Today I had a very interesting conversation with Brand Expert Ralf Korbmacher about the difference between business in the US and in  Europe.

Though any generalization along cultural lines is fraught with controversy, his experience indicates that while European organizations generate a superabundance of outstanding ideas, Americans tend to distinguish through flawless execution.

Innovation is a business imperative today, which requires both outstanding ideas and flawless implementation. In a highly competitive scenario, Leaders must be ambitious and set very high standards for themselves and their teams; standards which will be the limit to which they’ll rise.

“If it doesn’t add, it subtracts; if it subtracts multiply it by zero” – Mariana Ferrari

 
Sexy is something about a person or a product that excites and attracts another. It’s not only how a product looks, but also it speaks about the personality, the character, the tone, the manners and the intelligence behind.

Cierto es que según una investigación realizada por Andrew Oswald y David Blanchflower de las universidades de Warwick (UK) y Darmouth College (USA) que ha analizado los hábitos de más de dos millones de personas de alrededor de 44 años en unos 80 países apunta que a la crisis de los 40 nos toca a todos. En opinión de Oswald, “algunas personas sufren más que otras, pero en nuestros datos la media es amplia… Le pasa al hombre y a la mujer; a la gente soltera y a los casados, al rico y al pobre, a los que tienen hijos y a los que no tienen”.

En algunos casos, ex-profeso, decidimos cambiar de vida. En otros, el mundo exterior decide. Hay quien decide cambiar de carrera y a quien le invitan a hacerlo; hay quien decide volver a la soltería y a quienes ‘le divorcian’, hay quienes se deciden a formar una familia y quienes la familia se le deshace. Lo cierto es, que de este momento no se salva nadie.

No nos salvamos, pero hay quien mira para atrás y se siente satisfecho con lo que logró, por lo que espera que las cosas se re-acomoden solas; hay quienes miran para atrás y ven que lo que lograron y lo que soñaron es bastante diferente y que le gustaría re-acomodar, re-diseñar su realidad para mejorarla y hay quienes no paran a pensar y creen que la crisis es debido a las circunstancias y que con volver a empezar estará todo bien. Si tuviéramos que simplificar los resultados, diría que los primeros disfrutan de una vida medianamente acomodada, los segundos pueden construírsela si prestan mucha atención a no volver a cometer los errores que no les llevaron a alcanzar sus sueños en primer lugar y los terceros son quienes a los 60 volverán a estar en la misma situación pero con menos recursos, menos energía y peores circunstancias para emprender.

Re-diseñar nuestra vida es posible y es la gran oportunidad que nos brinda la década de los 40. Para hacerlo se requiere una gran dosis de reflexión, análisis, decisión (cómo queremos que sea nuestra siguiente etapa en la vida) y acción. Sólo la acción produce resultados.

Reflexión

Aunque parezca una obviedad, creo que es importantísimo parar y pensar qué es lo que uno realmente quiere y qué te hace feliz en esta vida. Es una reflexión importante, profunda que está genial hacer. En el mundo de la empresa, tan orientado al éxito y consecusión de objetivos, donde no es aceptable caer por debajo de lo pactado, los objetivos a principio de año están claramente establecidos. En nuestra vida, generalmente no es así. No paramos a reflexionar qué es lo que realmente queremos, qué nos mueve del sillón, qué nos toca el corazón, qué nos hace sonreír, qué hace que nuestros ojos brillen, qué nos hace sentir bien. Así como una vez al año en la empresa hay una reunión de estrategia y planificación, en nuestra vida difícilmente encontremos 30 minutos en los 365 días para hacer este ejercicio.

Si quieres reflexionar y disfrutar el momento de pensar qué te hace realmente feliz, te sugiero que te descargues gratuitamente este ejercicio y te tomes el tiempo para hacerlo. Es un ejercicio genial que te da claridad y te enfoca en lo que realmente es importante para ti.

Análisis

La etapa de análisis entiendo que involcra dos partes. Por un lado hay que hacer un recuento de lo que tenemos en la mochila… ¿nos sirve? ¿qué no nos sirve? Encontrarás en tu mochila algunas pocas cosas que son “inevitables”, o sea responsabilidades de las que te hayas cargado y ya sea tarde para dar marcha atrás, relaciones que tengas que cuidar (por ejemplo si tus padres están enfermos o alguien cercano a ti te necesita). Sin embargo también te sorprenderá darte cuenta que cargamos con muchas cosas que son innecesarias.

Para hacer este análisis son buenas las siguientes preguntas:

1. ¿Es inevitable? (Ejemplo que daba más arriba)

2. ¿Te suma a tu visión de futuro? La fórmula Simple, Smart & Sexy que he creado para hacer este análisis es: si te SUMA, multiplícalo (dedícale más tiempo, más recursos, más energía); si no te suma, te RESTA; y si te resta, MULTIPLÍCALO POR CERO.

