DAEMON QUEST blogs

Daemon Quest’s CEO Dinners welcomes Pedro Duque

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:11:35 +0200

With several years of tradition behind it, and more than 200 Presidents, Managing Directors and General Directors from the leading Spanish and foreign companies having attended, Daemon Quest’s CEO Dinners inaugurated 2007 with a dinner held in honor of Pedro Duque this past February 8th, in the Casino de Madrid.
The Spanish astronaut, recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, delighted those in attendance with his experiences in space flights and his vision of the current environment and business world.

The attractive business of Spanish millionaires

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:00:41 +0200

Spain is in ninth place worldwide among countries with millionaires. This, along with the healthy condition of the stock market, means that the wealth management market is in full bloom. Morgan Stanley plans to hire 45 new financial advisors this year. UBS and Credit Suisse have already strengthened their local staffs, and Goldman Sachs wants to create a new private banking division.

Source: Cinco Días

Channel Strategy

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:38:18 +0200

Keys to successfully managing the multi-channelism era

Abstract

A correct Channel Strategy comes through a correct Segmentation Strategy. The appropriate channel should be assigned to each customer segment.
The challenge for companies that opt for “multi-channelism” is knowing how to orient each customer towards the channel that best fits their profile.
It is equally as important to analyze each channel’s cost and profitability, as it is to analyze the cost and profitability of each customer in each channel.
The boom of new channels such as Internet or mobile phones has changed the rules of the game in many sectors. However, not all companies should be “multi-channel”. Only those for which it is clearly profitable.
A new channel must respond to a new customer segment, and it must have a value proposal that is clearly differentiated from the rest of the channels.
The entrance of a new channel must be studied meticulously in order to avoid overlapping and conflicts, both internal and external.

The explosion of the Internet and other channels of customer communication has brought with it a revolution in distribution channels, and it has posed serious challenges to companies in terms of taking maximum advantage of each sales channel’s potential. However, the challenge of the Channel Strategy is not new.

Without a doubt, new technologies have marked a before and after, but many companies’ successes and failures have been linked to the accuracy with which they have managed their sales channels. Changes in spending habits, constant modifications to distribution structures, transformations of entire industries and sectors, and the growing power of certain distribution giants are some of the factors that contribute, along with the Internet boom, to the Channel Strategy being a key factor to growth for any company.

For the first time in history, clothing outsells computer products in online purchases.

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:23:29 +0200

Americans spend 1.83 billion dollars on clothing retailers’ web sites.

For the first time in history, clothing has outsold computer products in online sales in the United States, according to the “State of Retailing Online Study 2007”, carried out by the prestigious organization “Shop.org”, which gathers the most outstanding companies in B2C e-commerce in the United States. This data does not include the tourism and travel sector, which does by far the highest volume of online business.

Last year Americans spent 1.83 billion dollars on clothing, accessories, and footwear on the Internet, as opposed to the 1.72 billion dollars they invested in the purchase of hardware and software. This trend, according to the study, seems unstoppable. For this year, spending on Internet clothing purchases is expected to increase to 2.21 billion dollars, which would represent 10% of the sector’s total revenue in the United States.

Greater trust in this channel, as well as reliable, user-friendly web sites, and conveniences in sending and returning products help to explain, according to the survey, the boom in Internet clothing sales. After clothing and computer products came automobiles and components (1.67 billion dollars), and home furnishings and accessories (1 billion dollars).

Retail on the Internet is in excellent shape. Of the 170 companies surveyed for the study, 83% claimed to be “in the black” and have higher profits than in 2005. The report predicts that online sales will grow by 17% in 2007 (including tourism and travel), and will reach a total of 25.91 billion dollars this year.

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER AS AN INVESTMENT

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:44:08 +0200

• Title: Managing Customers as Investments: The Strategic Value of Customers in the Long Run
• Author: Sunil Gupta / Donald Lehman
• Publisher: Wharton School Publishing

Have you ever thought of managing your customer portfolio the same way you would manage your investment portfolio? Do you know with absolute certainty which customers are really worth keeping for their potential life-cycle in the company? Do you want to know who those customers are without having to resort to complex and sophisticated modeling processes? These are some of the questions formulated and responded to by Columbia Business School professors Sunil Gupta and Donald Lehman.

