December 17, 2013

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It's the most wonderful time of the year. My kids are excited about the presents to come from Santa. The snow is falling outside my home in New York as I write this, and it's not even dirty city snow and slush yet. Of course, what would December be without a trends article? My top trend in business and technology is below. (Hint, it's related to the picture above of Jack Dorsey and me). But first, I asked 16 young leaders from The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) what trends they see in business and technology emerging in the year to come. Here are their responses: 1. Remote Work

Companies are beginning to realize that they don't need to always look within their local markets to find talent. This does all kinds of cool things, such as allowing smaller companies to compete, get access to very specific talent and be headquartered anywhere they choose. The technology is available that allows your team to work remotely almost as effectively as if they were in the office. - Dave Nevogt, co-founder, Hubstaff.com 2. Home Technology

With my current startup grounded in the home improvement space, it's been interesting to see the ebb and flow of trends within the industry. One of the most exciting to me has been the "Internet of Things" technology integrated into the home -- things like home automation, interconnected appliances, etc. There is a huge opportunity for innovators to really change the way we live in our homes. - Matt Ehrlichman, CEO, Porch 3. Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

Privacy has been an ongoing issue since the Internet has existed. With more data available then ever and cases of service providers or government agencies sharing private information, privacy-enhancing technologies are growing in importance. We are reaching a peak of privacy issues, and I believe 2014 will be a pivotal year for services to help aid in enhancing it.- Phil Chen, Co-Founder / Principle Systems Architect, Givit 4. Companies with Personality

For years, companies focused on the transactional elements of their business. But the trend is aggressively favoring companies who have personality rather than your traditional, faceless corporation. Companies that make an extra effort to grow with purpose, lead with transparency and make customer experience the central focus of their business will lead in 2014. - Charles Gaudet, Founder, Predictable Profits 5. Wearable Computing

The confluence of inexpensive ARM chips + open-source hardware and Android will ignite a revolution in hardware, wearable and mobile computing innovation. - Patrick Vlaskovits, Author, The Lean Entrepreneur

6. Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing represents a burgeoning market in 2014. 3D printing allows for rapid prototyping and small-scale manufacturing. In eliminating barriers of scale, it is empowering entrepreneurs and innovators to quickly and cost effectively transform their ideas into working prototypes and products. 3D printing will contribute to what may well be a renaissance in manufacturing - Arthur Ebeling, Founder and CEO, Koi Creative, Inc. 7. Responsive Design

Finally, people are starting to realize that it is important to design websites that look beautiful on tablets and mobile devices! Even though tablets and smartphones have proliferated in the past several years, it's remarkable how few websites actually have attempted to optimize for smaller screens. I predict a big investment into responsive design in the coming year. - Eric Bahn, Advisor, Webflow 8. Online Education

There are some incredible educational sites that have popped up over the past few years. You can learn to do just about anything online these days from coding to cooking. Best of all, the platforms have become sophisticated and now make it easy and fun to learn. I'm excited to see the way people learn shift over the next year. - Dustin Lee, Co-Founder, Playbook 9. Marketing Autonomics

The biggest thing to happen to marketing since CRM will arrive in 2014: marketing autonomics. All of the data visualization dashboards we're used to will go away. Imagine an SaaS that tells you exactly what content to make, gives you creative guidance (topics, colors) and then posts the content itself based on understanding consumer usage data. That technology is almost here. - Brennan White, CEO, Watchtower 10. DIY Skills

People are starting to use their hands and take ownership of the things they need in their life again. The DIY movement is growing, cooking is becoming more "hip," and the Ron Swansons in all of us are just begging to be released. - David Spinks, CEO, Feast 11. Bitcoin

It's really exciting to see the growth of a currency, especially in the everyday economy and not just the shady underground. Bitcoin has the potential to reduce small business expenses and create a platform for countless new enterprises. - Henry Glucroft, owner, Henry's / Airdrop 12. Quantified Self

The quantified self movement is really picking up steam. I'm excited to see how it can move beyond personal and vanity data (such as calculating steps walked) and actually improve our work lives and performance. - Adam Lieb, Founder & CEO, Duxter 13. Social Business

I'm glad that businesses are becoming more social both within the company and outwards to their customers. When you add the social element to business, I believe it becomes much more emotionally rewarding for all participants. This will make happier customers and happier employees. - Russ Oja, Co- Founder, Seattle Windows and Construction, LLC 14. Smartphones Worldwide