Una vez que tienes tus objetivos claros y realmente una visión de hacia dónde quieres llevar tu vida en los próximos 40-50 años, hay que hacer un recuento de talentos, recursos (humanos, monetarios, contactos, etc). La pregunta aquí que has de hacerte es ¿Con qué cuentas y qué necesitas que no tienes? Si por ejemplo, te gustaría cambiar de carrera y dedicarte a ayudar a las personas (como es el caso de una amiga mía), no hagas un master, has cursos de psicología, coaching, etc. En este recuento, son muy importantes los contactos que puedas tener y los que necesites establecer.

Decisión

La palabra decidir viene del latín decidere que significa ‘matar toda otra alternativa posible’. En este punto lo que es importante es decidir cuáles son las mejores estrategias que te llevarán a tu visión. Aquí es fundamental -aunque parezca evidente- no confundir una estrategia con un objetivo, ya que cuando lo hacemos limitamos nuestras posibilidades de éxito. Me explico…

Si por ejemplo tú has escrito en tu ejercicio del éxito que lo que te hace feliz es tener una familia -y suponiendo que no la tienes- una estrategia sería casarte y tener hijos, pero para tener una familia hay muchas otras alternativas: adoptar, inseminarte o alquilar un vientre, adoptar a una familia ayudándola. Si confundieras “tener una familia” con “casarte y tener hijos” estarías limitando tus posibilidades de éxito a sólo un camino!

Durante la fase de decisión es importante estar abierto a posibilidades, ser creativo y pensar en todas las alternativas posibles. Finalmente cuando te decides por un camino y matas todas las otras alternativas, entonces llega el momento de la acción.

La acción requiere compromiso y planfiicación

De nada te sirve reflexionar, analizar, decidir si luego sigues robotizado haciendo lo mismo de siempre. Lo único que te va a generar resultados es la acción y la acción requiere compromiso. La palabra compromiso tiene mucho peso y poder. Cuando uno se compromete te entregas sin reservas. Esto quiere decir que darás el 100% de ti a lograr los resultados que quieres en tu vida, incluso cuando lleguen los momentos de duda, de frustración, de inseguridad. Por ello es tan importante partir de una visión que realmente te inspire, te motive y te MUEVA a actuar.

Creo que te puede servir tener presente la curva del éxito. Esta es prácticamente igual en proyectos de empresa que en personales y entender cada etapa es importante para poder sortear los desafíos y no sucumbir.

Para planificar, y especialmente útil para los optimistas que creemos que todo nos va a salir bien, es un excelente método el que describo en mi libro La Puta Vida Corporativa. El capítulo donde está la descripción se llama “El plan Cangrejo” y trata de planificar de atrás hacia adelante. O sea, comenzar teniendo muy claro cuál es el resultado a lograr en un determinado período de tiempo (por ejemplo fin de año), para luego ir desarmando el futuro… ‘Si x tiene que estar listo en diciembre de 2013, qué tiene que haber pasado en noviembre, qué en octubre…’. Para una mayor -y divertida- descripción del Plan Cangrejo, te sugiero leas mi libro que es corto y entretenido sobretodo para los que sufren de la Puta Vida Corporativa.

En definitiva, es posible resetear nuestra vida y es necesario en muchos casos. Lo que no es aconsejable es asumir la ‘crisis de los 40′ como algo pasajero. Está bueno re-pensar y re-acomodar las piezas para que encajen en un plan de vida en el que nos de gusto y placer participar.

Reset your Life es un seminario online y en vivo que repetimos casi todos los meses. Tiene un acceso restringido a pocos participantes porque nos gusta que sea íntimo y profundo. Es un seminario en el que llegas al corazón y lo desarmas para volverlo a armar como te gusta… Si te interesa participar en uno puedes chequear aquí cuáles son las próximas fechas o enviarnos un email preguntándonos.

Que tengas una muy súper semana!

Mariana

La semana pasada tuvimos nuestra semana de Éxito sin Límites, un programa de cinco días de clase sobre los temas que considero fueron claves para mi éxito. El programa abarcó temas como Cómo persuadir, convencer y enganchar a otros a tu proyecto, cómo iniciar y gestionar conversaciones difíciles donde lo que buscas es que alguien cambie de actitud, cómo hacer cambios radicales en la vida o en la empresa sin que te cuesten la vida y lo poco o mucho que hayas logrado conseguir y ya, en los últimos dos días tocamos dos temas muy apasionantes: cómo crear marcas que sean el motor y el sustento de tu empresa y cómo manipular tu cerebro para lograr lo que te propongas…. En definitiva, herramientas y métodos fundamentales para lograr el éxito.

