The crisis is making us become innovative + break paradigms we have been trustung for many years. This applies to the Company as a whole, and to Marketing specifically.

When thinking about the new paradigms to be adopted, I concluded that the two main ones in terms of difficulty and relevance were:

1. Putting the customer first
2. Working on a real partnership basis

We have been discussing for long about putting the customer first. I will not extend here for I have spoken about it extensively. But do not forget to question yourself once in a while about who is really driving your preferences + behavior + decissions. Even historically customer centered companies like P&G have lost their focus, and had had to implement drastic changes to get the customer back!

Losing attunement with the customer will surely bring in disastrous results in the mid term. You will certainly decrease your sales + lower your margin + lose your brand appeal. It is relatively easy to identify and usually results in dramatic organizational changes. On the other hand, working on real partnership basis, is more tricky, for it yields long term results and once you realize you need it, it can take you a significant amount of time and resources to attain it.

The latter is the consequence of two key forces: Continuous specialization + the growing scarcity of resources. The continuous specialization means that you cannot be the best in everything you do. It is very likely that someone else will specialize in something and will be able to deliver it better than you. So unless, you focus on what is really important to you, you will be good but not excellent in your performance, and will die at a slow but constant pace.

This is also related to the scarcity of resources. In times of economic booms, efficiency was not so relevant. What was critical was to be effective, attaining results even if you were overspending. Till the crisis came and cash stopped flowing in by inertia. Now rigid ROI are requested on everything and no space is given anymore to unefficiencies.

The outcome is clear: Excellence can only be achieved by focusing on your core elements and working in real partnership (which goes one step further than outsourcing) in all areas. The application to Marketing is obvious: You have to come up with real partnerships with other companies that can deliver value more efficiently than you do.

One of the best examples applicable to Marketing can be found in LOREAL, that has been working for some years in real partnership with third parties that can contribute with new products and materials.

Co-developers can get all the information about product development in the LOREAL webseite (Co-Development at LOREAL) where it clearly explains the steps to be taken:

1. Submit your proposal
2. Get a first response from LOREAL.
3. If the product is interesting for LOREAL go through an evaluation and trial process.
4. Get your product co-developed if goes through the complete process.

Seems to be easy but it is not. Partnering requires deep organization changes and attitudes, being able to share and discuss ideas with trust, and having enough flexibility to coordinate + launch initiatives with third parties.

LOREAL has not disclosed co-development figures, but if I have to make a bet, I would say that a big chunk of their product developments will be coming from partnership.

And if this is applicable to one of the worldwide leading companies in the HBA Industry, think about where you are and where you should be in the mid and long term.

THINK DIFFERENT!!!

Ignacio Gafo