Smartphones in the United States and other first-world countries are commonplace. In developing countries smartphones and tablets have the potential to transform the education, health and communication landscape. Give people access to information, and the tools and applications that come with smartphones and there will be real progress in areas tough to service otherwise.- Andrew Howlett, Chief Digital Officer, Rain 15. Augmented Reality and 4D Entertainment

As the CEO of a custom publishing company, I'm very excited by the addition of augmented reality (or 4D content) that magazine publishers are adding to their printed issues. The improvements in AR technology in the past 18 months have been incredible, and I'm looking forward to groundbreaking creativity from publishers in 2014 as more consumers adopt the behavior of using apps to amplify print. - Brittany Hodak, Co-founder, 'ZinePak 16. Content Marketing

Google is changing the marketing landscape by improving its ability to reward unique perspectives, original topics and high-quality writing. Businesses need to publish shareable content often in order to stay competitive -- no matter what industry they are in. Great writing is going to be a huge trend in 2014.- Ryan Buckley, COO & Co-founder, Scripted, Inc. 17. Twitter World In the last three years, as far as social media is concerned, it's been a Facebook world. Sure, many other key platforms have emerged, but topping 1.2 billion users, Facebook has been the largest internet platform since Google. I've watched Twitter grow enormously over the past year - and saw it go from a platform used mostly by marketers, media and celebrities to a platform used by "real people"- my mom, for instance, and my daughter, and the parents of my daughter's classmates. With it's recent IPO and stock performance out of the gate, look for Twitter to continue to become truly mainstream in 2014 and become the next billion-user platform.

Those of 17 trends young leaders and I see for the coming year in business and technology. Now, it's your turn. What trends do you see for 2014? What did we miss, and what do youdisagree with? Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below, and please do share this post with your network.

Our Ten 2014 Predictions for HR, Learning, Talent, and HR Technology for 2014
December 18, 2013

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2014 will be an exciting and challenging year for HR, learning, and talent professionals. In summary, this is a year businesses will find it increasingly difficult to attract, retain, and develop their people. Passion, engagement, development, and innovation are key. (Download our 66 page Predictions Report here.) Global economic growth will create a new level of competition for people. HR organizations will shift their focus from cost reduction to retention and engagement. Technology will continue to make the world a smaller place, forcing companies to improve their employment brand in every possible way.

Data will become a new currency. Leadership will continue to be in short supply. And you, as an HR professional, will have to innovate and adapt to stay ahead. In this article we summarize our ten predictions for 2014, detailed in the report linked here. This is our tenth year publishing these predictions, and I hope you find them educational and valuable as you plan your strategies for the year ahead. 2014: The Year of the Employee: Attraction, Retention, and Engagement Will Really Matter For the first time in nearly a decade, this year you will find the issues of retention, engagement, and "attraction of talent" to be top on your priority list. We are just completing a major global study (Deloitte's Human Capital Trends 2014, coming soon) and found that the top two people issues facing organizations in 2014 are leadership and retention. These are the problems we face in a dynamic, growing global economy. "The war for talent is over, and the talent won." This year, for the first time in more than five years, employees are in charge. Companies have reduced costs, restructured, rationalized spending, and pushed people to work harder than ever. More than 60% of organizations tell us one of their top is dealing with "the overwhelmed employee." This year the power will shift: high-performing employees will start to exert control. Top people with key skills (engineering, math, life sciences, energy) will be in short supply. Thanks to the US healthcare laws, people will feel more free to change jobs. And companies who can't engage and attract Millenials will lose out. While there will still be high levels of unemployment in places, generally people have changed their perspectives. They want work which is meaningful, rewarding, and enjoyable. Top performers will seek out career growth. Mid-level staff will strive for leadership development. And you, as an HR organization, will have to compete, adapt, and innovate to stay ahead. Our Top Ten Predictions for 2014 1. Talent, skills, and capability needs become global. In 2014 key skills will be scarce. Software engineering, energy and life sciences, mathematics and analytics, IT, and other technical skills are in short supply. And unlike prior years, this problem is no longer one of "hiring top people" or "recruiting better than your competition." Now we need to source and locate operations around the world to find the skills we need. You must expand your sourcing and recruiting to a global level. Locate work where you can best find talent. And build talent networks which attract people around the world.