Fue una semana intensa, interesante y de ‘mucho éxito’, valga la redundancia. Tuvimos las sesiones llenas y por ello decidimos repetir el programa a partir del día 25 de febrero. En esta segunda edición, tendremos dos sesiones diarias en Español, en vivo y online así que no importa en qué parte del mundo estés, siempre que tengas una conexión a Internet podrás participar registrándote aquí.

Pero hoy quiero compartir contigo algunas cosas básicas de creación de marcas de las que hablamos durante la semana de Éxito sin Límites, que creo te serán de utilidad estés en la empresa en la que estés. Puedes aplicarlas a una gran coporación cuando estás por lanzar un nuevo servicio, a una pequeña empresa para darle su nombre o a ti misma/o para lograr posicionarte en el mercado y también en la vida.

Empecemos por el principio…

¿Qué es el branding? ¿Qué es una marca?

Branding, es el “arte” y la “ciencia” de sintetizar la idea, los valores, la misión y la visión de una empresa, producto o servicio en un sólo concepto, con un único nombre que apoya la estrategia de la empresa a la vez que transmite lo que hace y lo que ‘siente’.

Digo que es arte, porque la creación de una marca implica el desarrollo de una idea a través de la forma, el color, el olor, sonido y el espacio. En definitiva, es un arte porque tiene que cautivar al espectador desde todos los sentidos posibles.

Pero la creación de una marca va mucho más allá del arte, de la buena idea, de esa forma “abstracta” de expresar lo que la marca implica. Su creación, requiere entender al consumidor, su contexto, sus preferencias, sus temores, su lenguaje. Esto requiere una gran dosis de análisis estratégico para poder llegar a crear esas marcas potentes que apoyan la estrategia de una empresa.

¿Para qué sirve una marca?

Digamos que una marca es a una empresa o producto, lo que es el nombre a una persona. Sirve para distinguirse del resto, para facilitar conversaciones a partir de que la gente sabe a qué se dedica tu marca, qué hace, qué productos ofreces, cuál es tu precio, cuál es tu nicho de mercado. Una marca le permite al cliente o consumidor “saber qué esperar” del producto o la empresa.

Imagínate que viajas a China, donde uno no entiende ni lo que está escrito ni lo que te dicen. Vas a un supermercado y quieres comprar una bebida, cuando ves esta lata inmediatamente “sabes” qué puedes esperar, verdad?

Por este mismo motivo, las marcas le facilitan la selección al cliente porque cuando el cliente sabe qué puede esperar de la marca, le es fácil elegir y decidirse rápidamente entre un producto y otro.

¿Qué hay detrás de una marca? ¿Qué compone una marca?

Detrás de una marca pueden haber muchas cosas. Sin importar el órden, una marca puede tener por detrás un orígen (por ejemplo Donna Karan New York), un beneficio (la marca “Ray-Ban” proviene de “prohibir los rayos solares” que es la traducción de Ray-Ban), de un ideal (Green Peace), de un estilo de vida (Quicksilver), de una propuesta de valor (Be Simple. Be Smart. Be Sexy) o del nombre de su fundador (Tiger Woods), entre muchas otras cosas más.

Lo importante a tener en cuenta es que la marca tiene que resonar con el cliente, tiene que significar algo importante para el cliente y no solamente para el dueño de la empresa o producto.

¿Qué es más rentable un nombre bonito o un nombre estratégico?

Me encantan los nombres bonitos. Son Sexys! pero la realidad es que para que una marca pueda ser Simple, Smart & Sexy y por ende distinguirse de sus competidores y superarlos en rentabilidad, tiene que ser tan potente que no requiera mucho presupuesto de pubicidad para posicionarla en la mente del cliente.

Para ello, el camino más recto, o sea el que requiere menos inversión, es en el que el nombre de la marca implica un beneficio concreto y tangible para el cliente o le soluciona un problema actual.

Por ejemplo… pensemos en el nombre para una margarina, o sea esa mantequilla que no sabe bien pero que es más sana que la normal que sabe bien.

Podríamos llamarla “Danica”, “Becel” o “Niva”. Estas son todas marcas reales. Ahora piensa… ¿Qué te dicen a ti? ¿En qué te basarías para elegir entre Danica, Becel y Niva si solamente escucharas su nombre? Probablmente no tendrías ni idea qué hacer ni cómo elegir. Elegirías la que mejor te suene, ¿verdad?

Ahora piensa que una nueva margarina se lanza al mercado y está bastante buena, incluso se le parece bastante a la mantequilla rica. Entonces, eres el jefe de producto y decides ponerle “No puedo creer que no sea mantequilla!”. Y volvemos a elegir… te ofrecen Danica, Becel, Niva o No Puedo Creer que no sea Mantequilla. ¿A que elegirías esta última? Seguro que sí!

