1. Market sensing and learning strategy: Competitive strength through knowing more
Lecture 5 1

2. A route-map for market-led strategic change
Part I
Customer value
imperatives
Part II
Developing a value-based
marketing strategy
Part III
Processes for managing
strategic transformation
The strategic pathway
Change strategy
Market sensing
and learning
strategy
The Customer
is always
right-handed
Strategic
gaps
Strategic
market choices
and targets
Strategic
thinking and
thinking
strategically
New marketing
meets
old marketing
Organization
and processes
for change
Customer value
strategy and
positioning
Implementation
process and
internal
marketing
Value-based
marketing
strategy
Strategic
relationships
and networks

3. The strategic pathway Developing a value-based marketing strategy
Market sensing and learning strategy
Strategic market choices and targets
Customer value strategy and positioning
Strategic relationships and networks

4. The strategic pathway Strategic thinking and thinking strategically
Market
sensing
and
learning
strategy
Strategic
market
choices
targets
Customer
value
positioning
relationships
networks
Strategic thinking and
thinking strategically
transformation
and strategy
implementation

5. Agenda Understanding customers and markets Black swans and white swans
From market research to market sensing
New cross-over tools for management understanding
Marketing intelligence
Interpretation
Lessons in learning
Enhancing sensing capabilities

6. Understanding customers and markets
Companies have little understanding of why their customers behave the way they do
Executives looks at averages and ignore market granularity
Agile, fast-moving businesses show high knowledge-intensity
The goal is to raise a company’s “Market IQ”
Crunch question = what do you know that every rival does not also know?

7. Black swans and white swans
The black swan analogy underlines the limitations to our learning and the fragility of our knowledge
Black swan events are the “unknown unknowns”
Market sensing demands open-minded inquiry and experimentation not probabilistic estimates and sampling

8. From market research to market sensing
What is the difference between market sensing and marketing research?
marketing research involves techniques of data collection and processing
market sensing is a process of management understanding

9. Marketing research versus market sensing
Processes of management
understanding
Sources of marketing knowledge
Management
information
systems
Internal records
CRM data
Databases
Interpretation
Surveys
Observation
Market tests
Marketing
research
Market sensing
capabilities
Market
understanding
Ethnography
Internet
Futurology
Cross-over
tools
Scanning
Trends
Clues
Marketing
intelligence

10. From market research to market sensing
Limitations of conventional market research
unreasonable expectations
the limits of questions
the “right” results
we don’t believe it
excuses

11. From market research to market sensing
The elephant in the market
Strategic and non-strategic marketing information

12. Strategic and non-strategic marketing information
Importance of information
High
Low
High
Short-term
dilemmas
Priorities
Urgency of
information
Time
wasters
Strategic
Low

13. New cross-over tools for management understanding
Ethnography
hidden in plain sight
neuromarketing
Internet sensing
the wisdom of crowds
blogs
virtual reality
social networks

14. New cross-over tools for management understanding
Futurology
careful examination of what is going on around us
scenario building – how things may unfold
visioning – working out what is likely to happen and what we want to happen

15. Marketing intelligence
Trends and clues
trendspotting
new identity groups
the quest for cool
looking for clues
deep mining
But play nicely and don’t be naughty
Managing customer knowledge

16. Interpretation
Link between information, sensing and management understanding relies on processes of interpretation
Integration of multiple information sources central to evidence-based management
Goal is sustaining learning to create competitive advantage

17. Lessons in learning Storytelling Watching customers Meeting customers
Customer days
Building customer scenarios
Listening not evaluating
Studying complainers

18. Enhancing sensing capabilities
A structure for market sensing

19. A framework for market sensing
Probability of the event occurring
High
Medium
Low 7
Field of
dreams
Utopia 6 5
Effect of the
event on the
company*
Things to
watch 4 3
Future
risks 2
Danger 1
* 1=Disaster, 2=Very bad, 3=Bad, 4=Neutral, 5=Good, 6=Very good, 7=Ideal

20. Enhancing sensing capabilities
Managing the market sensing process
choosing the environment
sub-dividing the environment to focus attention
identifying the impact of external changes
interpreting the model for strategy building
Linking market sensing to plans
providing information as a stimulus to thinking
consider who should be consulted and involved

21. Enhancing sensing capabilities
A note of caution
market sensing and new learning may be disruptive inside an organization