2. Integrated capability Development Replaces Training. The "training department" will be renamed "capability development." Companies will find skills short and they will have to build a supply chain for talent. Partner with universities, establish apprentice programs, create developmental assignments, and focus on continuous learning. Companies that focus on continuous learning in 2014 will attract the best and build for the future. 3. Redesign of Performance Management Accelerates. The old-fashioned performance review is slowly going out the window. In 2014 companies will aggressively redesign their appraisal and evaluation programs to focus on coaching, development, continuous goal alignment, and recognition. The days of "stacked ranking" are slowly going away in today's talent-constrained workplace, to be replaced by a focus on engaging people and helping them perform at extraordinary levels. 4. Redefine engagement: Focus on Passion and the Holistic Work Environment. Engagement and retention will become a top priority. But rather than focus on engagement surveys, you will expand your horizons to look at engagement from a holistic standpoint. Your work environment, management practices, benefits and recognition programs, career development, and corporate mission all contribute to engagement. As you seek to attract and grow Millenials, you will re-imagine employee engagement in a new, integrated way. And rather than survey annually, new tools will let you monitor engagement continuously. As one HR manager recently put it, "our employees are no longer looking for a career, they're looking for an experience." Your job in 2014 is to make sure that experience is rewarding, exciting, and empowering. 5. Take Talent Mobility and Career Development Seriously. Talent mobility is with us for good: thanks to tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook people can find new jobs in a heartbeat. This means you, as an employer, need to provide internal talent mobility and career growth in your own organization. 2014 is the time to build a "facilitated talent mobility" strategy which includes open access to internal positions, employee assessment tools, interview guides, and leadership values that focus on internal development. Are your managers paid to "consume talent" or "produce talent?" Remember the best source of skills is within your own organization - if you cannot make internal mobility easy, good people will go elsewhere. 6. Redesign and Reskill the HR Function.

Surprise: in our global Human Capital Trends research the need to "Reskill HR" was rated one of the top five challenges in every geography around the world. Why? Because HR itself is changing dramatically and we need to continuously skill our own teams to maintain our relevance and value. Our new High-Impact HR research, scheduled for launch in early 2014, shows statistically that high-performing companies invest in HR skills development, external intelligence, and specialization. In 2014 if you aren't reinvesting in HR, you'll likely fall behind. 7. Reinvent and Expand Focus on Talent Acquisition. As the economy improves you will need to more aggressively and intelligently source and recruit. The talent acquisition market is the fastest-changing part of HR: new social recruiting, talent networks, BigData, assessment science, and recruiting platforms are being launched every month. In 2014 organizations will need to integrate their talent acquisition teams, develop a global strategy, and expand their use of analytics, BigData, and social networks. Your employment brand now becomes more strategic than ever - so partner with your VP of Marketing if you haven't already. Today your ability to recruit is directly dependent on your engagement and retention strategy - what your employees experience is what is communicated in the outside world. 8. Continued Explosive Growth in HR Technology and Content Markets. The HR technology and content markets will expand again in 2014. ERP players (Oracle, SAP, Workday, ADP) are all delivering integrated solutions now. IBM, CornerstoneOnDemand, PeopleFluent, SumTotal, and dozens of other fast-growing talent management companies are now offering end-to-end solutions. And most now offer integrated analytics solutions as well. Mobile apps, MOOCs, expanded use of Twitter, and an explosion in the use of video has created a need to continuously invest in HR technology. In 2014 the theme is "simplify" understand technology but keep it simple. Employees are already overwhelmed and we need to make these tools and content easy to use. The word for 2014 is "adoption" - make technology easy to use and it will deliver great value. 9. Talent Analytics Comes to Front of the Stage. Talent Analytics is red hot. More than 60% of you are increasing investment in this area and company after company is uncovering new secrets to workforce performance each day. In 2014 you should build a talent analytics center of excellence and invest in the infrastructure, data quality, and integration tools you need. This market is finally here, and companies that excel in talent analytics have improved their recruiting by 2X, leadership pipeline by 3X, and financial performance as well.