¿Sabes por qué? Porque la marca te resuelve un problema e implica un beneficio en el nombre. Por lo tanto, si lo que quieres es vender más, no te enfoques en crear nombres bonitos que no signifiquen nada para tu cliente. Crear nombres que encierren un beneficio y resuelvan un problema. Así no tendrás que invertir un presupuesto como el de Danone o Coca-Cola en crear la marca.

Finalmente, es improtante tener en cuenta que una marca antes de ser una representación gráfica que ves, es un sonido que escuchas. Por ello, buscar nombres que tengan un significado importante para el cliente y que suenen bien, es un arte y una ciencia, como decía más arriba.
Un pensamiento final. Cuando crees una marca simpre piensa…

¿Es simple o podría simplificarla más? ¿Es Smart o podría incluso hacerla más inteligente en términos de destacar beneficios y soluciones para el cliente? ¿Es Sexy o podría hacerla más atractiva? ¿Hay alguna palabra mejor para usar para esta marca que la haga más Simple, más Smart, más Sexy?

Que tengas una bonita semana y espero verte en ‘Exito sin Límites’ el día 25 de Febrero. Para tener toda la información del programa haz click aquí.

Being a highly innovative person I think that just as our businesses evolves over time, so must our vision of its future. So in order to be successful, it’s essential to re-evaluate (or re-strategize) our outlook each year and update our business and life plan accordingly. However, what I found is that most people will review their objectives (when those are clear to them) but will never review their own way of achieving those objectives. It seems that many keep doing the same thing over and over again, maybe changing objectives but never assessing strategies, specially in regards to our personal life.

December it’s that time of the year when we start thinking how was our year, what we’ve accomplished and what’s the missing piece to get where we want to be or achieve what we want to achieve. My first question to you is: are you where you want to be? What does Success mean to you? Are you OK Successful or Super Successful?

This year we had a very interesting program on Leadership & Innovation at Florida International University. A three day workshop for professionals who wanted to take the next step in their careers and life. The step form OK Successful to SUPER SUCCESSFUL. Teaching, teaches us the same way writing does, because when facing a highly educated and intelligent group of people and trying to teach them that missing piece that will make them SUPER SUCCESSFUL, it’s a huge challenge! A challenge that I feel every time I write a post for you, or when I wrote my first book or now that I’m writing my next year’s courses. It’s always a challenge to teach, if you are really committed to giving 100% of your best thoughts and experience.

Facing this challenge, I realized that the most determinant factor to success in life or in business is KNOWING WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO YOU, and it is usually highly related to your strongest passion. It might seem obvious, but it’s not that simple as we never have the time to think about ourselves, where we are, what we want, what makes us happy, where we think we should be, why we haven’t gotten there. Instead, we keep following a path that was somewhat scripted without really stopping to think if what we are pursuing is what will make s feel successful.

The good news is that if you are not embracing as much success as you’d like, all that means is there’s something you don’t know and can learn to get there. If you feel you can still move beyond your limits, that you can push a little bit harder and you want to know what it takes to be successful and how success in business and success in life happens, I’d like to invite you next week to a very special Webinar about SUCCESS. It’s the perfect Webinar to finish the year and to really rock it in 2013!

Sometimes, at this time of the year we might feel burnt out! And when you’re burnt out it’s hard to feel passion for what you do. And passion is SO important in order to achieve excellence and also to live a HAPPY life… In fact, at this time of the year you may feel so crappy that you seriously start considering re-strategizing your life, which means BIG time changes: career, family, love…

If this is the way you feel, then I URGE you to join me next week on this very special webinar/holiday celebration that I’ll do at 6pm EST (click here to claim your FREE invitation!). It’s important that you participate on the live session because it’s going to be fun, interactive and a webinar in which for the first time you’ll be sharing with the rest of participants your thoughts, your life, your desires and I will share with you how I got to where I am, why if I can package my energy I’ll become a millionaire and how do I produce are reproduce that energy despite the circumstances. I’ll share with you what’s going on in my life, the goods and not so goods, what I’ve learned and how I fabricate success for me and for everybody around me. And also I will share with you, what’s going to happen with Simple, Smart & Sexy in 2013!!!

Today, however, I’d like to share with you this diagram I designed of what it takes when you have a Simple, Smart & Sexy mindset to achieve success. Hope you like it and comment on it!

Simple, Smart & Sexy mindset to achieve Success

I wish you a SUPER week!

This week I have a very special surprise for you, which is that instead of having a video, we will have a free class and conversation on how to transform a good idea into a billion dollar one; a class that I call “Think Brilliant”.

To understand how brilliant minds like Steve Jobs worked, we have to decompose the thought process to understand how it works and therefore try to imitate it.

First, I should start by pointing that to me innovation is not something you can learn; on the contrary is an “unlearning” process, as to innovate it is essential to recognize how your old thoughts, behaviors and actions have gotten you exactly where you are right now, whether personally or professionally.

