent growth in each of the past five years. The shift has even lead some to suggest the “death” of one-off product sales — at least in areas like software. … Read more