THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Shift

Before You Slash That Marketing Budget...

Silos Impede Great Marketing

Shifting Retailers Respond to “Season of Discontent”

The Inspiration Discipline

INSPIRATION DOSE

Passion In Action

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A series of profound shifts have ushered in a new era in marketing, an era marked by Visionary Marketers who know that no one is better suited to help drive the growth agenda than the head of marketing.

Consider how three noted Visionary Marketers have become integral to their companies’ growth agendas:

• BurgerKing’sRussKleinasserts,“Anythingthat’sagrowthfactorisfairgameformetostickmynoseinto.”Kleinisresponsiblefor product mix, pricing strategy, product development, market planning, supply chain, and mix management, on top of more traditional marketing responsibilities. He’s considered the CEO’s right-hand man, as reflected in his title—President, Global Marketing Strategy and Innovation.

• StephenQuinn,ChiefMarketingOfficer(CMO)atWalmart,continues to shed light on how the world’s largest retailer can groworganically.Usingrobustinsights,Quinnhasputfocusonthe segments that matter—those that are open to Walmart’s proposition and can provide growth and healthy margins. “Even though most of America shops at Walmart, not all of America is Walmart’s target,” he says. Leveraging that understanding has helped Walmart’s sales outpace its competitors.

• GeneralElectric’smarketing,ledbyBethComstock,co-ownsgrowth and innovation because GE’s CEO, Jeff Immelt, believes in the link between customer insights and growth. Immelt made marketing responsible for owning customer insights, and, in turn, a co-conspirator of the growth agenda for one of the world’s most successful companies.

These Visionary Marketers are seizing the opportunity to become one of the core senior executives helping to drive their company’s growth agenda and, in the process, signalling an opportunity for all marketers to shift their charge from supporting sales to one of direct lineresponsibilityforsuccessfulandprofitablegrowth.

From deeply understanding today’s and tomorrow’s customers’ needs, wants, behaviours, and media consumption patterns, to translating these into new products, services, experiences, and relationships that customers want, Visionary Marketers are helping their organizations match these customer dynamics with internal capabilities for maximum external impact.

Five Shifts Towards Role as VisionaryThe ability to move into roles of greater influence and impact as VisionaryMarketersrequiresmarketerstoundertakefiveshifts:

• fromCreating Marketing Strategies to Driving Business Impact;

• fromControlling the Message to Galvanising Your Network;

• fromIncremental Improvements to Pervasive Innovation;

• fromManaging Marketing Investments to Inspiring Marketing Excellence; and

• fromanOperational Focus to a Relentless Customer Focus.

Ofcourse,ashiftisdifficulttodo,anditdoesn’thappenovernight.Those who have been successful have managed to get out of the traditional “marcomm” trap and have helped to seize the growth agenda,primarilybyshiftingMarketing’sprofile,asafunctionandasindividuals,toonethat’smorestrategic.OncetheprofileshiftsandMarketing becomes a key strategic driver of the growth agenda, it becomes easier to be the strategic partner to the CEO and broader C-suite, and an undeniable asset to the organization.

The new formula for success starts with a new imperative. Marketers must become deeper strategic thinkers and bring that capability to bear across more of the business landscape. Those who contribute strategically and use their skills, capabilities, and knowledge will accomplish both shifts.

Proof Points for Aspiring Visionary MarketersThe marketer who aspires to become the CEO’s true partner in growth needs to bring together a balance of hard and soft skills. This isnotunlikeachefatafive-starrestaurantwhomustcarefullyblendingredients to achieve outstanding results. The aspiring Visionary Marketer must:

• consistentlyexceedexpectationsformarketingexcellence;

• buildoperatingcredibilitywiththeCEO,CFO,andtherestoftheC-suite;

• showcapabilityandmuscleindrivingstrategicdiscussionsatthecorporate level;

• consistentlyinnovateacrosstheenterprise;and

• leadbyexample,andinspiretheorganizationtodeliverresultsbased on world-class marketing and business strategies and plans.

Of course, the basic ingredient—exceeding your company’s expectations for marketing excellence—is a prerequisite to earning therightforamorestrategicprofile.Ifyoucan’thandletheresponsibilities you already have, then why should the CEO think

Become a visionary marketer who controls the quest for growth

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Prophet Thought Leadership

The Shift

you’re ready for more? That’s the stark, realistic situation at the top: CEOs will bring the right marketer into the inner circle, but that marketer must be proven. By successfully executing a world-class marketing plan, intimately tied to the company’s strategic growth plan,anddeliveringquantifiableresults,youwillmakeaconvincingargument that you as a marketer can play two roles simultaneously: that of a great strategic thinker and that of a great in-market executor.