To Think Brilliant we must understand that what we cannot see in existence is much more powerful than what we see and that what is invisible creates what is visible.

In other words, we know that thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to actions and actions to results. However, where do thoughts come from? Our thoughts come from the invisible, from files of information we have stored somewhere from memories of the past.

This Wednesday, join me for a live webinar on how to think brilliant, meaning, how to create that idea that has the potential of chaining an industry and changing your life as well.

Because human thinking depends on metaphors, as we understand new or complex things in relation to things we already know, I’ve invited to join us in this Webinar Ari Popper, CEO and Founder of Sci Futures, a boutique consulting firm which helps the largest brands on earth create their future through Science Fiction stories. Super, super interesting and I do hope you can make it.

Because we have a lot of Spanish speaking readers and followers, we’ve decided to host two sessions.

English Session: Wednesday, November 7th at 7pm EST. You can register here: Be My Guest to This Free Webinar

En Español: Miércoles, 7 de noviembre a las 8am EST. Puedes registrate aquí: Invitación a Webinar Gratuito

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

Have a Super Week!

Last week I started a class asking students to carefully consider what I say because I only speak from my own experience, therefore none of the concepts I teach are right or wrong, they have just proven to be successful for me and for the many people that have applied them later.

What I’m about to share with you on today’s video is the most important process I’ve ever designed. It’s my own unique mental process to come up with incredibly high value ideas. Ideas which could include a best selling book like La Puta Vida Corporativa to my formula to sextuple results at ING, taking my business unit from €9M to €56.7M, while cutting costs in half. I use this process every single day, for every problem I face, for every idea I have. This process to me represents the missing link between the desire to innovate and succeed and the actual achievement of success through innovation.

This is Simple, Smart & Sexy, Street Smart Strategies (have you noticed how many “S” I have?) for “SUCCESSFUL innovation”. What do I mean by that? Doing the same old things in a new way or doing completely new things with the objective of multiplying your results and the purpose of impacting your world.

Take a look at today’s video and learn what was the process I’ve designed when working at ING to sextuple results and drive innovation into a stagnant company in a highly regulated industry and then come back to download the entire process of innovation to make it happen in your organization.

Nobody has ever said innovation is easy and everybody who knows me knows my obsession for making innovation happen in non-innovative industries. In fact, my dear boss at ING framed the following Machiavelli’s phrase and gave it to me as a gift:

And one should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, nor more dubious of success, nor more dangerous to administer than to introduce a new order of things; for he who introduces it has all those who profit from the old order as his enemies, and he has only lukewarm allies in all those who might profit from the new.

Besides applying this process, there are some more things you might want to know.

It’s not about Thinking Different, but it’s about Thinking Brilliant

There are millions of good ideas, so innovation is not about having a good idea, but a brilliant one. Therefore, the key to innovation is converting those good ideas you might have into a brilliant ones. It’s not only a matter of “thinking different” but a matter of “thinking brilliant”. I’ve discovered my own process of thinking different goes like this:

• In order to think different, we first need to see different. When we change the physical perspective of an issue, we take a new perspective
• Different perspectives will show us different solutions and possibilities. I usually teach this through photography as it is very easy to appreciate and understand the exercise of changing perspectives.
• When we “see different” solutions, we start “feeling different” about the issue, which results in “thinking different”.

Now, I’ve also discovered the great challenge for non-innovators is moving beyond the “thinking different” to the “acting different”, and in the “acting different” is where we find the difference between those who innovate and those who speak about innovation.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Ari Popper. Ari is a story teller innovator, who works with very large companies creating the future through science-fiction stories. I found his method fascinating as a means of really projecting different possible scenarios, choosing one and creating the future with the client company. Ari and I shared one of the most interesting conversations I had in the last year, so we’ve decided to invite Ari to one very special webinar I’m hosting in November on “How to think brilliant“, a system I’ve developed to help you transform a good idea into a great one that people will want to buy and/or support. If you are not on our list, make sure you register here.

Ethical Manipulators are Welcomed

Success in innovation is about mastering the art of ethical manipulation. Aha! So what’s ethical manipulation? It’s my Street Smart, Straightforward way of structuring a conversation in a way you will get the approval and support needed to see your ideas taking off and becoming successful innovations. Believe me, after 10 yeas in the advertising industry, I know how difficult it is to sell ideas, but I’ve also learned how to do it. Selling intangibles is probably, one of the most difficult things to achieve. Persuading and convincing people to take action is one of my favorite, favorite topics, so I will also share my secrets with you on another webinar in November. Again, if you are registered look for the invitation in your email, if you are not, click here to get it. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one because the technique I teach is so good and so powerful I very, very seldom give it out for free. It doesn’t really matter if you work on innovation, you are a HR Director or an Entrepreneur, learning to communicate effectively in a way that people will support you and your ideas is key to any person’s success.

