Happy CEO

A unique marketing approach and methodology had been developped based on 3 fundamental axes.

1. Innovation
2. Effective communication
3. Going international

This method, called the Reason-based Choice method, allows to minimize as much as possible the risk-taking inherent in a strategy of differentiation through innovation. It enable managers to make the most effective choices.

Differenciate differentiation and innovation.

Innovation is one of the means that a company has at its disposal to try to differentiate itself from its competitors. Innovation is at the service of differentiation.

We can innovate in many areas; at the level of products of course, but also of services, marketing method, communication, processes, relations with suppliers. Differentiation is the result of efforts, ideas implemented to stand out in one way or another from your competitors. And that doesn’t necessarily mean innovation.

Can you imagine a company that manages to stand out by offering, for example, a technology that had disappeared, or a service considered by others to be obsolete. Far too many companies, small business in particular, consider that innovation cannot concern them. They think that they are in a field with low technological added value, or that everything has been done in terms of product development for years, or that, as subcontractors, they do not have the capability, nor time to think outside the box. It’s wrong !

Assuming that innovation can be hidden in many aspects, there is absolutely no reason why small entreprises cannot devote a minimum of their resources to it. The key for us is to widen your field of investigation, to look beyond the traditional boundaries, and to install the mechanisms conducive to a state of mind that gives pride of place to innovation over the long term.

Small entreprises shouldn’t feel obliged to innovate only when their traditional products or services become obsolete. They must constantly innovate.

Communication is key to differentiate

Business schools and corporate trainings don’t devote enough time to two fundamental aspects in the development of a communication plan :

1. The choice of the supports to be privileged according to objectives and imperatives.
2. The choice of topics to be shared.

Regarding the choice of communication media, at the international level, it is necessary to know precisely the advantages and disadvantages of each solution by integrating regional particularities. Not everyone knows that certain regions are more sensitive to text than to image, that a touch of second-degree humor goes down less well in some countries than in others, or that expressions used in certain languages to express something specific locally cannot be translated without knowing the culture.

Regarding the topics to be shared, many companies only talk about their offer and little about themselves. Many purchasing decisions are carried out according to not very rational criteria where the heart speaks more than the reason. First of all, you have to be desired. And even if you only want, or can only talk about your products, you shouldn’t overlook the part of the dream that hides in each of them.

In every business sectors, communication must integrate components that go beyond the simple competitive description of its offer. We do not think enough about highlighting the “purpose” of a product. Many companies still talk about their offer in terms of “it’s made of” and not enough on that of “it’s made for” or “it’s made by”.

The reason-based choice method

Thinking an nternational strategy is above all a question of choice. Any choice is a subject at risk. And even if it is necessary to accept the risk, to see the failure, we know that many decisions related to these choices can be made by minimizing these risks. How to adapt a strategy ? By performance, cost, quality, differentiation, innovation ?

Many of these decisions are usually made on hunches, whims, habits. No doubt these methods have their virtues, intuition in particular is an important factor, but the reason-based choice method will bring certain guarantees based on a more cartesian reasoning and a more systematic and broader observation of the environment.

By analyzing the data, by weighing your strengths and weaknesses as well as possible and by comparing them with the realities of other countries, you’ll be able to set differentiating practices, a different communication. Many indicators, macro-economic, environmental, political, socio-economic, historical, competitive can allow you to choose and target the best countries for export.

You should systematically review them and compare them with the strengths of your offer.

Be different

To win over the long term, a company must be able to differentiate itself and therefore install the mechanisms, the decision-making tools, the states of mind that will ensure the success in conquering new markets.

It is well known that great innovations are those that have been able to ride the wave of trends that they have accompanied. It is impossible to impose on consumers a product or service that does not meet their needs. Innovative companies rely more on the trends they manage to puzzle out than on specific consumer’s requests. Therefore it leads us to take a close look at these famous trends. If we understand current trends, we will be better able to come up with ideas that accompany them, that provide answers to the problems they raise, and ultimately to innovate.

“A trend is the result of all the forces that are changing us at the present moment and which will probably transform our future. These forces impact our geopolitical, social, cultural, economic and technological future. They provide us with a powerful vision into the future.”

Nitish Singh