Walmart’sStephenQuinnadmitsthatearlyinhistenureasCMO,he did everything, big and small, with a purpose. If he needed to write the weekly circular, he had no issue with doing the task himself. Although he had aspirations for the role that went far beyond the circular, he also knew that he would be judged as much on executing in a manner that would delight the 1.5 million store associates and 140 million weekly shoppers as he would be on thinking strategically.

Some CMOs with a successful background as a strategist are accountable beyond delivering on their marketing communication goals. Steve Meyer, who has headed marketing at Dell Services and Trilogy Software, believes “there’s no substitute for putting real points on the board—led by analytics focussed on true ‘business impact’ rather than just traditional brand metrics like advertising tracking and equity studies. You can earn a real seat at the table.”

Shifting Through The Five Marketing RolesAchieving such a shift requires taking the marketer’s role from Tactician to Facilitator to Leader to Visionary. Each role has specificattributes,andeachallowsmarketerstosee,muchlikea great brand identity is earned over time, that they can follow an aspirational path, earning their way to the leadership position they know they should possess.

As Tactician, the marketer is responsible for succeeding at delivering onasetoftacticsorprogramsrequiredtofulfilastrategicimperative.The Tactician, in effect, operates with a checklist or a to-do list of activities to achieve over a calendar year; value is often measured by the amount of “stuff” checked off. The Tactician tends to stay in the marketing box, playing the functional role well, but not viewed as an important or critical asset across the organization. Lots of good stuff is accomplished, but nothing is viewed as very strategic.

The Facilitator incorporates all of the Tactician responsibilities while also beginning to help the organization as a whole develop and leverage shared approaches to traditional marketing communications and sales. Marketing develops a common language around marketing and brand and develops approaches, tools, and methodologies. The Facilitator starts to lead discussions around best practices inside and outside the organization. Although Facilitators are not usually viewed as very strategic, they are starting to play on a broader platform and building a voice within the organization.

The Leader carries out all of the Tactician and Facilitator responsibilities and uses customer insights and knowledge, beginning to show marketing’s customer-led strategic muscle throughout the organization. The Leader is known as the guardian of the brand, the keeper of the customer, a savvy marketing ROI investor. The Leader lives up to this title primarily within the marketing function, while recognising the need to become more influentialwithotherfunctions,suchashumanresources,finance,operations, and sales. Although it’s not expected, the Leader looks to serve up strategic issues and opportunities, start dialogues across the organization, and drive towards customer-insight-led opportunities(inthebroadestsenseoftheword)thatcanmovethewhole organization forward.

The Visionary Marketer encompasses all of these other roles and also plays that central role in driving strategy—from eliciting imperatives to prioritising them and putting economic values around each. In addition, the Visionary Marketer proactively collaborates across all functions, consistently pushes the growth agenda, has deep-seated relationships with the CEO and the board, and is always commercially oriented.

Ultimate success comes from recognising the importance of achieving each aspect of each type of marketing role, as well as recognising that each role builds on successful achievement of the responsibilities housed in the previous one. You need to accumulate, and perhaps disperse or delegate, responsibilities within each role to others.

It’s a new era for marketers, marked by massive shifts around them—as well as shifts they must themselves take charge of seeing through. In the end, how effectively they manage the process will totally change the skill sets, roles, and relevance of marketing to the organization as Visionary Marketers become the rule, not the exception.

Scott Davis (sdavis@prophet.com) is a Senior Partner at Prophet. This article is based on aspects of his latest book, The Shift.

Shift the marketer’s role

from Tactician to Facilitator

to Leader to Visionary.

3

With the continued tailspin in the economy, the pressure on marketing is mounting. In the absence of a better understanding of how marketing investment drives short-term and long-term business performance, marketing budgets are again being cut sharply and in ahaphazardmanner,tonoone’sbenefit.

If anything, this current crisis once again brings the marketing accountability gap into sharp relief.

For decades, business leaders have wanted to understand the relationship between current marketing investments and the measurable business results that these investments help to drive now and in the future. But the marketing profession has repeatedly struggled to crack the code on this problem, for some good and some not so good reasons. CEO and CFO frustration levels are at an all-time high.

Just like I always counsel my 4-year-old, however, it probably makes sense to pause and take a couple of deep breaths before letting the frustration take over completely, resulting in a series of rash and ultimately regrettable decisions.

A variety of studies of past recessions have found that companies which maintained or increased marketing spending during tough economic times generally lost limited share to “value” competitors duringtherecessionandthenaveragedsignificantlyhigherrevenuegrowth for another 3 to 5 years after the recession ended.

Thesefindingsareintriguingandshouldmakeanyveteranleadertake pause. Before you indiscriminately trim your marketing budget, investsometimeandresourcestofigureoutwhatisworkingandwhat is not.