What it takes to be successful

In my experience, becoming successful takes ambition (you need to really, really want to be successful), focus, courage, a never give-up attitude, commitment, expertise, collaboration and knowledge. Most people want to be successful but don’t have what it takes to truly drive sustainable success. If you haven’t achieved yet the success you think you deserve and definitively desire, stay tuned as on my next posts I will be covering many of these topics in the upcoming weeks, in a Simple, Smart & Sexy way, meaning…: Straightforward, Street Smart, Strategies for Success.

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Companies and human beings face the same challenge. Once you become a Leader or take a leading position in the market, remaining there becomes the big challenge. I always remember my good client and friend, Eduardo D’Alessandro when he became President of a large Telecom company in Latin America, he said “Always be optimistic when you are walking the valley of defeat and worried when you are on top of the hill.”

It’s always been harder to remain a leader than to become one. It’s somewhat easier to achieve temporary success than to be successful in the long run. Just a few weeks ago, Juan Carlos Ortiz, President of DDB Latina and one of my most admired Latin Leaders in the US, was pointing out how difficult it is to remain a leader. And what really happens is that once we get where we wanted to be, we enter that “comfort zone” that can be so confusing and dangerous. Remaining ambitious is key, both for successful companies and successful executives.

Today’s video is about IKEA and how traditional organizations which once upon a time were highly successful can die. After you watch it come back for tips on how to remain a leader when you are a traditional organization or a 50 year old top Executive.

 

 
What made you successful in the past, can drive you to the cemetery today

Nothing more dangerous than being comfortable and thinking you “got it”. Some people get to leadership positions and are tricked into believing that nothing else has validity except their own opinions or ideas.

With companies, same thing is true. Those which five or ten years ago were heroic and successful businesses today they might be striving to survive, like Microsoft or Blackberry, or they might have disappeared  (Nortel, Blockbusters, Borders, The Sharper Image, CompUSA… and the list continues).

The reason why companies disappear despite being super successful at one point in time is they take too long to react to a new order of things and when they do they try to apply the same paradigms which made them successful to respond to a new market demand. This is the case of companies like Microsoft, when after being so successful in the 80s when we almost thought they were unbeatable, it took them years to realize their absolute leadership was taken by another company called Google who had created a completely new service and market. And exactly the same thing will happen to IKEA and other similar stores if they don’t wake up to the reality that what meant great customer experience in the 80s is no longer truth and what customers need and demand today is basically: Simple, Smart & Sexy experiences, where mobile technology plays a big role.

Think about it? Why would you spend a weekend at IKEA to choose a sofa that three hours later, when you get to the showroom, it is out of stock? Why would you go to a store where there’s a minimum “human” service and no “technology” to balance the “inhumanity”? What was true in the 80s is no longer good nowadays.

So, what does it take to remain a leader? Follow these steps, whether for the company you manage or for yourself

Outside-in Strategy

While a decade ago, it was still good enough to design products and services based on the existing resources or strengths of a company, today traditional companies that remain in a leadership position like Coca-Cola apply the “Outside-in” strategy, which means they design products, business models and marketing based on the consumer and not on existing resources.

David Butler, Chief Design Officer at Coca-Cola says the most effective way to innovate at a company as large and complex as Coca-Cola is by applying smart design. He says: If I’m at a meeting with manufacturing people, I’ll say: ‘How can we make the can feel colder, longer? Or how can we make the cup easier to hold?’ In other words, he thinks of design as a means to respond to a real customer desire or need and centers his efforts on identifying basic problems that design can solve.

Ambition

Ambition is key to remaining a leader, and it implies both an “ample vision” and a profound desire of impacting the world that surrounds you. What ambition teaches us is that to be successful you need to remain focus only on the objective, while observing the world with an ample mind and a distinctive purpose.

Leadership should teach us to accept personal responsibility, accountability and thus, generate positive action. To remain being “the king of the mountain” you must constantly be aware of keeping the pace and using your powers of leadership to influence events and impact your organization or the world in a useful and meaningful way.

Challenging and Accepting Challenges

True leaders are challenging and accept and embrace challenges as unique opportunities. Maybe that’s the main difference between a great leader and a great business administrator. To remain being a leader you must look at the world from a unique perspective. Thinking Different is only the consequence of looking at the world from another prism, a unique lens and with a distinctive eye. When you are able to see a problem from a different perspective, you start “feeling” different about the situation and -as a result – you start thinking different.

Engaging Leadership

Only those leaders that are able to fully engage their teams in all aspects (body, mind and soul), are the ones that are capable of really making the necessary transformations.  Engagement entails a clear vision and mission, an unequivocal sense of direction, a great dose of passion and inspiration and the ability and clarity to clear the way, meaning to take out whoever doesn’t share the vision or for whatever reason becomes an “energy sucker”.

