Todd Sattersten :: Astronaut Projects

Not the Way to Go to Market

The Wall Street Journal had an article this week [subscription needed] about the soon-to-be launched Ford Freestar. Steve Lyons, VP of the division, says "it will take a generous dose of discounts to lure increasingly import-friendly minivan buyers". On the typical minivan shopping list, Ford thinks they are somewhere between #3 and #5. To move up on the list, they are considering the standard $1,000 cash back or some sort of low-cost lease. To combat this in the future, Lyons says that Ford is going to design vehicles to be "more import-like" and "Camry-Altimaish".

My questions for Mr. Lyons at Ford:

• Why are you launching a self-acknowledged mediocre product?
• Why would you tell the world that they can expect a check with their brand new minivan?
• Why do you think the answer is to make your products more like someone else's?

Firing Customers

I run a small business with my father. Yesterday, we decided to cut back our business with a customer. We had recently taken on a new project with them and at every turn they came back unsatisfied with our work.

A lot has been written on firing customers. Business is driven by relationships and interaction between people. Over time, those relationships can change. In this case, there are new people managing the relationship at our customer.

With as unhappy as I was with the situation, I still found the conversation with my customer difficult to have. This is a customer we have been doing business with for 15 years. They represent about 10% of our annual sales.

There wasn't any yelling and the conversation was short. I told them we would issue credit (again) and told them we didn't want to particpate in the project any more. They wanted to explain their latest complaint. I said that we had different perspectives on how the project was going and that it would be best if they found someone else going forward. They said OK and the call ended.

I am glad I did it.

You don't own your brand

I first started to think about this after reading "Who owns your brand?" over at MarketingProfs.com.

Your customers are the one who give your brand life. It comes from the way you allow your customers to interact with you. It comes from the way people use your product. It comes from how your customers tell others about you.

I ran across a product this weekend that understands this. Jones Soda is a beverage company based in Seattle. The label for their soda is largely made up of a customer submitted photograph. The photos vary by flavor and change monthly. Want your photo on the label? - order your own from My Jones Soda Co..

Jones Soda lets their customers interact with them and their customers truly create the brand.

"We trained hard, but it

"We trained hard, but it seemed that everytime we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be
reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend
to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a
wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion
of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency
and demoralization."

-- Petronius Arbiter(210 B.C.)

Free Agent Nation

Tonight, I went and heard Dan Pink speak in Racine.

Dan Pink is best known for authoring a book called Free Agent Nation. You have probably heard of it. He spent a year interviewing independent workers. What he uncovered was a movement:

• 32 million people fall into the category of free agent.
• That is 1 in 4 people in the workplace. In California, the number is closer to 1 in 3.
• What is changing are people's values and attitudes towards work. What free agents want are freedom, accountability, and the feeling they have made a contribution.

We talked about the idea of loyalty. No one will deny the employer-employee contract has disappeared, but loyalty still exists. Dan calls it horizontal loyalty. Free agents have loyalties to the teams they work on, their families, their colleagues, and their ex-colleagues.

I'll end with two great quotes from the session:

"Talented people need organizations less than organizations need talented people"

"They way to get better off is to be better."

Odds

Here are a couple of things that you may have seen other places. I just wanted to make sure you didn't miss them:

• J. Peterman is back. His story goes like this: he was cool, he became big, he went bankrupt, and he bought it back. The best part of the story is that John O'Hurley, better known is J. Peterman on Seinfeld, is a 10% partner in the new venture.
• There is a new book called Find a Husband After 35 Using What I Learned at Havard Business School by Rachel Greenwald. The review is in the September 15 issue of Fortune. Her 15-step plan is meant to lead you to Mr. Perfect in 12 to 18 months. She says you need to take the task seriously investing 10% to 20% of your annual income in the search. The typical female crosses paths with two or three potentials in a given month. The program is meant to get you crossing paths with 30 to 40 potentials in a month. Happy Hunting!

P&G's Blitzkreg

I think this is a great story. Kimberly Clark and P&G have been fighting the Pampers/Huggies War for years.

This article from the September 5th, 2003 edition of Wall Street Journal [subscription needed] details the latest battle:

Kindred Spirits

I have added a section to highlight some business bloggers.

I like businesspundit a lot. I think you will find Rob has a similar style to what you'll find here. He posts great content and interesting commentary. Check it out.

I also added the Small Business Blog. I find that Doug posts anything and everything he can find on small business. Also worth a look.

Making the music

I was thinking last week that I would like to see a good article on The Neptunes. They seems to be everywhere right now. You can't turn on MTV without seeing them with Justin or Snoop.

If you're not familiar, the Neptunes are the duo Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo and this pair has to be the hottest producers in music today. They have written and/or produced songs for Mystikal, Jay-Z, Britney, *NSYNC, Justin, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, [breath]...need I go on?

I just got this month's Wired in the mail.

Timbaland is staring at me and the cover story is "SUPERPRODUCERS".

Exactly what I was looking for. :)

New Blood in Healthcare

The forecasts for growth in the healthcare business are amazing and frightening. One million jobs have already moved from the manufacturing sector to the healthcare section.

Sectors of the economy that show great potential often draw great people. The Career Journal has a great profile about that.

F. Nicholas Jacobs "spent his youth studying the trumpet and worked as a school band leader, rural arts organization manager and regional tourism director until he turned 40 a decade ago and decided he could have a better career in health care."

You ready for some football!

I love football.

Growing up in Wisconsin, I have always given my allegiance to the Green Bay Packers. And this last decade has been a good time to be a Cheeshead.

Forbes did a special report on the "Business of Football". I liked this factoid the best:

In 1920 the original NFL owners had to pay $100 ($920 today, adjusted for inflation) to join the league. The Houston Texans' expansion fee in 1999: $700 million.

Thanks to businesspundit for the link.

Innovation Quiz

Fourtune FSB has a quiz to test how innovative you are. The quiz was developed by Doug Hall's Eureka Ranch (check out Essential - Jump Start Your Business Brain).

I scored a 19 of 42 which classified me as a left brained thinker:

Left-brainers are logical, analytical, and organized - well suited for turning a good idea into a reality. Your ideal partner is a right-brain visionary who will help you look at situations creatively.