If the customer is always right, then the makers of both Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii would have stocked a lot more games.....
...and gotten less publicity.
As large as these corporations are, it seems impossible to believe that they couldn't make accurate market forecasts. The reasonable conclusion to draw, then, is recognizing that "coming up short" is an effective marketing strategy.
Imagine how much it would cost to create a marketing campaign that almost everyone would be talking about. Far too much money.
Instead, by keeping distribution of these games relatively limited, these gamemakers have received extensive media coverage as the media talks about ...
... people waiting all night in lines.
... game consoles going for over 400% retail on ebay.
... the hue and cry over people not getting one.
BOTTOM LINE:Smart leaders know receiving media coverage that money can't buy is one brilliant reason to realize that the customer is not always right.
tags:
Playstation 3
Wii
Ebay
Monday, November 20, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Core Problem #5 ... in the news
In my book Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today, I wrote about Core Problem #5:
Organizations lose viability when they follow the old structures that serve people at the top first.
Here's a perfect example of Core Problem #5 in the media. In his OpEd column, Washington Post columnist Colbert King writes about Colin Powell's book My American Journey as well as Bob Woodworth's State of Denial.
In his column, Mr. King explores Colin Powell's beliefs that his generation of military top brass would never make the same mistakes that were made in Vietnam.
While I respect General Powell tremendously, clearly he was wrong. Mr. King points out how we are making the exact same mistakes in Iraq.
What went wrong? Did General Powell's generation go bad?
Not by a longshot.
As I point out in Leading People the Black Belt Way, it's not the people, it's the system. Corrupt systems create corrupt decisions. By having a military and political system that serves people at the top first, we will all be paying for the mistakes made in Iraq.
Don't make the same leadership mistake.
BOTTOM LINE: Great Leaders create healthy systems.
tags:
Bob Woodworth
Colbert I. King
Colin Powell
Organizations lose viability when they follow the old structures that serve people at the top first.
Here's a perfect example of Core Problem #5 in the media. In his OpEd column, Washington Post columnist Colbert King writes about Colin Powell's book My American Journey as well as Bob Woodworth's State of Denial.
In his column, Mr. King explores Colin Powell's beliefs that his generation of military top brass would never make the same mistakes that were made in Vietnam.
While I respect General Powell tremendously, clearly he was wrong. Mr. King points out how we are making the exact same mistakes in Iraq.
What went wrong? Did General Powell's generation go bad?
Not by a longshot.
As I point out in Leading People the Black Belt Way, it's not the people, it's the system. Corrupt systems create corrupt decisions. By having a military and political system that serves people at the top first, we will all be paying for the mistakes made in Iraq.
Don't make the same leadership mistake.
BOTTOM LINE: Great Leaders create healthy systems.
tags:
Bob Woodworth
Colbert I. King
Colin Powell
Monday, October 30, 2006
Kickin' it on Amazon...
HEALING KATRINA has been re-released with a new sub-title. It's now available on Amazon.com.
Here's the new cover:
tags:
Katrina
Hurricane
Volunteering
Here's the new cover:
tags:
Katrina
Hurricane
Volunteering
Monday, October 23, 2006
Ebay goes MySpace ...
On-line powerhouse Ebay recently launched its own version of MySpace, calling it "My World".
With the ease of duplicating digital processes, few processes stay proprietary very long these days. Will Ebay dillute its brand too far by offering things people don't want? Or will Ebay become even stronger?
No one knows.
This is important, so I'll say it again: No one knows.
In my book, LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY, I talk about leading through the power of mistakes and limitations. In order to succeed as a leader, you need to be willing to make mistakes. Ebay's MY WORLD might be a global success or a phenomenal flop, but the leaders of Ebay should be commended for being willing to take risks.
BOTTOM LINE:Powerful leaders take risks.
tags:
Ebay
My World
MySpace
With the ease of duplicating digital processes, few processes stay proprietary very long these days. Will Ebay dillute its brand too far by offering things people don't want? Or will Ebay become even stronger?