Impact

Impact is our new favorite word for purpose and vision. Success becomes sustainable, when a person, a company or a product generate meaningful impact on the world around oneself. The purpose of a leader often reveals more about them than their level of achievement, education or experience.

This week is very, very, very special. And that’s because of three reasons:

1. We are launching the Spanish version of our videos, so one week you will see a post in English and one in Spanish. This week, though, because it’s launching week, we have also published in Spanish. To access the Spanish version, click here.

2. To start this new era this week I’ve interviewed one of the Latino Leaders I personally know, I most admire. He is Juan Carlos Ortiz, President of DDB Latina (one of the largest advertising groups in the world). He is not just someone that I admire, though. He has an impressive career in advertising, has written a very innovative book and was recently considered on of Colombia’s “Ten most exceptional people” in a book published by Planeta.

3. We are launching this Sunday our IMPACT Leadership & Innovation program at Florida International University. It’s the first program of this nature to be offered in Spanish in the US and we are proud of doing so. IMPACT is really about impacting your career in a way that you will be able to accomplish your objectives and multiply your results. Also it’s highly personalized to meet the needs of each of the program participants, and this is just the beginning. This program will continue with a specific innovation program in Silicon Valley with the most innovative companies in the world, a program in Brazil for Extreme Leaders (only super top executives), in-company programs with team members and continuing online training aimed at helping each individual on their path to IMPACT the world.

As you can see, we have many reasons to celebrate!

The interview with Juan Carlos in English is about how to “sell” innovation, and how to convince others to support your “crazy” ideas. He has a long and highly successful career and in this week’s video he shares a lot of insights on what are the best techniques to move others to support you. In case you speak Spanish, the interview with him in Spanish is about Leadership and why “Inspiration and taking the garbage out” are key for a true Leader.

Our content in both languages will not always be the same. Most of the times it will be different or have a different perspective, so if you are bilingual, like 30% of our subscribers, then don’t miss it and watch it in both languages!

In a recent survey we conducted among our 4,500 subscribers, 77.5% said they would like us to cover more topics around innovation management and 76% want to know more about how to make things or become Simple, Smart & Sexy. More specifically, they’ve asked this questions:

• How to implement the Simple, Smart & Sexy concept in an unsexy business?

• Is there a method to bring the Simple, Smart & Sexy concept to life?

• Is there a method to Think Different?

• What is the process to drive innovation in a “static” field like “compensation”?

• How to be more creative

• Is there a method to shift the way we understand things in order to see problems from a different perspective?

• How to apply innovation to leadership

• How to boost creativity among team members

• How to get senior management to approve innovative projects

These are just a few of the 200+ suggestions/questions we received. Which are your topics? The question comes not only because we will cover them to make content more relevant to you, but also because we will create free webinars and video classes in which you’ll be able to participate. So, please leave your comments bellow if you want this to become your blog!

Have a super week!

Esta es una semana muy especial en la que estamos de festejo total… les cuento por qué.

En primer lugar porque estrenamos nuestra edición en Español! Ya eso nos hace felices porque tenemos más de 1.600 suscriptores que nos han pedido… ESPAÑOL! Aquí está!

En segundo lugar, porque para este estreno hemos invitado a uno de los líderes latinos que yo conozco y admiro, Juan Carlos Ortiz. Juan Carlos es Colombiano, jóven, Presidente de DDB Latina (una de los grupos de publicidad más importantes del mundo), fue el primer latinoamericano que dirigió una agencia de publicidad en Estados Unidoses y ecribió un libro increíble titulado “Cortos” en Español y “Shorts” en Inglés. De hecho, la editorial Planeta acaba de publicar un libro que se llama “Historias de Gigantes” y es acerca de 10 Colombianos excepcionales, uno de ellos, Juan Carlos.

Como se imaginarán, es todo un honor tenerlo conversando abiertamente con nosotros acerca de liderazgo e innovación.

Nuestro vídeo de hoy es una conversación abierta y cercana con Juan Carlos, con quien hablamos de Liderazgo en Español y de Innovación en Inglés.

El tercer motivo es que este domingo lanzamos nuestro programa IMPACT de Liderazgo e Innovación que se llevará a cabo en la Florida International University. Este programa se dictará en Español, lo que es un gran logro ya que es el primer programa de esta naturaleza que se dicta en Español en los Estados Unidos y estamos orgullosos de ser nosotros quienes lo hemos diseñado y propuesto a FIU quien lo a apoyado y aprobado. Es el primero de una serie de programas que continuarán con otro programa en Silicon Valley para aprender de las empresas más innovadoras del mundo (marzo 2013), en Brasil para Extreme Leaders (Abril 2013), in-company con los equipos de nuestros participantes y on-line para realmente poder apoyar el desarrollo individual de cada una de las personas que participa en el programa.