10. Innovation Comes to HR. The New Bold, CHRO. One of the top three challenges companies now face is "reskilling their HR team." This points to the issue that HR itself, as a business function, is undergoing radical change. Today's HR organization is no longer judged by its administrative efficiency - it is judged by its ability to acquire, develop, retain, and help manage talent. And more and more HR is being asked to become "Data-Driven" - understand how to best manage people based on real data, not just judgement or good ideas. As a result of these changes, our research shows a new model for HR emerging - one we call High-Impact HR. In this new world HR professionals are highly trained specialists, they act as consultants, and they operate in "networks of expertise" not just "centers of expertise." And driving this new world is a strong-willed, business-driven CHRO. In 2014 organizations should focus on innovation, new ideas, and leveraging technology to drive value in HR. This demands an integrated team, a focus on skills and capabilities within HR, and strong HR leadership. Bottom line: 2014 looks to be an exciting and critically important year for Human Resources. The economy will grow, employees will be in charge, and HR's role in business success will be more important than ever.

IBM reveals its top five innovation predictions for the next five years

IBM

IBM director of education transformation Chalapathy Neti.

December 16, 2013 10:30 PM Dean Takahashi

2.6k 5.5k 402 3.0k 50 22 38

IBM revealed its predictions for five big innovations that will change our lives within five years.

IBM

Bernie Meyerson, the vice president of innovation at IBM.

The IBM 5 in 5 is the eighth year in a row that IBM has made predictions about technology, and this years prognostications are sure to get people talking. We discussed them with Bernie Meyerson, the vice president of innovation at IBM, and he told us that the goal of the predictions is to better marshal the companys resources in order to make them come true. We try to get a sense of where the world is going because that focuses where we put our efforts, Meyerson said. The harder part is nailing down what you want to focus on. Unless you

stick your neck out and say this is where the world is going, its hard to you can turn around and say you will get there first. These are seminal shifts. We want to be there, enabling them. In a nutshell, IBM says:

The classroom will learn you. Buying local will beat online. Doctors will use your DNA to keep you well. A digital guardian will protect you online. The city will help you live in it. Meyerson said that this years ideas are based on the fact that everything will learn. Machines will learn about us, reason, and engage in a much more natural and personalized way. IBM can already figure out your personality by deciphering 200 of your tweets, and its capability to read your wishes will only get better. The innovations are being enabled by cloud computing, big data analytics (the company recently formed its own customer-focused big data analytics lab), and adaptive learning technologies. IBM believes the technologies will be developed with the appropriate safeguards for privacy and security, but each of these predictions raises additional privacy and security issues. As computers get smarter and more compact, they will be built into more devices that help us do things when we need them done. IBM believes that these breakthroughs in computing will amplify our human abilities. The company came up with the predictions by querying its 220,000 technical people in a bottoms-up fashion and tapping the leadership of its vast research labs in a top-down effort. Heres some more detailed description and analysis on the predictions.

IBM

In five years, the classroom will learn you to help tailor instruction to your individual needs.

The classroom will learn you

Globally, two out of three adults havent gotten the equivalent of a high school education. But IBM believes the classrooms of the future will give educators the tools to learn about every student, providing them with a tailored curriculum from kindergarten to high school. Your teacher spends time getting to know you every year, Meyerson said. What if they already knew everything about how you learn? In the next five years, IBM believes teachers will use longitudinal data such as test scores, attendance, and student behavior on electronic learning platforms and not just the results of aptitude tests. Sophisticated analytics delivered over the cloud will help teachers make decisions about which students are at risk, their roadblocks, and the way to help them. IBM is working on a research project with the Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia, the 14th largest school district in the U.S. with 170,000 students. The goal is to increase the districts graduation rate.

And after a $10 billion investment in analytics, IBM believes it can harness big data to help students out. Youll be able to pick up problems like dyslexia instantly, Meyerson said. If a child has extraordinary abilities, they can be recognized. With 30 kids in a class, a teacher cannot do it themselves. This doesnt replace them. It allows them to be far more effective. Right now, the experience in a big box store doesnt resemble this, but it will get there.

IBM

In five years, buying local will beat online as you get online data at your fingertips in the store.