It doesn’t have to be complex, but it does take commitment. Advances in customer information, data management, and marketing science techniques, along with continued innovation in marketing tactics, have put a highly accountable marketing capability within reach.

You just have to have to want it bad enough and have the discipline to see it through.Thefirstandmostimportantstepistofigureoutwhereyoustand.Usingexistingdataandanalysis,how much do you and your team believe you understand about thefinancialperformanceofyourmarketinginvestments?Whatpercentageofmyinvestmenthasprovenfinancialreturns?Whatpercentage of my investments can be proven to have a negative financialreturn?Cananyofthatpoorperformancegetimprovedbybetter execution or better creative?

Marketingspendingcangetsocalcifiedinsideanorganizationor hidden in so many nooks and crannies, that just using some straightforward analytic techniques can yield no-risk savings opportunities of 15 to 35 percent.

You must be willing to take on political fights to capture those savings, as well as begin to create a common language andunderstandingacrosstheorganizationalsilosoffinance,sales,operations, and marketing.

Doing so gives you the flexibility to redeploy those “savings” into(1)attractiveprogramswithprovenfinancialreturns,(2)an“experimentation”budgettoqualifynewactivities,or(3)permanentexpense reductions that drop directly to the bottom line.

Then, you must champion a two-pronged agenda of analytics and thoughtful experimentation to close the most material knowledge gaps around your high potential, high-risk spending programs. A variety of changes in the marketing landscape over the past decade should allow you to make meaningful headway against most of these questions in a quarter or two, although some questions may take longer to answer. It’s also important to make sure that the insights derived from this agenda are systematically included in your strategy, planning, and creative processes.

Finally, make a concerted commitment to truly understand the levers which drive compelling marketing investment performance. Demand that your marketers clearly explain why proposed strategic and creative choices will deliver what the customer is expecting and can withstand a direct competitive assault. Have them explain and articulate a clear path to value betweenmarketingintentandspecificcustomerbehaviorsthatcanbefinanciallymodelledandforecastedthroughtheP&L.Makethem build the case that the recommended set of vehicles at the recommendedinvestmentlevelscanbeexecutedefficientlyandeffectively over time. In this way everyone on the executive team will develop a sharper eye for marketing and can make better choices in terms of which kinds of capabilities and processes to invest in over time.

It is totally appropriate for the CEO to ask marketing to make cuts when times get tough. But when everyone commits to a marketing accountability agenda, the risks and potential consequences of those decisions are much better understood. It ultimately leads to better decision making for the company, its customers, and its shareholders. Who knows, maybe you will build a case for increasing your marketing investment and position your company for break-away growth in the years ahead.

It never hurts to think big.

Tough times require even smarter and more informed decisions

Michael Dunn (mdunn@prophet.com) is Chairman and CEO of Prophet. This article from CNBC’s “Bullish On Books” blog is based on his new book, The Marketing Accountability Imperative.

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Prophet Thought Leadership

Before You Slash That Marketing Budget...

Silos isolate people, ideas, and creativity. By making it a corporate-wide issue to address these silos, companies can become more successful. Innovation is the key these days, and when it comes to personal branding, you want to be in a creative environment where you can interact—network—with as many of your coworkers as possible. Networking within a company harvests productivity.

What are silos and why are they jeopardizing companies’ marketing efforts?

Silosareorganizationalunitsdefinedbyproduct,countries,orfunctions.Theycanbemonumentallyinefficient—andworse—barriers to great marketing and brands. Most operate in isolation, if not in competition, with each other.

Theyfosterinefficiency,inhibitsynergy,failtoleverageskillsandsuccesses, lead to resource misallocation, diffuse competence in key marketing activities, and create brand confusion. In tough economictimes,suchinefficienciesandbarrierscanmeanthedifference between business success and disappointing marketing performance—or even survival.

What are some ways a CMO can break down silo walls to foster cooperation and synergy?

My research, involving over 40 CMOs, reported in my book, Spanning Silos, has several headlines:

First, the role of the CMO team in the absence of a crisis or change in business strategy may be a nonthreatening one, such as being a facilitator, consultant, or service provider. Such roles can avoid organizational stress and CMO flameout while still going a long way towards creating communication and cooperation processes and culture, and thus addressing many of the silo-driven issues.

Second,siloscanandshouldbeavehicletotestandrefineideas. Perhaps more important, silos can be a source of ideas for breakthrough products or marketing campaigns that can be rolled out across the organization. McDonald’s “I’m lovin it” came from Germany, and Pantene’s “Hair So Healthy It Shines” came from Taiwan.