Apart from the Columbia Business School, Gupta has been a professor at Harvard and UCLA, while David Lehman has directed the Marketing Science Institute and has been president of the Association for Consumer Research.

The profitability of Marketing Strategies is the foundation of the book, which questions many of the practices currently undertaken by companies in their actions aimed at customers.

Daemon Quest’s CEO Dinners welcomes Lyn Heward, president of Cirque du Soleil

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:21:53 +0200

Last May 24th, Daemon Quest’s CEO Dinners, which periodically gathers leaders from national and international companies and outstanding personalities from the world of business and innovation, received Lyn Heward, one of the principal creators and inspirers of the Cirque du Soleil.

Heward, President and Chief Operations Officer of Cirque du Soleil’s Content Division for several years, delighted those in attendance with her experiences as one of the great inspirers and producers of the worldwide success of Cirque du Soleil’s shows. She showed all the dinner’s participants how to bring “the spark of creativity” to all aspects of professional life, just as she does in her best-selling book “The Spark: Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All”.

There is no Strategy without Marketing, nor is there Marketing without Strategy

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:59:44 +0200

Strategy has something to do with numbers, but it’s a mistake to think that it’s only numbers”. The professor at the prestigious INSEAD, W. Chan Kim, co-author along with Renée Mauborgne of one of the biggest best-sellers in business of recent times, “Blue Ocean Strategy”, knows what Strategy is, and he also knows what Marketing is, because he believes that one is closely related to the other.

Dell begins selling PC’s in Wal-Mart establishments

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:28:12 +0200

The model created by Michael Dell that relied exclusively on direct Internet sales has come to an end. The computer manufacturer, applauded worldwide for its “100% online” approach, just announced that it will begin commercialization of its computer models in more than 3,000 Wal-Mart establishments in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Lessons from Apple stores that Sony should learn

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:17:11 +0200

When Steve Jobs, the “wizard”, announced in 2001 that he would open the first Apple stores, observers and analysts pounced on him. It was the era when the manufacturer Gateway was cooling down its “offline” establishments venture, when Dell was winning by a landslide with its direct Internet sales model, and no one predicted what would be another great idea from Jobs. Back then, Apple’s leading man declared that when he arrives home with a gift for his children, he hopes for a smile as a sign of appreciation. “I can’t imagine giving a smile to the UPS delivery man”, he said ironically. With this example, he was defending his theory that the spectacular, simple, and terrific Apple stores, such as the ones in New York and London, are a tribute to the customers, to whom they owe a smile of appreciation.

DAEMON QUEST MEETS WITH MORE THAN 2,000 DIRECTORS IN SPAIN, MEXICO, AND PORTUGAL

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:41:13 +0200

DAEMON QUEST MEETS WITH MORE THAN 2,000 DIRECTORS IN SPAIN, MEXICO, AND PORTUGAL

Madrid, Barcelona, Mexico City, and Lisbon witness the premiere of the “Daemon Quest Sales & Marketing Report”

Daemon Quest, a special collaborator with the World Marketing and Sales Forum, was one of the undeniable protagonists of this meeting, which gathered, in Madrid, Barcelona, Mexico City, and Lisbon, close to 2,000 executives from General Management, Sales Management, and Marketing Management from the leading companies in these four countries. In Mexico, Daemon Quest led a large part of these conferences’ agendas, as well as their corresponding workshops, with Prabha Sinha and Grupo Bimbo. In Madrid, the firm met with Paco Underhill, a worldwide expert in customer knowledge, in an exclusive workshop followed by a private dinner. Apart from these experts, Daemon Quest participated in the debate with “gurus” of such note as Philip Kotler, Michael Porter, Malcom Gladwell, and Renée Mauborgne. In all four cities, Daemon Quest premiered the “Daemon Quest Sales & Marketing Report”: a worldwide macro-survey on Marketing and Sales trends, which will soon be repeated in several countries in Europe and the Americas, and whose results will soon be made public.

