Mobile Devices Continue to Wow - Sony Ericsson's Android XPERIA

Mobility is at the core of a new round of innovation for businesses and the consumer.  Access to information whenever and wherever one is present is going to further empower the consumer and continue to fuel a shift to the merger of the digital and physical worlds.  The result being a continued and radical evolution of retail and other physically based business models across a wide swath of industries.

While Apple has delivered an exceptional product via the IPhone, theirs is not the only game in town as Android devices are beginning to rival the utility of IPhone - with the recent Sony Ericsson product being an example. By the way, you have to watch the video below to grasp the exceptional functionality of this device.

Sony Ericsson officially unveiled their first Android smartphone, the handset known as the Sony Ericsson Rachael (or Rachel), XPERIA X3 and X10 and – most recently – the Sony Ericsson Infinity.  We’ve already seen a video demo of what Sony Ericsson’s custom user interface might look like but now a second demo has recently appeared and Apple best take note.


Acceptance of Uncertainty Key to Effective Business Valuations

Rita McGrath, the esteemed professor and expert on discovery driven planning and growth concepts recently shared some excellent content on her blog regarding methods of calculating NPV. Watch the video link and learn how to evaluate and value opportunities given uncertainty and how the role of finance should be approached amid the unknown. Here is her post, watch the demo and learn:

My esteemed colleague, Mac, is featured describing the application of the “BareBones” NPV tool in this video.

Wal-Mart Is Learning to Love Social Media

In a recent post on THE BIG MONEY, Caitlin McDevitt shared the fear and experience Wal-Mart is having with face book. A sure sign that social media is entering the main stream. Here is some of what Caitline observed:

Wal-Mart has apparently quit worrying about the negative feedback it’s bound to get online. Instead, it’s trusting that its fan base will grow larger and louder than its detractors. The page now boasts slightly more than 200,000 fans. It has grown tenfold in just two months. And according to recent reports, Wal-Mart is in the process of launching what the executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Stephen Quinn, calls a “very big, significant initiative on Facebook.” It seems that the world’s biggest retailer is preparing to win over the Facebook community once and for all. Better late than never.

As mentioned during a recent presentation at MFA, the 4 P's of marketing (price, place, product, promotion), are being replaced with value exchange, merger of the digital & physical, experience and engagement. Promotion is no longer as ROI friendly and for Wal-Mart to recognize this by diving into social media just proves the point. Read Caitlin's article for more insights.

MFA 2009 Orlando Conference - Presentation on Growing Biz With New Technologies

As promised for those who attended our presentation at the MFA conference in Orlando today, I have included the content here.

It was a great event and wonderful to see everyone and work with Bob and Amanda - 2 terriffic people and professionals.

The Low Cost Model - Disruption in the Fitness Industry

At $20 Billion in annual revenues the US health club industry, like most bricks and mortar centric business models, is coming under increasing financial and market pressures. Rising costs and consumers being offered increasingly low cost alternatives, either via new bricks and mortar models or alternatively with the deployment of digital tools to deliver value at much lower price points, are creating a ripe field for disruption.

Many players in the fitness industry are at great risk and the opportunities for those with vision are enormous. Yesterday I witnessed yet another innovation that speaks to this future learning of Pocket Innovation, watch the demo . This morning when I read Ray Algar's tweet, wherein he shared his recent presentation below, I was only further convinced of the future. Ray is a strategic marketing expert who advises the fitness industry. We share very similar views on the future of the fitness industry. although his presentation does not touch upon the new paradigm of wellness - another topic. Here is an excerpt from his web site:

I was in London last night at a Leisure Property Forum event to present my thoughts on the low-cost (budget) gym trend that is now gaining momentum in the UK. This presentation looks at some of the key 'drivers' of the trend and also case studies the growth of McFit in Germany. My thanks to Niels Gronau, a member of the Deloite Corporate Finance team at Deloitte in Germany, who helped with background data on McFit.

John Treharne, CEO of The Gym Group was also there to discuss the company's strategy. John was fresh from this week's opening of their new Manchester club, which means they now have five clubs open, with Leicester due to open in the first quarter of 2010. The Gym Group has an ambition to open a further 10-15 clubs during 2010.

In all industries the former 4 P's of marketing (price, place, product & promotion) are being replaced, in order, with new value exchanges, the merger of the physical and digital, the experience and engagement. Additionally, by leveraging technologies fewer people can deliver more engagement and greater value. If your fitness organization is not adopting these strategic orientations in its business model you will be in for a rough future. Afterall, why pay a monthly fee to use a treadmill on occassion? This is the question more and more consumers are starting to ask, given all the options available. and what is happneing in the market It is also why cancellations for the industry on an annual basis amount to nearly 40% of the customers.