Buying local will beat online

Online sales topped $1 trillion worldwide last year, and many physical retailers have gone out of business as they fail to compete on price with the likes of Amazon. But innovations for physical stores will make buying local turn out better. Retailers will use the immediacy of the store and proximity to customers to create experiences that online-only retail cant replicate. The innovations will bring the power of the Web right to where the shopper can touch it. Retailers could rely on artificial intelligence akin to IBMs Watson, which played Jeopardy better than

many human competitors. The Web can make sales associates smarter, and augmented reality can deliver more information to the store shelves. With these technologies, stores will be able to anticipate what a shopper most wants and needs. And they wont have to wait two days for shipping. The store will ask if you would like to see a certain camera and have a salesperson meet you in a certain aisle where it is located, Meyerson said. The ability to do this painlessly, without the normal hassle of trying to find help, is very powerful. This technology will get so good that online retailers are likely to set up retail showrooms to help their own sales. It has been physical against online, Meyerson said. But in this case, it is combining them. What that enables you to do is that mom-and-pop stores can offer the same services as the big online retailers. The tech they have to serve you is as good as anything in online shopping. It is an interesting evolution but it is coming.

IBM reveals its top five innovation predictions for the next five years
December 16, 2013 10:30 PM Dean Takahashi

2.6k 5.5k 402 3.0k 50 22 38

IBM

In five years, doctors will routinely use your DNA to keep you well.

Doctors will use your DNA to keep you well

Global cancer rates are expected to jump by 75 percent by 2030. IBM wants computers to help doctors understand how a tumor affects a patient down to their DNA. They could then figure out what medications will best work against the cancer, and fulfill it with a personalized cancer treatment plan. The hope is that genomic insights will reduce the time it takes to find a treatment down from weeks to minutes. The ability to correlate a persons DNA against the results of treatment with a certain protocol could be a huge breakthrough, Meyerson said. Itll be able to scan your DNA and find out if any magic bullet treatments exist that will address your particular ailment. IBM recently made a breakthrough with a nanomedicine that it can engineer to latch on to fungal cells in the body and attack them by piercing their cell membranes. The fungi wont be able to adapt to these kinds of physical attacks easily. That sort of advance,

where the attack is tailored against particular kinds of cells, will be more common in the future.

IBM

In five years, a digital guardian will protect you online.

A digital guardian will protect you online

We have multiple passwords, identifications, and devices than ever before. But security across them is highly fragmented. In 2012, 12 million people were victims of identity fraud in the U.S. In five years, IBM envisions a digital guardian that will become trained to focus on the people and items its entrusted with. This smart guardian will sort through contextual, situational, and historical data to verify a persons identity on different devices. The guardian can learn about a user and make an inference about behavior that is out of the norm and may be the result of someone stealing that persons identity. With 360 degrees of data about someone, it will be much harder to steal an identity.

In this case, you dont look for the signature of an attack, Meyerson said. It looks at your behavior with a device and spots something anomalous. It screams when there is something out of the norm.

IBM

In five years, the city will help you live in it.

The city will help you live in it

IBM says that, by 2030, the towns and cities of the developing world will make up 80 percent of urban humanity and by 2050, seven out of every 10 people will be a city dweller. To deal with that growth, the only way cities can manage is to have automation, where smarter cities can understand in real-time how billions of events occur as computers learn to understand what people need, what they like, what they do, and how they move from place to place. IBM predicts that cities will digest information freely provided by citizens to place resources where they are needed. Mobile devices and social engagement will help citizens strike up a conversation with their city leaders. Such a concept is already in motion in Brazil, where IBM researchers are working with a crowdsourcing tool that

people can use to report accessibility problems, via their mobile phones, to help those with disabilities better navigate urban streets. Of course, as in the upcoming video game Watch Dogs from Ubisoft, a bad guy could hack into the city and use its monitoring systems in nefarious ways. But Meyerson said, Id rather have the city linked. Then I can protect it. You have an agent that looks over the city. If some wise guy wants to make the sewage pumps run backwards, the system will shut that down. The advantage of the ultraconnected city is that feedback is instantaneous and the city government can be much more responsive.

