John Malmo

As adults, we realize how different our world is today from that of our parents. And theirs from their parents. And there’s nothing like generational differences to kill off brands that don’t stay relevant with each new generation.

A critical aspect of marketing is making sure that a brand stays relevant to each new generation.

An expression I don't hear much any more is, “don't sweat the small stuff,” but I absolutely see demonstrations of it everyday. It means don't worry about the details and concentrate on the “big picture.”

Yet, little matters more than the details, because it is the details that determine the quality of the execution, and most great strategies or plans fail, not because they were bad, but because they were executed poorly. Billions in a retail chain with check-out clerks who don't even look at the customer.

Seth Godin says that few businesses really understand how much a customer is worth.

Amen, Seth.

Godin, author of The Tipping Point and a couple other 200-page best-sellers, figures that, for instance, an average AT&T or Verizon customer is worth at least a couple thousand dollars.

There’s a popular belief that nine out of ten new restaurants fail in the first year. It’s a myth.

A new study by an associate professor of hospitality management at Ohio State has identified a real figure of six. Six out of ten new restaurants fail in the first year. That’s still pretty high mortality, but not out of line with startups in other business categories.

Nevertheless, I think the only business tougher than retail is the restaurant business. There are just so many different reasons why people don’t come back.

In team sports the coach determines the strategy. The smart ones draft a strategy they believe their players can execute. The only job for the players is to execute the strategy to their greatest ability. Business is exactly the same. 

An article last year in Fortune Magazine was an interview with the worldwide HR czar for IBM. The interviewer asked him what it takes to lead at IBM.

Randy MacDonald said, “There’s a maniacal focus on execution. If you say at IBM you’re going to deliver, you’re held accountable.”