Third, one way to get buy-in from the organization is to align the role of marketing with that of the CEO’s priority agenda. Focus on growthobjectivesinsteadofbrandextensions;efficiencyandcostobjectives instead of marketing synergy or scale; and building assets to support strategic initiatives instead of brand image campaigns.

Fourth, use cross-silo teams to create relationships and communication channels. To succeed, the team needs to have members with good group skills as well as the right expertise—leaders that can deal with multiple cultures—and clarity of mission.

What is the impact of globalization on corporate marketing programs?

They need to be concerned with coordinating programs across countries and regions. Usually brands and programs need to be adapted to local culture, but also there is potential for shared ideas and synergistic programs if the “I am different” silo culture can be overcome.

CMOs only last a few years on the job. Why is this? What stories have you heard from the more successful ones?

Actually, the number is 23 months—less than half that of a CEO. The basic reason is that silos have power and don’t have to communicate and cooperate. They often believe that they know their products and markets well, and that anyone else inserting themselves would only waste time. They usually have no motivation to reduce the silo walls because they are evaluated solely on the silo performance.

How can an individual apply the concepts and ideas in your book to marketing his/her personal brand?

The major takeaway for an individual is a recognition that silos are a major organizational challenge, and that everyone has an opportunity to be part of the solution. There will be a big payoff to the person who can network, establish relationships, and communicate across silos. Even more so to the person who can initiate cross-silo programs. Some organizations formally measure such things, but even those that don’t will recognise the resulting success.

David A. Aaker (daaker@prophet.com) is Vice Chairman of Prophet. This excerpt is from an interview with Dan Schwabel on personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com.

In tough economic times,

inefficienciesofsiloscan

mean the difference between

business success and market

disappointment.

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Prophet Thought Leadership

Silos Impede Great Marketing

Retailers have always been driven by the seasons. The holidays, and particularly Christmas. Fall and back to school. The ushering-in of spring and summer, with promotions around fun and leisurely pursuits.

SincetherecessionofficiallyreareditsheadinJanuaryof2008,retailing has added a new season to its lineup: the “season of discontent.” Marked by customers who prize value above all else and have a heightened interest in what their purchases say about them, it’s forcing management to look differently at the three key business drivers of merchandising, price, and service. Instead of weighing decisions in these arenas against internal, operational concerns, retailers that will emerge from this season the strongest will have made the customer the primary and ultimate gauge for their actions.

Consider that as this is being written, Wal-mart is evaluating pricing for its next seasonal push, back to school, against customer expectations, needs, and drive for value in this season of discontent.

“We know that parents and teachers are going to be looking for a littleextrafinancialhelpthisyear,”saidamerchandisingexecutiveofhow well its $9 product bundles should deliver.

The giant retailer’s shift to a relentless customer focus was signaled during the last recession, when it launched its highly successful, everydaylowpricingpolicy.Wal-martChiefMarketingOfficerStephenQuinnsays,“Wal-marthadnotbeenallthatcustomer-centric, having made operations the backbone of the company. Customer data and insights gave us courage and a convincing hand indeterminingwhatwasfactandwhatwasfiction.Anditdroveideas for growth. With [customer] knowledge, we had the power to definegrowthinamuchmorerelevantway.”

Retailers hoping to achieve even a modicum of Wal-mart’s storied success would do well to examine how they undertake the philosophical, cultural, and organizational shifts required to become trulycustomer-focused—andreapthebusinessbenefitsitcreates.

It’s a process that starts with fostering a more collaborative, networked approach to doing business internally in service of the customer.Becauseinreality,thecompany’sinternalstructure(andwhoreportstowhomorwheretheirresponsibilitieslie)isfarlessimportant than how the customer experiences the business. Yet most businesses are not truly organized for maximum success from the customer’s perspective.

It takes visionary leadership, ideally led by the senior marketing executive(as“owner”ofcustomerinsights)andembracedbytheC-suite as a whole, to inspire the organization to align in service of the customer. This doesn’t really equate to a full-blown re-organization. Instead, it demands a shift in mindset geared to infusing new ways of thinking and operating, along with fresh energy for driving customer-centric growth.

ZapposChiefExecutiveTonyHsiehpersonifiesthiskindofinspiredleadership. He’s made the business’ top priority its culture, and that

is wrapped around setting the standard for exemplary customer service—service that creates lifelong relationships. At Zappos, customer service is an investment, not an expense. And employees arehiredbasedonhowwelltheyfitintothecultureandtheirperceived ability to live up to Hsieh’s customer service expectations.

Somebusinessesfinditeasytomanageinawaythatsupportsthiscustomer-centric positioning because they have worked tirelessly—and from the top—to make what they stand for clear. Whole Foods, for example, sells healthy groceries but delivers everyday wellness. Targetdeliversproductswithdemocraticdesign(andprices).Others,however, will need to have the shift supported by a transformational business case, road map, or story in order to help the entire organization, and especially the executive suite, understand the tangible and intangible rationale behind it.

