Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Let The US Auto Industry Fail

Failure. It's the price General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will have to pay for decades of making what they wanted then trying to make us believe it was what we needed. Don't bail them out. Like children, they got what they wanted every time they asked and they never learned to fend for themselves. There is a book on this called Cornucopia Kids. It's about why so many college graduates end up living back at home.

Many times I presented what domestic and import car buyers said they wanted only to watch the Big 3 go in completely the opposite direction with their ad agencies as strategic partners. Before many a c-suite presentation the head of strategy would whisper in my ear how many friends I had in the room, but that no one was going to save these companies single-handedly. Now there's the death knell of an arrogant corporate culture.
Through many product launch failures these companies had plenty of opportunities to begin again more intelligently...isn't that what Henry Ford said? Instead, they just kept letting history repeat itself and loosing became a habit.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Could You Predict Obama's Victory?

Were you a pre-election McCain supporter yet working in new products, consumer insights or strategic innovation? My opinion? If you could not predict Obama's victory as clearly as Jedi Master Yoda can see the future you need to ask yourself if you are in the right business. If you needed polls to keep track of where either candidate ranked, you are definitely in the wrong business.