By: Karl Stark and Bill Stewart, a special to Overdrive
Strategy. Perhaps there’s no other word in business that draws such a diverse set of definitions and emotions. Just what is strategy and how is it relevant to your business?
And how does your strategy change as your business grows?
Categories: Best Practices
Tags: entreprenreurs guest strategy vision
By Reghard Goussard, an EO South Africa – Cape Town member and the CEO of Arctic Circle, a strategic brand agency building brands from inception to becoming loved by consumers.
The concept of strategy has been around for centuries. Most of the great leaders of antiquity were renowned for their strategic minds and exploits. There are multiple examples of how strategy has influenced the growth of a nation, the spread of an idea, the building of a land mark that is visible from space or how it has predetermined and affected the outcome of a battle.
How can you expect your brand to be successful in having any kind of impact on anyone if it is completely absent of strategy? This question becomes even more powerful when you consider the ever increasing competitive nature and dynamic needs and wants on consumers. It is glaringly obvious, in order for a brand to succeed, it needs strategy.
Categories: general
By Scott Span, the president of Tolero Solutions, an organizational development and change management firm.
According to our marketing partner – Preactive Marketing – the phrase “strategy is…” generates roughly 13.6 million global hits. This indicates it is quite a popular topic and that people are interested in what a strategy should contain and why having one is important.
We’ll share our thoughts, though we also prefer to hear from you, so share your opinion!
Strategy has different meanings to different people – so how would you finish the sentence – Strategy is…
I would finish it something like this:
Categories: general
By Jenn Greacen, an EO Central Florida member and executive director of The Clear Agency.
My 6-year-old presented it most appropriately when she told her teacher that she hadn’t seen much of mommy lately because she had been “preparing for a murder.” It wasn’t murder— it was a merger. Merging my advertising agency with an international design firm was, without a doubt, the learning experience of a lifetime.
I’m a marketing gal. I know pretty pictures, strong messaging and how to make people buy things they never knew existed. I had never done a merger before, and I didn’t realize that it could mean a forced partnership and giving up more than I was gaining. With my Forum backing me, I leapt into the venture, trusting that the answers would come through experience sharing. Overall, it was a success, but it wasn’t without its hiccups:
Categories: general
To compete with the big firms, a boutique must sharpen its message.
By David L. Goetz, author of Native Tongue: Translating your message into the language of prospects, is founder and president of CZ Strategy, a marketing strategy company that works with consulting and professional services firms.
The start-up was a cliché, typical of the ever-expanding universe of wealth management firms.
A successful sales executive from the private client side of a major brokerage left the firm, tip-toed around his non-compete, and launched an RIA. A year later, two others from the same brokerage joined the start-up. Within three years, the firm was humming, with almost $400MM in assets, a good start.
Categories: general
Tags: native tongue reativity strategy
By Chris Grivas, special to Overdrive
The “mystery” of innovation often seems like a cloud-covered grail always just out of reach of people looking to make their business stand out. We look at great innovations like the iPhone, Twitter or microwave oven, and wonder how we can do that.
We search for that breakthrough idea as if it were a lottery ticket; all we have to do is pick the numbers and we are set for life. The thing is that the odds of finding that idea though just sitting down and generating ideas with your team are about the same as winning the lottery. Generating ideas does not equal innovation … it’s only one step to getting there. The key to deliberate creativity is to understand and apply the whole process and not be bogged down or enamored by just one part of it.
Categories: general
Tags: best practices creativity innovation philosophy strategy
Being an entrepreneur is a full-time job (and then some). Entrepreneur and marketing expert Michael Lieberman understands that more than anyone. As the president of Square 2 Marketing, Michael knows firsthand everything that goes into keeping clients happy, keeping employees satisfied and keeping the doors to your business open.
Over the years, he and his team have found one simple way to answer each of these concerns, while simultaneously driving revenue growth and improving profitability: Strategy Before Tactics. Specifically, the experts at Square 2 Marketing have found that most businesses get so caught up in executing marketing or advertising tactics that they mistake the often aimless and conflicting efforts for strategy.
Categories: general
Tags: educational tool free ebook marketing square 2 marketing strategy tactics
By Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases
Remember when you were a kid and mom would make you a PB&J for lunch? You would always eat the insides of the sandwich (cut into triangles, of course!) and leave all the crust on the plate. When your mom would ask why you didn’t eat the entire sandwich, you’d say “I did!” You never knew why you didn’t like the crust, you just knew you didn’t.
Well, deep down, you know why you didn’t eat the crust. All the good stuff was in the middle! Why would you chew on boring bread when there was no peanut butter or jelly on it? Eventually, your mom would just chop off the crust, saving you having to eat around it.
Categories: general
By Timothy M. Opsitnick, an EO Cleveland member and senior partner and general counsel of Jurinnov Ltd.
When we were a smaller organization of a half-dozen or so, it was easy for us to share our company vision. We knew each other’s strengths and preferences, and managed our strategy over weekly donuts and the monthly all-hands lunch meeting. However, when we grew—more clients, projects and team members—we had less time for administration, less natural communication and less control.
Categories: general
Tags: better business company culture eo cleveland goal-setting jurinnov strategy timothy opsitnick
Categories: general
Tags: ads advertising blockbuster economy europe finance management money movies sales strategy tip