Trade Marketing 2014. A retail view

Fields of interest relevant today Manufacturers and trade marketing specialists express their views in trade magazines. The widely varying points of view demonstrate that the industry is mostly still searching for a well defined role and function of this phenomenon in the Sales/Marketing organization. In addition to this, we hereby gladly offer our own point of view. Based on our daily contacts with retailers. Derived from our category analysis and from [major] retailers. A retail view on trade marketing. And on cooperation as a process. 1. The store formula is often considered the starting point of trade marketing. Do you share this view? Bierman: No, not really. We think that view is too limited. The quintessence of trade marketing is finding out how the retailer thinks and discovering what motivates him. Just like consumer marketing targets the consumer, mapping the consumer's behavior. A typical retailer only needs 5 minutes to explain the workings of his formula and customer profile, writing this down takes only one A4 piece of paper. These principles don't really change through the years. What is there to add to that for you as a manufacturer? The core of the matter deals with quite different subjects. 2. Such as the role of the brand in the retailer's assortiment Bierman: Manufacturers and Trade Marketers doing research on the retailer hit on 6 important clusters: assortment, presentation, logistics, cooperation, the consumer, promotions. What's the retailer approach on these matters. And what motivates him in the cooperation with the manufacturer and his opponents. If you focus on these research issues, you end up with all fields of interest that the retailer finds important in his cooperation with the manufacturer. Divided over 6 clusters including the role of the brand in the retailer's assortiment. These fields of interest merge into the retailer's category management for the relevant product group. The powerful

source of Bierman's catman-model for the manufacturer consists of the fact that this model has been developed from the view point of the retailer. We map this through our category analysis. This is far from simple, by the way. On retail level the information at hand is often contradictory. With a retail organization one also frequently finds differing standpoints. How to interpret information that is often squarely opposed. For trade marketing and account management this is often a challenging and difficult environment. 3. Is the consumer part of the field of the trade marketer? Bierman: absolutely. Just like 'the trade' is part of the field of the consumer marketer. The difference between these two job labels will disperse soon. As it happens, this process has been going on for some time now. To my surprise, the category of marketers limiting themselves to the consumer and keeping their distance from the trade is still large in number. I strongly advise them to work on their proficiency in both areas. For your view on the future, observe both the consumer and the retailer. This advice also holds for the trade marketer. In recruitment procedures for marketers, we focus on top candidates in full control of both fields. If there's a lack of feeling for the trade, the consumer marketer has a huge setback compared to candidates with a proficiency in both areas. One can also observe how the career track for a versatile marketer enhancing his proficiency in both fields is generally developing more quickly. 4. As part of their trade marketing, manufacturers -with or without retailers- like to conduct shoppers research. What is the added value of this? Bierman: how does the consumer buy and why. And what is the role of the product group in the retailer's assortment. It seems logical to research these issues on consumer level and not on trade level (which we advise). Shoppers research willingly narrows down to the consumer and doesn't focus on the retailer. It is essentially a different research project than our category-analysis. 'We know the consumer,', is often the standpoint of the manufacturer, 'retailers don't.' Considering the practical consumer know how of the retailer, I don't share that opinion. Neither do retailers. They often know the consumer better than the consumer knows himself. Generally, manufacturers find this hard to accept. I recall a manufacturer preparing an important introduction. Both the consumer and the new concept had been researched from all angles. Quantitative, qualitative. We were called in on the very last moment because signals from the retail market were not as positive as anticipated after all. The new concept was all right in terms of marketing technique, but the retailers clearly said 'no' to the supporting story and 'no' to the concept itself. Our task was to develop a category view from the point of view of Food Retail, used by account management as presentation for head offices. The already available consumer data --research costs had by now ran up to E. 200.000 -was evaluated by us in terms of relevance for the retailer. 'Now what is really relevant to the retailer, what information is redundant and what can we use for our presentation'. The relevant findings, summed up, turned out to fit on just one page of A4. Acceptance of the new concept eventually became a success, partly based on consumer information handed to us by the retailer.

