Are You Chasing a Future That Isn't Actually Being Built?

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Love this Opinion Guest Essay by Julie Averill, a former chief information officer of Lululemon. 

Averill says, "Companies these days are quick to stick “A.I.” in news releases, in earnings calls, in product names, in job postings and in titles at the top of their organizations. The real question is what strategy sits behind the abbreviation. A title costs nothing, but it doesn’t produce anything, either."

And she says that's a problem.  

When companies mistake an announcement for a strategy, they spend real money — and sometimes cut real jobs – chasing a future that isn’t actually being built. And in doing so, they’re persuading Americans to reject a powerful innovation that could do so much good for all of us.

Company leaders think A.I. is magic.  But Averill says the way out of this is not more hype. It’s honesty.

Read Averill's entire Opinion Guest Essay for the NY Times here.

Brilliant Global Marketing Move For the Day

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Last week, more than 1,000 people received PR packages from Lancôme. Many were content creators who had received free products from the [French-based] L’Oréal-owned beauty brand before.  But something was different this time: the mailers were addressed to A-list actresses Demi Moore and Zoe Saldaña.

If you received a package with Demi Moore's name on it, would you open it?  Or, if you ignored the addressee's name, opened it accidentally and realized quickly it was for Demi Moore, what would you do?

Find out why Lancôme's global marketing strategy worked.

Turn Up Your Imagination

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By force of habit, most executives tune down their imagination when strategizing. This is counterproductive, the authors of the article below argue.  Instead, they offer an alternative: Design fiction. 

A design technique that immerses executives and employees deeply in various possible futures, it uses artifacts such as short movies, fictitious newspaper articles and imaginary commercials to generate transformation roadmaps. Rooted in the future but helping to act in the present, design fiction results in concrete actions taken to adjust companies’ visions, strategies, and activities to create a better future.

Read this so you don't miss out on important opportunities to envision, and design, possible futures the world over.

How Collaborating Pays Off in the Global Marketplace

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At a trade summit recently organized by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, there was talk about the challenges for small and medium-sized companies entering growing and complex markets.

In addition, Cubex shares its story about how it collaborated with a key competitor, to fill a product void and to reach a global audience.

It's all here:  Going global all about strategy, timing