Freelance Consultant's Diary

Much is being made of Wal-Mart missing its earnings while Target beating analyst expectations. First, it is important to note that these results are not yet indicative of a long-term trend. Two, Target did extremely well with its credit card operations (which I do not consider core to its business and should not be included in comparing Wal-Mart's performance, which does not issue its own credit cards). The overall retail sales were still good in the United States though Wal-Mart was hurt in its European operations. Will you shop at Target or Wal-Mart? A lot of my audience shops at neither store. They are just too rich to bother with prices. For them, the closest they come to value-shopping is the monthly trip to Costco or BJ's or Sam's Club. But as a management consultant , I can ignore neither Wal-Mart (world's largest retailer and an intriguing company for those of us who make a living by analyzing strategy) and Target (the coolest company among discount retail...

I want to discuss an innovative company called July Systems (Santa Clara, CA) that enables mobile content retailers such as operators, portals, content providers and brand owners to retail mobile content. The reason I choose to discuss the company is that while I attended a presentation by its founder and CEO Ashok Narasimhan what struck me was the firm's strong focus on globalization. There is some good news for entrepreneurs here from Narasimhan. Globalizing an existing enterprise is no joke. The larger the organization the more difficult it is to make it global and change the culture. We are already seeing this when we hear that companies have had bad experiences with offshoring (which in some ways is a step towards globalization). But if you have just started or are planning to start a new company , you have to think of globalization from day one. In other words, when you think of strategic sourcing (of people, capital, raw materials, etc.), physical proximity should be only o...

I recently attended a conference session with many New England area researchers from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. The conversation moved to risk management and I ended up talking about drug recalls (particularly Vioxx and Bextra) as being critical issues to consider in developing a risk management framework. (Related article: How to avoid distractions like product recalls ?) What surprised me was the ferocity with which the researchers opposed any drug recalls. Mind you that Vioxx was voluntarily recalled by Merck and Bextra was recalled only after months of foot-dragging by Pfizer . The company essentially left FDA with no choice. The researchers suggested that drugs should simply carry warnings rather than be recalled. (Related article: Bextra recall hurts Pfizer ) All product recalls are extremely painful for everyone in the value chain. The litigation process that sets in almost immediately after a recall can mean bankruptcy for the companies involved. The researcher...

It is no secret that selling to young women is far more difficult than any other segment. It is even more difficult to sell them things like apparel, shoes, makeup, and fragrances, simply because it is like selling snow to Eskimos. So how did Curious Britney Spears (a fragrance for women by Britney spears) become a huge success (the largest fragrance launch ever) in Australia? Case study of launch of Curious Britney Spears by Elizabeth Arden Create a buzz. The company organized focus groups to better understand the demographic trends even before anyone had any idea what the fragrance would be. In other words, it is possible to prepare for a launch even before you have a product. It allows you to develop a better understanding of your target market (e.g. what media channel works best , what price range is acceptable, etc.) while the R&D folks work on the product. Guerilla marketing . Elizabeth Arden, in collaboration with Channel V (equivalent to MTV), organized a dance party for 1...

I was highly encouraged by General Motors' strategy to embrace embedded advertising in September of last year. I have been arguing for a while that traditional advertising is in serious danger but looks as if the message is still not getting through to the advertisers. I often wonder in what world they live! (Related article: Case study of embedded advertising ) What works is online advertising these days but despite the remarkable performance of online advertising , it constitutes just a drop in the bucket. According to Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley, only 3 percent of the total ad spend is on Internet advertising. So it was good to hear that General Motors, that is in serious financial trouble, is acting again to do something about its advertising strategy . The company announced today that it will consolidate responsibility for its media assignments in the United States at the Publicis Groupe. In a statement, GM said, "GM put its U.S. media buying assignment up for review ...