No one knows.
This is important, so I'll say it again: No one knows.
In my book, LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY, I talk about leading through the power of mistakes and limitations. In order to succeed as a leader, you need to be willing to make mistakes. Ebay's MY WORLD might be a global success or a phenomenal flop, but the leaders of Ebay should be commended for being willing to take risks.
BOTTOM LINE:Powerful leaders take risks.
tags:
Ebay
My World
MySpace
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Want Marketing? Send Children Towards the Gun...
According to Yahoo News,A security firm that trains schools has announced that they are training children to ATTACK any person carrying a gun that enters a school.
According to the article, the spokesperson for the company stated:
"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.
That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed.
But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week.
My professional opinion:
As a marketing strategy, Response Options is brilliant. They are getting media coverage like nobody's business, above and beyond what other security firms are getting.
As a strategy to keep our children safe? Response Options completely misses the boat. They are completely ignoring developmental psychology, crisis intervention research and trauma responses.
My prediction: In the event of a school shooting, schools that train their children to follow Response Options's "attack-the-shooter" strategy will wind up with a higher number of dead kids on their hands.
BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Pay Attention to Psychological Research
tags:
School Shooting
guns-in-schools
school violence
According to the article, the spokesperson for the company stated:
"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.
That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed.
But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week.
My professional opinion:
As a marketing strategy, Response Options is brilliant. They are getting media coverage like nobody's business, above and beyond what other security firms are getting.
As a strategy to keep our children safe? Response Options completely misses the boat. They are completely ignoring developmental psychology, crisis intervention research and trauma responses.
My prediction: In the event of a school shooting, schools that train their children to follow Response Options's "attack-the-shooter" strategy will wind up with a higher number of dead kids on their hands.
BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Pay Attention to Psychological Research
tags:
School Shooting
guns-in-schools
school violence
Who's Cleaning Up This Mess?
According to the API News Service, wild animals are becoming quite a problem in New Orleans (and, most likely, other areas of the South impacted by the 2005 Hurricane Season. The animals have been moving in after the storms (or were blown in), including, the article notes:
In suburban Kenner, Cherry Robinson found snakes in her yard, while a man in another part of town found deadly brown widow spiders, a cousin of the black widow.
"You used to have to go deep in the woods to find brown widows," said Jayme Necaise, an entomologist with the Audubon Nature Institute Insectarium, a museum scheduled to open next year. "Now we're finding them all over the place. Along with swarms of flies, roaches and mosquitoes."
The degree of trash and abandoned buildings this article refers to would seem to indicate that there is more clean-up to do than we have been led to believe.
Who's leading the clean up?
BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Always Clean Up Their Messes
tags:
New Orleans
Hurricanes
2005
In suburban Kenner, Cherry Robinson found snakes in her yard, while a man in another part of town found deadly brown widow spiders, a cousin of the black widow.
"You used to have to go deep in the woods to find brown widows," said Jayme Necaise, an entomologist with the Audubon Nature Institute Insectarium, a museum scheduled to open next year. "Now we're finding them all over the place. Along with swarms of flies, roaches and mosquitoes."
The degree of trash and abandoned buildings this article refers to would seem to indicate that there is more clean-up to do than we have been led to believe.
Who's leading the clean up?
BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Always Clean Up Their Messes
tags:
New Orleans
Hurricanes
2005
Only the Name Changes....
After some discussion with the American Red Cross, I have agreed to change the name of my book. They also requested that I remove any links to their site that I have on my sites. Wanting to respect the ARC, I have done so.
Stay tuned for a new cover/title for the book.
BOTTOM LINE:Organizational Respect Goes a Long Way.
tags:
American Red Cross
red cross
Healing Katrina
Stay tuned for a new cover/title for the book.
BOTTOM LINE:Organizational Respect Goes a Long Way.
tags:
American Red Cross
red cross
Healing Katrina
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