I’ve always promoted the notion that a Management Consultant (and her IT cousin, the Enterprise Architect) needs a bit of style, a soupçon of panache, a dash of elegance in both presentation and deliverables.
Further, I often fashion (i.e, build) a management consulting team after the Neiman Marcus brand – an uber-luxurious (i.e., only the best and brightest), boutique (i.e., small team) marketing the most desirable wares (i.e., superior, precise, data-driven insights and recommendation) and exhibiting a passionate drive (i.e., always self-educating) for creating a life-changing shopping experience for each and every customer (i.e., singular focus on the corporate customer).
But to my consternation, today’s WSJ illustrates my model making a colossal strategic blunder. Neiman is heading downstream!?
A downstream branding strategy might work in the short term but rarely succeeds in the long term. It’s difficult to turn the oars around and head back upstream.
I’d be curious to explore “Need It Now’s” lifetime value of a customer analysis.
As the WSJ article indicates, “if the lower-cost goods cast a taint on the place, the Neiman elite might start to shop at the nearby standalone boutiques of European luxury brands instead.”
“Needless Markup” might be true, but “Never Markdown” is an undeniable truth.
Posted By : Ray Bordogna