Here are some starting points for retailers looking at shifting to a customer-driven focus:

• Assessyourcompany’sability,desire,andopennesstoalignaround the customer instead of operations. It will help to map out functional areas’ relationship to customers and understand how each helps or hinders the sale.

• Determinewhichmakesthemostsenseforyourbusiness:Atop-down mandate to become customer driven, or a bottom-up business case to sell decision-makers. Set up a cross-functional team to lead the process.

• Createallianceswithgroupsthatdirectlyorindirectlytouchthecustomer, with a focus on those that will help score the quickest wins(howeversmall),createtrustandcredibility,ormaybethemost challenging to win over. Make sure all related initiatives are housed within the overall strategic structure of what the business seekstoaccomplishoverthenextthreetofiveyears.

• Startsmall—withageography,alineofbusiness,orafunctionalarea—and start organizing for greater impact on the customer’s expectations of the relationship with your business.

This season is challenging management in ways that were unimaginableevenfiveyearsago.Achievinggrowthismoreimportantandmoredifficultthaneverbefore.Tosucceed,companies must come to understand that they report to the customer. The times demand alignment around ways to anticipate and constantly delight the buying public. It takes a new structural paradigm for this to happen—one that is externally focused on the customer and moves away from the operationally oriented model of the past. Effecting this shift is a process that will likely come with some bumps along the way. But the rewards are guaranteed.

Scott Davis (sdavis@prophet.com) is a Senior Partner at Prophet, and Peter Dixon is a Senior Partner and Creative Director at Prophet. This article is based on Davis’ latest book, The Shift.

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Prophet Thought Leadership

Shifting Retailers Respond to “Season of Discontent”

Now you try.Many of us naturally create a barrier between what we love to do and what we’re paid to do. We experience subtle cues everyday that encourage us to avoid the connection between our personal passions and our professional duties. A shift in mindset can change the unfortunate separation between the two. By linking two seemingly disparate parts of our thinking habits and creative routines we can put our passions into action at work. The result is innovative business growth fueled by disciplines found in our personal passion.

1. If you had to name your one true passion, what would it be? Example: Sailing.

2. Describe your passion with two attributes and two actions. Example: Attributes: Competitive. Thrilling. Actions: Navigating Mother Nature. Working as a team.

3. Now think about your role at work. What can you bring to your professional life that is fed by the disciplines inherent to your personal passion? What is your “passion in action?” Example: The discipline involved in navigating a sailboat against the winds is a transferable skill. My passion for navigation could be harnessed to identify marketplace challenges. By engaging a team to discover our competitive weakness as a business, we can create a proactive defense strategy.

Gilles Barathier has two great passions—machines and making things better. Fortunately for him, he is in charge of increasing efficiencyatadogandcatfoodfactoryinSt.DenisdeL’Hotel,FranceforMarsIncorporated(theymakemorethanjustcandy).

Whenthefunnelsthatfillthepetfoodbagswereregularlyclogging, Gilles went to work seeking a solution, but not within the environment of the plant, his industry, or even his colleagues. He sought inspiration from his former life as an aviation mechanic, and found his answer in the physics of a helicopter. The vortex effect created by helicopter rotors inspired a new approach that Gilles appliedtothebag-fillingprocess.

Instead of just pouring the food into the top of the funnel and hoping it wouldn’t clog on its way into the bag, Gilles created a helicopter-like dynamic by blasting a thin stream of air inside the cone. The resulting circulation of air enabled the bits of food to swirl down the funnel into the bags more consistently than before. This technique not only solved the clogging problem, but it increased the overall speed of the factory line. See his full story at www.mars.com/global/Mars+in+Action/Efficiency.htm.

Atfirstglance,helicoptersandkibbledon’tseemrelated,butGillesfollowed his passion for all things mechanical and found an unlikely innovation.

Look to personal interests to fuel innovative business growth

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Prophet Inspiration Dose

Passion In Action

A common scenario in corporate headquarters these days features theChiefInnovationOfficerhavingameetingwithherInnovationCouncil in the recently completed, state-of-the-art Innovation Room, frowning at the results of their efforts to create a “culture of innovation.” Why don’t they have it? Why aren’t they getting the output they need?

The answer is counterintuitive. They are focusing on the intended output when they should be focusing on the input. This flawed—and all too common approach—has created the need to apply a new equation: Inspiration + creativity = innovation.

Think of inspiration as a fuel that is fed into the processes that organizations have invested time and energy to build. Powerful ideas come from the combination of inspiration and creativity and will go on to become innovations that inspire individuals, teams, the larger organization, and, in turn, the world. It’s an elegant cycle based on the simple proposition that you need new input if you hope to gain new output.

