PlusOne – Marketing Musings

I came across an interesting article that applies the James Bond 007 franchise to business lessons. The article lists the 7 main lesson we can learn from Bond and the 007 franchise. Here is my take on each (not addressing James Bond, which is done in the article linked at the end):

Business Lesson #1:Every product or service reinvents itself–or should.

Essentially change is good, as long as the core ingredients remain the same and do what is expected. In other words, change the packaging, but not the trusted contents.

Business Lesson #2: Never forget your core customers.

Your core customers like to deal with you because of solid, lasting principles and actions of your business. Move away from that too far, get too radical and you risk losing your pivotal placement.

Business Lesson #3:Communicate well–don’t get bogged down in jargon.

It does not matter what business you are in, by addressing things as acronyms, you risk confusing or alienating the market. It is easier to move up levels of jargon once you know your customers understand it, but start too high and they will leave you to deal with someone who talks on their level.

Business Lesson #4:Image is everything.

Your business is what people expect of it. McDonald’s without the Golden Arches and Ronald McDonald just is not McDonald’s. Just like the turmoil created by having a blonde James Bond – there had never been a James Bond before. This created a big hurdle for the new Bond to overcome in the critics eyes. Fortunately, by applying the business lessons here, they pulled it off.

Business Lesson #5: Understand the art of the business deal.

Business is a two way street. One of the biggest hurdles many business people have to overcome is the fact that sometimes things need to be given away to do the deal. This can also take the form of a lesser return because some of the profits goes to the other party. But sometimes it is worth saying “Will I be better off with 100 sales at $1 profit each, or 100,000 sales at 1 cent profit each….” Of course the profits are only part of it – exposure and market penetration are also crucial.

Business Lesson #6: Network, network, network.

What can we say..it not what you know but who You know and who THEY know. A wide network of people who can suggest your product or service (and visa versa) is critical and generally under exploited.

Business Lesson #7: Be proactive.

Lady Luck waits for no man…and opportunities must be taken when they present themselves. Just like fortune favours the brave , those who are reactive will always be on the tail end, picking up the scraps. By being proactive you have the opportunity to reap the low hanging fruit.

Read the full article and Bond franchise examples at Entrepreneur.com

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