What's the additional value of consumer research by the manufacturer. And will this receive the acceptance from the retailer. That question is asked all too rarely. Hardly ever, really. 5. But how can the attention from retailers be obtained? Bierman: by focusing on the quintessence, see the replies to questions 1 and 2 in this newsletter, and on point 4 'the right type of research''. The shop floor -a store manager, a fresh foods manager, a smart shelf attendant- usually has a sharp view on consumer behavior and buying patterns, and a clear understanding of the ways these can be directed. Retailers heavily lean on their own views while putting together the assortment and the presentation in the sales environment. By researching the consumer primarily from the point of view of the retailer and the shop floor, a considerable quantity of 'noise' is eliminated. Reality demonstrates that a lot of research, provided by the manufacturer -Nielsen, IRI, GFK, consumer research, shoppers research- is not acknowledged by retailers. If that is the case, neither can there be acceptance in any way of the plan for cooperation. Shoppers research: the major manufacturers keenly observe each other and the result is that a certain type of research can quickly become en vogue. Shoppers research fails to provide answers to a huge number of relevant questions. Manufacturers are bound to find this out at some point. It's a learning process. 6a.The initiative in the commercial relationship. Bierman: how do you, as trade marketer, retrieve the right retail information and how do you translate this into a category view, coupled to a plan for cooperation, geared for wide acceptance on retail level. This, in essence, is the main issue for every manufacturer today. Cooperation with major retailers is a process which can be directed by the manufacturer and trade marketing. With the right knowledge of the facts and the proper tools, the manufacturer keeps the initiative in cooperation and in the commercial relationship. Presently, one doesn't. It's like chess, and today, the retailer holds the initiative, not the manufacturer. Retailers develop their own instruction course category management that manufacturers can join. At the same time, other retailers move away from time consuming catman projects. There's only a small piece of the market left where the manufacturer can control the game but even there the boundaries are closing in. 6b.A shortened but effective catman project. Catman projects that frequently have a running time span of 12 months and upwards fail to work. Today, it has to be quick and good. The running time of catman projects with our agency is 4 months. 90% of the time that our projects take, is homework for Bierman. After the research we need 3 days for the translation of our findings into the categoryview. Next, we demonstrate for Sales, Account Management and Trade Marketing during sessions on head office level how the right categoryview ensures acceptance of the plan for cooperation. Wide acceptance. This means -in Food Retail in most countries- acceptance with the 4 or 5retail organizations that control 90% of the market. This is also valid for the Out of Home market. This way, category management quickly and efficiently becomes an integral part of the organization. And manufacturers recapture the initiative on their side. The initiative is elementary in the commercial relationship. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting to find out if

a retailer is willing to embark on a market project with you, and observing how plans are postponed all the time. 7. What does Bierman mean by budget controlled and knowledge controlled? Bierman: doing business with retailers is often very basic. As long as you keep pouring money into the relationship, retailers can be activated. The cooperation is often budget controlled, but this can't go on indefinitely. Ultimately, the manufacturer gives his net price and one will have to search for alternatives in order to get the attention of the retailer. The answer here is knowledge. Knowledge is the binding factor for cooperation, more so than 'the budget'; which -for a short period- is certainly a means to score for manufacturers. Knowledge is also an important approach for another important target: How to acquire the position of strategic trade partner for large scale retailers. Category leader. Not by power, but by strength. 8. Why does the retailer so rarely use the knowledge of the manufacturer when one often doesn't have access to this information? Or, to put it differently, when one doesn't show any sign of having the relevant information? Bierman: the manufacturer has access to an increasing mount of data and ever more tools. But retailers have for years demonstrated a waning interest in the available sources and the mounts of data. One sees it in the field: account management spends more time arguing over Nielsen than discussing the trade. To avoid the argument, one often leaves Nielsen in the suitcase. If you, as manufacturer, are not prepared to face these facts, then you are finding yourself in a very problematic situation today. By the way, I do think that the industry as such does acknowledge all of this, but there remains the matter of retailers showing an increasing unwillingness to move along. Today, the retailer wants views. Not once, but all the time. Views supporting their development of the category. The fascinating fact is that retailers provide these views themselves during our depth-research on retail level. And not one view, but many. As market researcher, we often team up with Sales people from our client. We defend the categoryview, Sales defends the cooperation plan. In that order. Gaining acceptance is never really a problem. The industry is also complaining about the weak feedback from retailers and about the lack of cooperation in ECR and category management projects. Presentations of our categoryview on head office level are fascinating pingpong sessions. Time is completely irrelevant here. Feedback as well. We usually get all retail information necessary to obtain a good cooperation. If you want to reach the retailer today, you will have to bring a catching message. And if retailers say there's 'no time' or there's no response at all, this often is an indication for the quality of the message. 9. Doesn't the manufacturer know his own market better than the retailer? Bierman: of course. A manufacturer knows all about his market, more than any individual retailer. But all retailers together may turn out to know more about the market and the consumer than the manufacturer. In our category analysis and catman projects it's about the synergy of retail knowledge and consumer knowledge. How we trace this information, which obstacles we

