The Hindu Business Line : Ideas for your playbook

How does the ESPN boss George Bodenheimer try to understand sports fans? He "often leaves the luxury boxes at games and walks through arenas studying the crowds - unrecognised," because "it's a minute-to-minute battle to retain viewers in today's media world," and even "the most powerful man in sports" needs to stay "at the top of his game." This insight is from the first of the fifteen chapters in BusinessWeek's Marketing Power Plays, from Tata McGraw-Hill (www.tatamcgrawhill.com) .

"We have drawn from the best in the business - the world's leading managers, strategists, and marketers - to analyse how you can use the best practices and best ideas of these insiders in your own personal playbook," writes editor Stephen J. Adler in the intro.

James Owens of Caterpillar, for instance, tells you how he is sinking his claws into services, such as financial services, logistics and remanufacturing. "With 2006 sales and revenues of $41.5 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and a wide and growing offering of related services," says www.cat.com. But Owens, a Ph.D. economist, knows that Cat's basic business is cyclical. "The mining sector will top out in 2009 if not sooner ... with an outright recession possible as soon as 2011," he fears. "To offset the slowdown, Owens wants to make more acquisitions ... And for as long as demand holds up, he's hiking prices." The next chapter is about Steven Freiberg of Citigroup, whose strategy is simple: `Focusing on the consumer'. Citibank has some 34 million customers, but Freiberg is worried that the customers aren't buying enough bank products. So, he is `targeting the bank's big spenders - professionals with $100,000 or more in assets - using technology to track them and offering discounts and other incentives to spend more'.

Then, get inside Intel, with Paul Otellini. His first lesson is, "Be ready to challenge and change a `successful culture'. What was innovative in the past does not reflect new market wants and needs." Another lesson: "Update the company's image - including its logo, tag line, and ad campaign - so that the public receives a clear, positive message about the brand... Keep in mind that the best marketed technology can beat the best technology."

The best ideas need not come only from the top. "Whirlpool, the world's largest maker of home appliances, encourages all of its 68,000 employees to contribute design ideas," one learns from the chapter on Hans Straberg of Electrolux. A clear hit was Pronto, a cordless stick and hand vacuum. "Available in an array of metallic hues with a rounded, ergonomic design, this is the Cinderella of vacuums. Too attractive to be locked up in the broom closet, it cries out to be displayed in your kitchen."

One of the `50 Most Powerful Women in Business' is Anne Livermore, the head of HP's Technology Solutions Group, to whom the book devotes a chapter. Other women in the collection of essays are: Judy McGrath who transformed MTV Networks `from a scrappy upstart into a $17-billion behemoth by embracing edgy programming and nurturing talent'; and Marissa Mayer, a Vice-President with Google who is charged with "making sure that the tech giant continues to crank out brilliant ideas even as clever competitors are hatching their own." One of the power moves of Livermore is that in a turnaround situation, leaders have to move fast. Because, "Decisive action helps pre-empt the complaints of detractors and critics and instils confidence in nervous employees." An example of Livermore's decisive action was the setting up of `war room' to "work closely with a seven-person team to identify and improve 15 key weaknesses - everything from how HP worked with distributors to how it pulled together bids for customers." And the `war' delivered results, such as the establishment of `integrated bid desk' to reduce the time it took to generate prices for complex corporate deals `from two weeks to one day'.

Power read that demands playing out, fast!

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

D. Murali