PRICE, AT THE CENTER OF MARKETING STRATEGY

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:37:24 +0200

                              Title: Price, A Strategic Variable for Marketing
                              Author: Emilio de Velasco
                              Publisher: McGraw-Hill

The undisputed point of reference in Spain on the subject of Price Setting Strategies, Emilio de Velasco, Professor at the Business Institute, is author of the most complete book on pricing in the Spanish language: “Price, A Strategic Variable for Marketing”. Published by the prestigious McGraw-Hill, this work emphasizes price as a key element in the definition and use of a proper Marketing Strategy.

Recipient of the Cannes Silver Lion, the Epic Prize from the European Union’s Commission on Culture and Advertising, and Professor of Marketing at the Business Institute for over 20 years, Emilio de Velasco is a highly-recognized expert in Industrial Marketing, Price Setting Systems, and Development of Marketing Strategies and Plans. With many years of experience as Marketing Director in companies such as AGF Insurance, Provadisa, and Papelera Española, among others, he is a member of the consulting board for “fijaciondeprecios.com” and author of numerous writings on the subject.

HOW TO MAKE PRICE A LONG-TERM WEAPON

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:30:06 +0200

Title: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Profitable Decision.
Authors: Thomas T. Tagle / John E. Hogan
Publisher: Prentice Hall

If there’s something that the majority of companies have in common in terms of pricing policies, it’s that they usually only remember about them in order to solve short-term problems. The mistake of this focus is not integrating the pricing policies into the companies’ strategic decision-making. This book by Thomas Tagle and John Hogan is a warning against this point of view and an accurate guide to learning how to make price management an important business strategy.

“The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing”, a reference point on the subject, analyzes fundamental points regarding the concept of price, pricing strategies and policies, and their different levels. Of special value are the chapters dedicated to price setting, both in distribution channels and throughout the product’s lifecycle, without forgetting an unavoidable reference to the subject’s ethical and legal questions.

Spanish companies, limited in setting their prices

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:28:10 +0200

Spanish companies, limited in setting their prices

According to the Bank of Spain, the national market needs to eliminate restrictions, although it is more dynamic than the Euro Zone

21,5% of Spanish companies cannot freely establish their prices. The causes of this problem are both the directives from public organizations and the demands of their most important customers. That is the situation as described by the Bank of Spain’s Economic Bulletin published in November, which warns of the need to “limit regulatory restrictions”.

According to the state organization, little more than half of Spanish (51,9%) establish their prices adding a profit margin to the cost of the product or service, while 26,6% take into account what the competition does.

Differences among markets

This situation is differs depending on the competitiveness of the market. In the case of highly competitive markets, only 15.3% of companies establish their prices by external impositions, and 40.5% do it by watching the other players. The numbers are different in low-competition environments: 27% lack autonomy, but more than 60% apply a profit margin.

Despite all this, Spain is more competitive than the Euro Zone average. While national companies’ prices remain unchanged for 10 months in highly competitive environments, that period increases to 11 months in Europe, and those figures rise to 12 and 13 months, respectively, in low-competition environments.

Four Seasons Hotels refuses to lower its status

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:25:26 +0200

Four Seasons Hotels refuses to lower its status

In a market as changing as the hotel business, the hotel chain Four Seasons has become a “rara avis” in terms of pricing policies. The company, which manages the most expensive establishments in the world, refuses to lower its prices as a way to conserve its exclusive reputation, even in times of crisis. Now it focusing on investing outside the United States, as well as expanding into the residential luxury market.

Source: AOL Money & Finance

Pricing Policies, keys to the British optician sector

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:23:05 +0200

Pricing Policies, keys to the British optician sector

According to a study funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), independent optician’s shops have a chance to survive if they apply local pricing policies. The report indicates that the majority of chains operating in the country, such as Boots and Vision or Specsavers, uniformly establish their prices on a national scale. Their market share is 75%, and they are more common where salaries are lower, while the opposite is true for small businesses. However, the ESRC indicates that the situation may change, since companies such as Optical Express already apply different prices according to the area, with remarkable success.