Stepping Up To The Plate

"I cannot teach anyone anything, I can only make you think." Socrates

In this week's issue

I believe we are at a turning point with the economy and the pandemic, however we are not all going to get out of this the same way. We will all look different and need to be thinking about what we need to change right now for that pending future which will likely happen by 2024. Everyone will be swinging for that home run hit that tends to be illusive and not always sustainable. Here are some thoughts to consider below.

Can retail serve two master consumers and climate change?

I am not an environmentalist nor an expert on sustainability in fact I have no credentials in that field and nor do so many who sponsor or support it. However, what most have in common is the awareness that the path the planet is on is a dangerous one. Just read the current article from Scientific American on the coming collapse of Antartica. Their projections are startling. However, the purpose of a business is to make money at least enough to stay open. Although, what if consumers have a different point of view versus your brand's. What if 50% of consumers believe that climate change is made up? What if the other 50% believe we are too late? What now? This is the dilemma for the future generation of retailers and it is not something to kick the can down the road for others to figure out. Brands are exposed to consumer backlash from many directions.

The problem to solve? Our demand for goods also seems to be the worst and the best of our economic existence. A shift to a circular economy can take at few decades to act and deliver on. The challenge/solution for retailers is to lead social and environmental change incrementally with consumers. There is no other path, unless you believe climate change is fake. On the other hand there are others like Zara that are going to try to bridge the gap. Read more Keeping in mind that the more retailers dabble into the lightly used market the more expensive it can become for consumers and competitive for retailers to find product.

Go-to market strategies are weak

I am troubled by the weaknesses of retailers. Not just from the current economic impact. It is their competitive or go to market strategies that concern me. Wait! I believe we should just call these initiatives what they really are; how to keep the lights on and the doors open. The formula in retail is easy to understand, you've got a great brand and product story to tell, the right channels to sell it through, the creative marketing genius to communicate it and keep the innovation fires going so that you can keep telling that story. However easy to understand, it is complex to deliver. And that's why most retailers fail. It is my experience that few retailers have a strong go-to market plan, in fact I am not convinced that they even have a believable story to tell. Consumers have a tendency to write off brands as soon as the media picks up that they are in trouble. I for one have always been leery of any analyst report that say there is a recovery plan underway. In fact, it may be that everyone is really trying to shore up the stock price versus shoring up consumer sentiment about a brand.

It is entirely possible that with all of our technology and disruptive innovation we have made retailing too complex and it has lost its real intentions to be aspirational. Success like it or not, in retail comes through either strong branding and a story to tell or strong selling and the same story to tell as everyone else. For most it will be whatever it takes to keep the lights on. The challenge which of the two in the end will build longevity? I am betting on aspirational.

Rebuilding retail before post recession

Once we emerge from this quasi-depressive economic state it will be too late to respond to the new marketplace. Opportunity comes with many misinterpreted and manifested circumstances. When everyone is down and uncertain, that is the time to step up to the plate and take your best swings at life, business and your career! If a brand is failing, history has repeatedly shown us that restructures and reinventions or fixer upper strategies are not adequate. That is just fluff so that investors can recoup some of their investments. A true transformation should be a full transformative evolution for a brand. I often wonder is there is even anything to save including the brand name? Why not a full makeover that transform the brand to someone new! Throwing more money and increasing debt at something that will fail is ludicrous unless you have a way to really change the future of that brand. However the story is always the same it is an inventory problem, we need to merchandise better, our cost structure needs to be reinvented...etc. etc. in reality consumers have abandoned the brand when the media hits the wires with the bad news the brand is in trouble!

So, my offer this weekend and we will further explore this opportunity. Start thinking about how your brand needs to evolve before we get out of this economic episode? Because like these retailers claiming a turnaround it is usually too late.

Personal Log: Stepping Up To The Plate

Everyone wants to be the hero in the brand story. The executive that pulled the brand from the abyss or built a line that took the brand to the next level. These stories are rare and it isn't always as a I said in the introduction sustainable. Often a hero in one brand story is tapped on the shoulder to take part in another brand story somewhere else and into unfamiliar territory. The idea being if they could do it there, they could do it here. Not so! Cultures, talent, strategies and operational execution all have their nuances in different organizations and are very difficult to replicate. Even if you could poach all of your past employers talent. Bed Bath and Beyond and even Nike come to mind where cultures play different roles and the talent is only an extension of the brand culture, it isn't the culture. When a brand culture is ill it is almost impossible to resurrect. Despite common folklore to the opposite. If you insist the tendency is to build your own team with your own cultural shift. However there may be powerful batters on your team already with the attitude to take risks and swing at what they want. Only they haven't been allowed to.

However if you are asked to step up to the plate, don't rush to make too many changes too fast. Understand the situation on the ground that is in the frontlines. Nowhere is life more sensitive and insecure as it is for the people that actually make and sell products. Executives tend to land on their feet a lot easier. If you are going to step up to that plate, it is the future of the organization that matters. However what matters equally as much are the people they need to hear the new vision and believe that you are sincere and willing to take them all on the journey. Above all don't be two faced I've seen this behaviour from others in the past only interested in their personal survival. if you are on the opposite side of this as an employee and in this type of situation, my advice is don't stick around for two faced Charlie to ruin your career. Step up to the plate on your own terms elsewhere.

Thank you for reading this weeks issue of The Business Brief

This week I will be presenting to the Philippines Retail Association. The subject? What is the next generation of retailers going to look like? More importantly the discussion will be what it will take for an organization to get there.

#retailing #strategy #ceo #technology #innovation #marketing #business #economy