Como verán, tenemos muchos motivos para celebrar y ojalá que todas las semanas tengamos cosas así para contarles!

Por otro lado, nos gustaría leer sus comentarios e inquietudes acerca de los temas que nosotros tratamos: liderazgo, innovación, marketing disruptivo. Recientemente, en una encuesta que realizamos nuestros lectores nos dijeron que les interesaba que cubriéramos temas como:

• ¿Cómo implantar el concepto de Simple, Smart & Sexy en una empresa nada sexy?
• ¿Hay algún método para “pensar diferente”?
• ¿Hay algún método para convertir la empresa en una empresa Simple, Smart & Sexy?
• ¿Cómo se hace para innovar en un campo bastante estático como Compensación y Beneficios?
• ¿Cómo hace una persona para ser más creativa?
• ¿Existe algún método para cambiar la forma de pensar para ver los problemas desde otra perspectiva?
• ¿Cómo se hace para que los líderes de arriba innoven?
• ¿Cómo mejorar el nivel de creatividad en un equipo?
• ¿Cómo hacer que el directorio apruebe proyectos de innovación?

Estas son algunas de las más de 2000 preguntas que recibimos. ¿Cuál es tu inquietud? ¿Con qué traba te encuentras para conseguir tus resultados? ¿Las trabas tienen más que ver con las personas, contigo mismo o con recursos de otro tipo (económicos, por ejemplo)?

Cada pregunta que nos hagas nos servirá para mejorar la calidad del contenido que publicamos, los vídeos que hacemos o a las personas que entrevistamos, así que este es tu espacio para dejarnos tu comentario o si quieres hacerlo en privado nos puedes mandar un mail a info@marianaferrari.com

¡Que tengas una muy buena semana!

In marketing we know it takes the same effort to sell a product for a low price than one for a high price. Many companies, and specially sales people – struggle to convince their client to buy their products when competitors’ prices are lower. It’s not about the price, it’s about the value you offer.

80% of our purchasing decisions are irrational and based upon emotions. Using emotions in marketing can yield very powerful results and this is one of the reasons why it pays to keep yourself up to date on consumer trends. What are consumers loving? What are they fearing? What are they now feeling guilty about or proud of?

Watch today’s video about the “made in the USA” trend and come back to read how, by tapping on a strong consumer trend, you can charge premium prices.

In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of responsible consumers are willing to pay premium prices for the local, and thereby the authentic, human and eco-friendly product.

In the US consumers, governments and business leaders are finally feeling the pressure to confront and act upon the fact that to have a solid economy doesn’t mean having mega billionaire shareholders but millions of people employed at home. I call this trend the come back of things local, things with a sense of place which are surfacing in a world dominated by globalization. Things a consumer can be proud of because they’ve been made in their own town or city. Major brands like Google are taking advantage of this trend to launch new products that can beat their competitors even when they are pricing them three times higher. As I point out on this video, Google Nexus is a great example.

To charge premium prices, there are three specific steps brands can follow:

1. Create, craft and lead a Super Niche by offering highly specific products or services

If you want to be the best, then you’ll either have to exist at the top or at the bottom. This is because there is too much competition in the middle, and there are too many people existing in the middle who can do everything. Instead of competing in the middle create a super niche product (for example a diet to lose belly fat before a wedding). When you discover a very specific problem and you can provide a very specific solution then you can charge a premium price. The more thoroughly you research your audience, the more likely you’ll be to understand their current state and the better you’ll marshal emotions to change that state.

2. Luxury -thus premium prices- is about status and sex

The two things that consumers are willing to pay just about anything are sex and status.  Adding a trend to a product or service is giving it status, which converts into premium prices and higher margins. Marketing that uses pride as an action-enticing emotion is focused on making the consumer want to use or purchase something because of the sense of status, power, accomplishment, envy or respect they feel it will generate. An example is a private, exclusive membership at a club that is costly, but will give the purchaser notoriety and can be used as a powerful marketing element on its own, once purchased.

3. Resolving a frustration pays a higher price than selling a great feature

I’ve learned this by observing my clients in the medical devices industry. Companies selling medical devices (likewise pharmaceuticals, biotech, etc) are used to marketing features and comparing their products with those of the competition. When in the medical devices industry my client was outgrown by a much poorer quality competitor, executives were shocked. When clients were surveyed the answer was that the product was great but the post-sales service was so poor it turned them down. We later found out that the competitor, with a poorer quality product changed their marketing campaign to resolve that “frustration” to clients instead while investing on getting the product updated. However, before they launched the new version of the product, they had already won the market and then they used the new product launch to build loyalty.