And inspiration is a discipline that requires deliberate practice. Inspiration as a discipline? Absolutely.

Intentional, focused inspiration is the necessary complement to phenomenallysuccessfulinitiativesthattargetefficiencies—SixSigma, ISO, Lean, and a host of others. They have taken business a long way and provided billions of dollars in returns, but they can only take us so far. It takes inspiration to fully engage others and ourselves.

There are three reasons why focusing on inspiration is the right thing to do in today’s tough economic climate. First, it’s a natural resource—one that happens to be renewable. We don’t have to create something out of thin air. We just need to learn where to look for it. Second, inspiration is people-centered. Once we have achievedmaximumefficiencyandcutourcosts,theonlythingleftisourpeople.Inspirationmakesinnovationpersonal.Andfinally,inspirationisfiscallyresponsiblebecauseitisawaytogetmoreoutof the investments we have already made in innovation process and systems. We don’t have to scrap them. We need to reenergize them.

The key to practicing strategic business inspiration is dissecting the experience of inspiration itself. It’s something that everyone understands. It’s refreshing, engaging, and universal. And it can be harnessed in a variety of ways for business leaders.

Thinkofinspirationashavingfivedistinctmodes:serendipity,

recreation, intentional distraction, forced connection, and targeted discovery. By practicing each, inspiration becomes easier to achieve and more rewarding over time.

SerendipityAn unexpected moment of inspiration. That’s true serendipity. It could be the accidental combination of two chemicals in a lab that creates a revolutionary reaction. It could be someone’s strange T-shirt on the bus. We don’t seek it out, but serendipitous inspiration stops us in our tracks and demands inquiry. This form of inspiration can’t be engineered, but can serve as a common denominator for individuals developing their inspiration capabilities. And likely sourcescanbefoundinmuseums.Wehaveaspecificmentalitywhen we go to a museum. We expect to be inspired. It’s when we walk out the door that we put our blinders back on. Leave the blinders behind and you’ll be amazed by the surprises that await you.

RecreationRecreational inspiration is common, just unrecognized. Its sole function is to release the conscious mind from its standard routine or set of direct concerns. Sports. Music. Hobbies. Exercise. Watching TV.SurfingtheInternet.Solvingapuzzle.Playingagame.Takinga nap. People have varying ways of taking their minds off work, worries,andproblems.Thisformhasnopredictablebenefits,butitis key to more advanced modes of inspiration. In fact, research from the University of Amsterdam shows that your unconscious mind is far more effective at solving complex problems than your conscious mind, so recreational inspiration is essential to thinking differently and, above all, maintaining good mental health. As they say, all work andnoplaymakesJack(andJill)dull.Maketimeforfunandyourinspiration skills will sharpen.

Intentional DistractionConsider this form a slight twist on recreational inspiration. How many times have you had a tune in your head that you can’t quite place? Or found the name of an important contact elusive? When youstopthinkingaboutit,fiveminutesorfivedayslater,itcomesto you suddenly. Once you moved on to something else, your unconscious mind eventually provided you with the answer you needed.

Putting a different lens on the way you view everything can radically change how you impact your business

Focusing on innovation

is the right thing to do

in today’s tough economic climate.

8

Prophet Thought Leadership

The Inspiration Discipline

Unfortunately, we are trained to keep working and push through our confusion and desperation to develop better solutions, equating the time spent on a challenge with the quality of the outcome. Nothing could be further from the truth. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam gave two groups complicated problems to solve. After working for a few minutes, one group was asked to instead work on a short brainteaser. The other group had more time to keep thinking about the problem. When both groups were told to stop and offer answers the group working on the puzzle found the solution to the original challenge more often.

Sometimes you need to step away and intentionally focus elsewhere. Intentional distraction in small doses makes it feel less uncomfortable.Gooutsideyouroffice.Takeawalk.Gogetlost.It’snot a license for slacking, but it’s a valuable tool for unleashing the part of your brain that does the heavy lifting.

Forced ConnectionOnceyoufeelconfidentwithintentionaldistraction,moveontoforcedconnection.Thisisthefirststepinapplyinginspirationtoaspecificreal-timeobjective,andit’saskillthatrequiresdevelopment.How can the glass of water in front of you help your sales team? How can an overheard conversation in public lend you a new perspective on your company’s brand? Results may lead to the next transformational innovation—or nowhere at all.

