DCA How To Bust Categories

How To Bust A Category Four Foundations To Accomplish

By Dean Crutchfield Associates

Dean Crutchfield Associates

From the lofty valuations and spectacular deals struck of late – Facebook’s $1b acquisition of Instomatic to the thud of once great category busting brands crashing out of favor: Kodak, Nokia and Blackberry, in their wake there has been voluminous amounts of unhindered discourse on the various means to stay relevant, approach innovation and bust categories. How?

Invention and innovation are totally different. To redefine a category, the innovation needs a brutal assessment of what business you are currently in, your target customer, studying the business from the outside-in to develop a sophisticated 6Ps business model. Additionally checking regulatory conditions, and yielding a strong leadership team to frame the financial and strategic objectives of the business. Ultimately to rally the magnetic core inside the firm that will draw together the company.


95% of innovation fails. The magic rests in the ability to find gaps in a market and create a market in those gaps such as Europe’s “Free” (a future competitor to Apple according to pundits), a new brand on the rise due its “disruptive innovation,” offering unlimited cell phone plans with no contract for $25 a month if you’re willing to sacrifice some benefits - over three million have earnestly signed up in France. Or the dramatic signs of success for US start-up, Hotspot Shield the world’s leader in free VPN service. It would seem that many share similar traits of being different, heroic, with principles that make them known for being remarkable and fresh, followed by many for being a challenger of the rule and above all, shareable.



4 Foundations For Navigating A Successful Flight Path Through Innovation Emerge Out Of The Milieu Of Information

1. On The Front Foot - The Idea At the core of all great brands is an idea: unique, true and selfless based on universal ideas, such as convenience, magic or individuality. Entrepreneurial lore says you can change vision 4x, but evidently some people don’t. Muhammad Yunus was so amazed at both the impact his small loan of $27 had on a basket weaver, who keenly repaid the loan, that with the Ford Foundation and his Grameen Bank they now operate micro-finance in 40 countries. Many similar stories unveil themselves from a 23 year old Larry Page dreaming about downloading the world onto his computer, or Jim Bezos, known for asking people he meets what they’ve invented, creating Amazon on bold principles that shattered the complacency of each category it has entered. ,

2. Leadership Driving The Change To Drive Growth How do you take your people forward through change because if they don’t believe they’re not coming? It requires focus, leadership, and commitment to create an authentic community of motivated thinkers and doers that can open new channels for the business. Elon Musk’s style demonstrates this is best achieved by treating the leadership team as venture capitalists that have a stake in the program’s success. With clearly defined expectations, effective employee engagement, and consistent execution it will provide the sustainable edge all organizations seek during today's chaotic business environment!

3.Talent Supporting The Leadership There is something, more important than believing: action to stride forward and make advances to achieve the leadership’s vision. P&G’s former CMO, Jim Stengel was a powerhouse at aligning his in-house talent with his agencies and their astute creative abilities, tapping co-creation and collectives, using talents and discretionary effort to make a difference in the quest for sustainable business success. If you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.

3.Talent Supporting The Leadership The only way to know how customers see your business is to look at it through their eyes. Apple has built an empire from anticipating market needs because Steve Jobs wanted customers to have memorable experiences when they try something new on an Apple device: "You try to do something you hadn't done before, and it works, and you think, 'Hey, they thought of that, too.'"

4. Culture To Deliver Contrary to popular belief, business innovation is not about isolation and competition; it is more often about cooperation and collaboration inside the business, something Google has in droves and yet former star SAP is desperately struggling to get back to charge their innovation and growth. Implementing a differentiated business model aka “The Idea” can successfully unite silos across the enterprise, turn around opportunities faster, get customers to stay longer and pay a premium, resolve internal crises quicker, and better leverage the allocation of resources.

People are a brand’s greatest asset and if your people are excited and focused, a business will adapt to the change and run well satisfying customers. The real secret of business innovation is to think big, act small, fail fast and learn rapidly because “brand” new industries and many existing ones have transformed to become creators of valuable ideas and experiences. Increasingly, civilization is organizing itself to maximize the generation of new and better ideas, creating the infrastructure, education systems, and innovative organizations that will solve problems, create value, and change the world. All you need is an idea.

LET’S GROW


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DCA How To Bust Categories

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Transcript of DCA How To Bust Categories