The Pew Charitable Trust recently reported that some 70% of survey respondents said they would not miss their local paper.  Hmmm.

But I did just renew my Denver Post subscription.  There were plenty of reasons not to go this way:

1. So much of the news in the paper seems like it happened two days ago.  I already saw a headline alert as much as 18 – 24 hours before it is “re-reported” in the Post.  I look through the paper in a bemused way as I examine yesterday’s news.
2. There is so little written by the Post, which I can understand, as they have cut, cut, cut staff.  I’ve already read the “long form” version in The New York Times.
3. Recent feature articles seemed long and very self important.  Hmmm.
4. There’s that weird section each Thursday which I immediately throw out which seems like hyper-local news (a good thing) but I get a strong impression that the B team puts it together.
5. I love the afternoon Denver Post Headlines email….even if they do repeat the morning news headlines (don’t do that!).  You do get a good snapshot of what’s happened locally during the day.  Who the cops shot at etc.
6. And I can always go to the Denver Post website and use their iPad app:
   

   Look at those finger prints - hours of iPad usage!

But I still renewed and here’s the top 10 reasons why:

1. How would I have known about the corn maze south of Greeley?
2. Occasionally, there are very interesting articles about events in Denver, for example, the new art museum opening on November 18.
3. I love the Thursday leisure section article where some amusing dignitary in town is interviewed at an interesting “watering hole”.  I don’t want to read it online as someone puts together a really wonderful photo montage each week.
4. The Sunday business section has that interesting Wall Street Journal insert. You’d think I would have had enough WSJ 6 days a week, but I like the insert.  Interesting columns – loved the column with the Dad and his two sons.
5. How would I know when the Clinique “gift with purchase” is happening at Macy’s?
6. Where else would I see pictures of the charity lunch I went to?
7. My boyfriend does the puzzles while I cook.
8. Reading through the paper is an excellent safety net for articles I could have missed elsewhere.  This happened today.
9. It’s quick and painless to read through……no guilt about deeply important articles that I should be reading.
10. The Sports Section is where I look for scores and standings across my favorite sports.  And, for some reason, I like knowing who made how much money each week on the PGA.  Plus I need the articles on the Broncos to retain my full status as a Denver resident!

So, we’ll give it another year and see if I can justify it once again.  But please, work on some good feature stories….

Pearson PLC is selling Interactive Data Corporation to Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus.  Pearson is continuing to exit assets that don’t seem core to their business which is increasingly focused on educational products.

As a strategist, I applaud companies that:

• Keep a tight strategic focus
• Exit assets that are not part of a company’s core competency.  Pearson selling Madame Tussauds wax museums, for example.  B2C business not akin to their main businesses
• Decide that competitive dynamics are unattractive.  We know that Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg are doubling down in the financial sector and Dow Jones/News Corp has plans as well

However, there is something about selling their 61% of Interactive Data that nags at me.

• These information services businesses are solid businesses where you embed yourself deeply in customer workflows.  And goodness knows, there’s lots of workflow serving the financial services business
• You reuse information and capabilities in new and different ways, resulting in high profitability
• Doubling down in education is the way to go with state budgets likely to be crimped for years to come?

So, is it my personal bias showing that this nags at me?  Is this exactly what senior leadership needs to be very alert to…..how personal bias allows decisions to be made that aren’t strategically sound?  Or can intuition play a role?

I’m delighted with my wine cellar and enjoy a nice bottle of wine.  But how about the occasional glass of wine?  You can’t hold that bottle of wine out beyond a few days, no matter what they say!

Enter the Red Truck cask which keeps wine fresh for up to 5 – 6 weeks.  So, you can have a glass of wine and then come back in a few days for another one.

I think more new product developers should spend time looking at changing their form factor for product delivery vs. the product itself.  Isn’t that the miracle of bottled water?

Triple or quadruple play is becoming the standard for cable and telecom players serving the residential market.

Now the new opportunity center seems to be around small and medium business for the cable players with the telecom folks looking to secure that fortress.

But will this be largely a price game….shaking margin out of these customer segments?

Angles we see worth pursuing

1. More aggressive industry specialization including tools and applications suited to these industries
2. Outsourcing or forms of business process support that free the SMB players from dealing with every issue soup-to-nuts

But you may be thinking, added SG&A for these offerings? Will it pay? Will the offerings be world class?

We think one viable direction is to pursue software as service to fill application needs for SMB customers either given their industry profile or in support of business process needs they have in sales and marketing management, HR functions and the like.

Issues to Investigate

• Which avenues make sense to pursue in sofware as service for SMB? How do you find the balance between meeting unique needs and not having too wide a portfolio of offerings?
• Is a communications player a credible provider of software as service? For what segments? Or needs?
• What value-added does the communications player offer?
• What’s the business model for everyone to make money?
• Is software as service going to continue to grow or have the logical applications been found and delivery issues solved?

We at Bright Beacon Partners help our clients explore growth opportunities from the conceptual, early consideration phase through business case and on into implementation.

Recently, while talking about product design issues, I was reminded once again of the range of segments in senior marketplace:

Aspiring, Might Need A Boost Segment

Example:  A 60-something gal who heard at a cocktail party that I knew something about texting.
Within minutes, I am sending her a text message and showing her how to retrieve it.  We find out
that she has tons of messages stacked up which she reviews.  She sends a nephew a message.  He
is thrilled.

Lessons learned: No one in her circles was texting and none of her younger relatives had tumbled to the realization that she just needed a little boost to get going.  What are service providers doing to give
the little boost?  This isn’t just a wireless issue but pertains to many new technologies

Specialized marketing tactics:  Training store and care center employees about the little boost, CRM work to identify those who might need a little boost, special events that draw seniors for real-time demos, or ????

Simplest is Best Segment

Example: At the same event, another guest spoke quite vehemently about not wanting any extra functionality beyond calling, a refrain we have heard in many settings and by a variety of consumer segments

Lessons learned: Instead of shaking our heads in bewilderment about a segment so different from most of us, it’s time to acknowledge that this segment is out there.  Specialty wireless players like Jitterbug are pursuing this segment.  Can major wireless players strip phones of applications to reduce implied complexity?

Specialized marketing tactics: Collateral materials at point-of-sale that stress only calling features.  Locks that can block the functionality of other keys so the customer can’t wander there.  Or??

****

For us, this speaks to refining customer segmentation further around needs and attitudes and away from simple views by demographics.

We’re  in the process of advising an agri-business start-up about customer segments, product configuration, branding, and other elements of their marketing plan.  Most people know us from our focus in the service sector, primarily in multimedia, broadband, telecommunications, information services and advertising.  So, what’s up with agri-business?

Strategically, we very much adhere to “stick to your knitting”:

• Need to understand market space and expertise
• Avoid adventures too far afield
• Careful about what you really don’t know

Implications for us:

• Don’t assume, ask questions, listen

Much caution around technology issues.  For example, when we did the branding work:

• Make sure we understand what words mean in the target market
• Especially when looking for something that might have double meanings

But there were some “evergreen” truths around our expertise in marketing, new products and strategy:

(Work in progress!  Please come back to see more.)