On a recent walk with a client who needed leadership coaching, I stopped in front of a street lamp and asked him, “What does this streetlamptellyouaboutleadership?”Stunnedatfirst,hesaidnothing. I offered up some ideas without caring about where it would take the conversation. It shines from above. It is dark during the day.Itshistoricalnaturefitsinwiththeveryoldwarehousesaroundit. Then I asked, “Does your management team wear suits like you while the operational side of the business dresses casually? Do you fitinwithyoursurroundingswhenyouvisitthosedepartmentsordo you stand out?” These perspectives gave us a new entry point for considering how people in the organization view their managers, and, ultimately, what leadership can be at that company.

Forcing connections can be awkward, but there’s a payoff to developingthedisciplineforfindingrelationshipsbetweenfocusedobjectives and seemingly tangential sources of inspiration. Push yourself. And take notes.

Targeted DiscoveryOnce you hone your divergent thinking skills through forced connection, you can try targeted discovery. This mode pushes you

to seek out sources of inspiration that will strategically stretch your thinking, challenge your assumptions, and create new connections—allwithaspecificreal-timeobjectiveinmind.Whatcanafive-starhotel manager learn from a zoo? What can a marketing team learn from a hostage negotiator? What new ideas will come to an emergency room doctor after he works in a fast food drive-thru for an hour?

Askyourself,“WhatbusinessamIin?”Forgetaboutyourspecificproduct or business. What is the value that you really provide to your customers? Is it convenience, reliability, or creativity? What other organizations or individuals make the same promise? And what can you learn from them?

Selecting sources for targeted discovery requires experience, discipline, and resources. This mode of inspiration is the engine of innovation for business because it is the quintessential new input that’s needed to get new outputs.

You might think that I am, well, insane. You have too much work to do to stop and get inspired. You can’t take your eye off the bottom line. You are probably thinking, “Inspiration is for artists, musicians, and cult leaders.”

Ioftenaskclients,“What’sthedefinitionofinsanity?”Withoutfail,one person in every group will offer up, “Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.” Exactly. Inspiration is the new input that can break this cycle, return sanity to innovation, and create a sustainable pipeline for ideas of impact.

What are you waiting for? Take a moment and look around you. What do you have to lose?

Andy Stefanovich (astefanovich@prophet.com) is a Senior Partner at Prophet.

Sometimes you need to step away

and intentionally focus elsewhere.

It’s a valuable tool for unleashing the part

of your brain that does the heavy lifting.

9

We are increasingly considered a preferred partner

to senior management that demands its investments

work harder—and smarter. What counts: Our

collaborative approach. Our powerful blend of

strategy, creativity, and analytics. Our ability to

balance short-term business needs against longer-

term growth goals. Our thought leadership in

brand, marketing, and beyond. It’s led to successful

outcomes for such preeminent clients as Cartier,

Diageo,GE,Johnson&Johnson,Monsanto,NBC,

Staples, UBS, and United.

Prophet is a strategic brand and marketing

consultancywithofficesinChicago,Hamburg,

London, Madrid, New York, Richmond, San

Francisco, Tokyo, and Zurich.

We help our clients win

by delivering inspired and

actionable ideas.

10

About Prophet

Our Work

Prophet offers a

wide array of brand,

marketing, design,

and innovation

services.

BRANDYour brand is as critical an asset as your people and equipment. Prophet helps ensure you’re realizing its full potential by identifying opportunities to extend its reach into new markets and segments, determining how it impacts customer behavior in a given category, devising ways to revitalize tired brands, helping ascertain the value of your brands, and more.

MARKETINGToday’s demands for marketing accountability require strategies and programs that appeal to customers and create material business impact. Offers that are better targeted to your mostprofitablecustomers.Evaluationofthemosteffectivechannels to reach particular market segments. A sharpened understanding of the investment trade-offs in marketing channels and mix to improve short- and long-term business results. Organizational capabilities built to measure and improve decision-making around marketing accountability. We bring an emphasis on in-market experimentation that will help you become more forward-looking, accountable, and make a strong business case for your marketing efforts over time.

DESIGNGreat strategy translated into great experience is incredibly powerful. Making it happen is the challenge: The best strategy won’t capture customers’ hearts and minds if not implemented well. Prophet’s strategy-led design practice creates communications and brand experiences that make customers think, feel, and behave differently. Our team collaborates with you to develop ideas that engage all the senses to enhance the brand experience—ultimately helping to grow and transform your business.

INNOVATIONProphet helps you create and capitalize on the kind of culture that engenders innovation—and contributes to sustainable business growth. We’re poised to get you there with a broad rangeofservices,fromtheidentificationofnewplatformsforgrowth, to enhancing your internal capabilities, to developing strategies to establish innovation networks both inside and outside your organization. We ensure your best ideas—no matter how big or small—make it to market.