meet in the process, but also what possibilities this research has to offer to the manufacturer, can be explained in 30 minutes. 10. What is the place and task of trade marketing in the organization? Bierman: the function of trade marketing is not dictating but supportive. A strong account manager doesn't allow himself to be dictated, but asks for cooperative thinking to tackle the upcoming issues together and to find solutions in cooperation. There's often discussion about the classic differences between Sales and Marketing. With the right retail information there is no chance of slumbering discrepancies or outright gaps. Not between Sales and Marketing, not between manufacturer and retailer. Trade marketing gets its authority and independence from three fundamentals: a.The quality of retail information b.The tools that can be developed based upon this --category analysis and categoryview-and the acceptance these tools get from head offices and shopfloor c.Solving specific issues. See: 'FMCG-issues 2014' Trade marketing is generally not focused on what it is that makes the market buy; on what the trends are. They are producing numbers. What has the market done. There's no element of forecast in it. They are busy explaining why a product in that trade channel doesn't or didn't do well. There's no think tank behind it. A trade marketing department should do more than simply produce numbers How to meet top talent in trade marketing? Sales managers and Marketing managers, Human Resource Managers and General management as well, are informed about our approach in recruitment of trade marketers through an introductory talk. With practical cases. A talk about current and future developments in the employment market. About footholes and caveats in recruiting and selection and special points of interest. About the retailer's category management in your market and the course which major accounts are demanding from companies in FMCG. Go to: Another view at recruiting and selection in Sales, Marketing and FMCG The advice. The implementation Bierman's consultancy doesn't stop at providing advice. Translating the findings into practice and supporting Sales and Marketing is part of our core activitities. We frequently participate on head office level or as "front man" in sales talks on head offices. E-mail or call us for an introductory assessment or send this page to a colleague.

What Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Taught Me About Communication And Success

You cannot inspire unless youre inspired yourself. Passion is everything and, as a leader, you must share that passion at every opportunity. I owe Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz a lot of credit for this insight. He changed the way I look at communication and, as a result, the way I approach the topic of inspirational leadership. I wrote my first book on communication and leadership about ten years ago. Howard Schultz was my first interview. In a two-hour phone conversation Schultz used the word passion dozens of times. I had an epiphany when I reviewed the transcript. Not once had he used passion and coffee in the same sentence. You see, Schultz likes coffee, but hes passionate about building a company that treats people with dignity and respect. He said coffee is what Starbucks makes as a product, but thats not the business were in. Ten years after my interview Schultz is still communicating the same message and using guiding principles to inspire his employees and excite his customers. I was reminded of my interview when Oprah featured Schultz on this recent episode of her show, Super Soul Sunday. Oprah picked up on the same theme I had noticedSchultz passion is not the coffee. Oprah asked Schultz if he was passionate about coffee or a desire to serve? Schultz the storyteller told Oprah about his father who struggled with a series of blue-collar jobs, never able to find meaning or fulfillment in his work. The breaking point happened

when his father was injured on the job, with no health insurance or workers comp. It left a lifelong impression on Schultz. It was not the calling of coffee, but the calling to try to building a company that my father never got a chance to work for, said Schultz. When we began Starbucks what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture. According to Schultz, Starbucks was the first company in America to offer comprehensive health insurance and ownership in the form of stock options to all of its employees, including part-time workers. Schultz consistent message quite likely kept the company from falling apart. Schultz explained to Oprah that in 2007, when he was serving as Chairman (not CEO), sales were plummeting and the stock was sinking. We had lost our way, he said. The pursuit of profit became our reason for being and thats not the reason that Starbucks is in businesswere in the business of exceeding the expectations of our customers. He returned as the CEO because of love and passion (theres that word again). Schultz called together 10,000 of Starbucks managers to a four-day conference in New Orleans where he acted as communicator-in-chief. His goal? To inspire and to challenge employees to be personally accountable for everything at their stores. Ten thousand people left New Orleans with a tidal wave of energy. Inspiring communicators have that effect on people. Schultz said that in the last two years, Starbucks has seen record revenue, record profits and a record stock price. The lesson? What you do is different than what youre passionate about. Your product is not your story. Your story is how the product improves the lives of your employees and your customers. When I meet a leader for the first time I always refer to my interview with Schultz. Im not as interested in what you make as I am in what youre passionate about. What business are you really in? Inspiring leaders tap into their core principles to reveal their true passion and they share their passion consistently through the stories they tell. When youre surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a

common purpose, anything is possible, Schultz told me. Schultz is proof of it. Tell your story. Share your passion.