Archives for March 2010

Did This Positioning Blunder Cost Ford Over $6.5 Billion?

See that Ford has finally sold Volvo…

“Ford Sells Volvo To Chinese Car Maker Geely For $1.8bn”

Reported sale price is US$ 1.8 billion, but after Ford has to tip in money to the Volvo pension fund and cover other liabilities, they’re basically going to end up with nothing.

Ford bought Volvo in 1999 for US$ 6.5 billion.

In other words, Ford has taken a bath on this one.

The reality is that Ford has lost a lot more than $6.5 billion…

…because Volvo has been “persistently loss making” and Ford will have pumped significant amounts into the company to try and turn things around.

Now, there are probably many reasons for this debacle, but I’d suggest that a major factor will have been…

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Major Benefit Of A Good USP…

…that can boost your margins and bottom line and could easily make the difference between success and failure.

Competing on price alone is a mugs game in most cases.

(In fact, my mate Pete Godfrey would probably describe it as “Evil”!)

OK, there are some rare cases where it can work…

…BUT it means that you absolutely MUST be the lowest cost producer.

Your entire strategy has to revolve around relentless reduction of costs.

Think companies like Aldi or successful companies in true commodity markets.

For most businesses this is neither viable nor desirable…

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Crocodile Marketing Conference – Sunday Afternoon Session

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”

– Albert Einstein

…or, wherever you are in life at the moment, your best thinking got you there.

Why the quote? Well kind of sums up the message of the main speaker at the afternoon session of the Crocodile Marketing conference, Pat Mesiti.

Now, like many people who teach about success and prosperity, Pat has attracted his fair share of controversy, critics and detractors.

However, I’ve now seen Pat speak twice and he’s someone well worth listening to, in my opinion.

His message isn’t new. The idea that how we think determines the results we get in life is almost conventional wisdom in the world of personal development.

But Pat has a unique and very dynamic way of getting his point across.

And his key points…

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Crocodile Marketing Conference – Sunday Morning Session

“Discounting is EVIL!”

– copywriter Pete Godfrey

Well, after a raucous Saturday evening (so I’m told…yours truly retired at a relatively early hour)…

…the Wizard himself, Pete Godfrey, presented the first session on Sunday morning.

“Reinventing Your Marketing”

…was the theme. Summarising the session…

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Crocodile Marketing Conference – Saturday Afternoon Session

“Anything that gets in the way of allowing the money to come in is EVIL!”

– Pete Godfrey

Two sessions this afternoon…

…and in a change of schedule Pete Godfrey delivered his “Cash Copy Made Easy” presentation.

I guess Pete and Dave made a call on the level of experience of the audience and decided that Pete’s copy primer would be useful for most people.

And no harm in revisiting the basics. For myself, I am always at least reminded of something that I’ve either forgotten or don’t use as effectively as I could.

Couple of highlights…

Pete’s formula for making money…

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