CUSTOMER INSIGHTS & ANALYTICSLeading-edge strategy requires leading-edge insights. And that takes a deep and actionable understanding of your customers. Prophet helps you ground your most important initiatives in robust empirical evidence built on breakthrough customer insights and analytics. We combine our expertise in understanding your business issues with deep technical capabilities in market research and analytics to create tailored approaches, deliverables, and insights you can act upon.

We collaborate with our clients to devise

strategies and programs that create positive,

material impact for their businesses—from

developing new platforms for sustainable

growth, to enhanced global brand management

capabilities, to more effective allocation of

investments, to more compelling branded

experiences.

To learn more, read on, visit www.prophet.com,

orcontactanyofouroffices.

11

About Prophet

Our Services

CHICAGO180N.StetsonAvenue Suite 4600 Chicago, IL 60601 United States +13128791930

HAMBURGPoststrasse 33 20354 Hamburg Germany +494035085948

LONDON55 Drury Lane LondonWC2B5SQ UnitedKingdom +442078365885

MADRIDC/ Diego de León 47 28006Madrid Spain +34918388540

NEW YORK 230 Park Avenue Suite2829 New York, NY 10169 United States +1 212 244 1116

RICHMOND 1801EastCaryStreet Suite 300 Richmond, VA 23223 United States +18046442200

SAN FRANCISCO 150 Spear Street Suite 1500 San Francisco, CA 94105 United States +1 415 677 0909

TOKYOMiyukiKyodoBuilding,7F 6-5-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku Tokyo, 104-0061 Japan +81355371860

ZURICHBahnhofstrasse 52 8001Zürich Switzerland +41 44 214 64 63 www.prophet.com

DAVID AAKER, Vice-ChairmanDavid is one of the most respected thought leaders on brand and provides thought leadership and strategic-level advice exclusively for Prophet’s clients.

David is creator of the Aaker Model™ and has published more than 100 articles and 14 books, including Managing Brand Equity, Developing Business Strategies, and Brand Portfolio Strategy.

MICHAEL DUNN, Chairman and CEOMichael has helped orchestrate tremendous growth over the past several years, including the openingoftheLondon,Madrid,andZurichoffices.

Michaeloverseesdevelopmentofthefirm’speople,practices,and thought leadership and also serves as a strategic advisor on client engagements. He is co-author of Building the Brand-Driven Business and is author of The Marketing Accountability Imperative. He has also written white papers, articles, and case studies on a variety of marketing and brand related subjects.

SCOTT DAVIS, Senior PartnerScott provides leadership on strategy-related engagements, bringing his brand and marketing expertise to clients such as Allstate, Boeing,

GE,TheCarlsonCompanies,Johnson&Johnson,andTheWrigley Company. He is the author of The Shift and Brand Asset Management, and co-author of Building the Brand-Driven Business. Scott speaks at and chairs a number of branding conferences, and is a regular contributor to Point, an Advertising Age publication.

PETER DIXON, Senior Partner, Creative DirectorPeter has over 15 years of experience as an architect and brand specialist. His unique perspective translates into an imaginative take on identity,

branding, and design. His award-winning programs have spanned all areas of the brand experience, from building design to retail concepts and merchandising systems. Peter has worked with such notable clients as BMW, Citibank, Chrysler, McDonalds, Sprint, Samsung, and Wal-Mart.

MIKE LEISER, Senior PartnerMike has more than 20 years of experience combining strategy consulting and industry marketing management. He has consulted for corporations in

technology, pharmaceuticals, durable goods, consumer packaged goods,financialservices,andtelecommunicationsbothintheU.S.and internationally.

KEVIN O’DONNELL, Senior PartnerKevinisaseniorpractitionerwith20yearsofexperience helping companies develop and execute brandandbusinessstrategies.Specifically,Kevin

helps clients with innovation, customer segmentation, brand portfolio strategy, and the development of branded customer experiences. He has served as the lead strategic advisor on a variety of engagements within the U.S. and globally, working with companies such as adidas, Cargill, Harrah’s, IBM, Intel, Maytag, Monsanto, and Williams-Sonoma.

ANDY PIERCE, Senior PartnerAndy has over 20 years of experience in brand and marketing strategy consulting. He has worked across a variety of industries with senior management teams

at American Express, General Motors, HP, Fidelity Investments, and McDonald’s, among others. He has been instrumental in improving marketing performance, developing more effective brand and marketing organizations, and creating powerful global brand portfolios.

ANDY STEFANOVICH, Senior PartnerAndy has earned a reputation as one of the most disruptive and effective advisors in business. As founder and CEO of Play, he has spent the past

20 years helping companies like GE, General Mills, Nike, and the USOC drive innovation from the inside out—enriching their people and driving marketplace growth. He is a frequent contributor to CNBC, a visiting professor at a number of leading academic institu-tions, and author of a forthcoming book on innovation.

About Prophet

Our Management Team