Non-Line Blogging

Been working with a client this week on proposition building - trying to "distil the product down to its core proposition".  It reminded me of the brilliant quote from Dilbert (Scott Adams) and how many companies struggle with this...

Value Proposition:  

A long, awkward sentence that demonstrates management's inability to think clearly

Looking around the UK marketplace it seems retailers are falling back on slashed prices as their only proposition as they try and soak up the small amounts of cash in circulation.  Sorry to be banging on about retailers right now but they seem to be throwing up a rich seam of email marketing experiences - some good, some bad.

It worked when Howies did it in an "out of character way"...their 20% proposition was a surprise because this is not what they normally do.

Great Little Trading company just sound a little bit desperate and in too much of a me-too way, (In My Humble Opinion)...  

Boden are not shy in leading on price...all their on-line propostitions start with at least 10% off.  However, last week Boden showed a glimpse of quick thinking and quick actions to mask the recent reduction in Value Added Tax from 17.5% to 15%.  It's done with a light touch and a patriotic heart... 

So maybe the companies that will survive will be those most able to respond to opportunities, as we have seen this week with the Howies case study.  Aside from the "biggest single day in Howies history" quote I want to share something else with you.  Our man at Howies also said to me... 

So yeah, it went really well.. and I think the success made us realise we have to be a lot smarter and a lot faster about marketing in the future. Especially in the current climate.

Meanwhile I was chatting to another retailer, this time a big traditional retailer, about being quick off the mark.  He wanted them to go with an email campaign the other day -  a swift, tactical response to market conditions.  But no, it was all too much for them.  (Reminded me when I asked a UK high street bank team how fast they could get an email out the door...the response was "6 weeks")  Howies said in their email to their customers...

We didn't need a board meeting, we didn't need to get the idea signed off by loads of departments. We didn't even have to get the calculator out. We just decided whilst we were walking over the bridge to work. 

Maybe that's the difference between success and failure.  Not just having the ideas, but having the process efficiency and corporate mindset to "just do it".  So the challenge for 2009 is to create a way of working that allows you to dream up great propositions and also execute them swiftly.  And in the next post I'll outline 10 ways to speed up the time taken from "thinking" to "doing"...which may just keep your company afloat in 2009!