Terry Leahy, the former Tesco chief executive, shared his insights on marketing. In Tesco’s 14 years, Tesco’s number of Tesco stores has grown from 568 UK stores to its current 2,482 UK stores and 2,500 overseas stores. Tesco’s pre-tax profits ranged from 750 million pounds to the current 3.5 billion pounds. Lech mentioned the following four key points.
Find the Truth
Lehi believes that corporate insights should come from multiple sources of information and not just rely on research. He said: "Study is like holding a flashlight into a dark room. What you see is only where you look and people don't see the whole picture."
He used the term “consumer empathy†that we often use to explain that in-depth consumer understanding comes from focusing on intuition and emotional factors, not just on rational analysis. He said: "We must constantly look around, observe customers and their lives, understand their problems, fears and hopes so as to gain insights into their needs." Leah urged the top management of companies to pay close attention to the real needs of consumers by: Working in the shop, each manager works in a shop for one week each year.
Think Big
With regard to a bold business strategy, Lech commented: “If we want to survive, we should sometimes give it a go. As a marketer, if you want to make some achievements, you must let your actions attract the attention of the entire world. A correct concept was strangled in the process of management decisions."
He gave an example of the Tesco Clubcard. He said that if the project is approved under the normal budget process, the Tesco Club Card will not be available. How did Leah let it pass? He used another set of approval principles: real-world environmental testing projects. He explained: "We conducted a secret market test on it and found that customers like it very much. Therefore, once we have verified that the idea is feasible, we will advance this business."
Take Risks
Following a bold idea, it is risk assessment. I like Leah’s own statement. He said: "All the things that I've done before that made me proud, if they failed to achieve it as planned, then any one of these failures will make me be fired." He added to "adventurousness", first of all, Be faithful to your own values; second, don’t bet on the company’s bets. You can test them first.
He gave a real example. At the time he was 24 years old and was a marketer. He introduced a series of simple, affordable products, Generics. He showed the series on the big screen, but then Ian, the marketing director? MacLaurin said: "Don't promote these low-level products. We want to advertise high-end brands." But Lehi insisted on his own idea and told management that consumers needed such products. This series of products later became Tesco’s competitive products.
Action (Act)
Lech thinks: "You may have ambitions, but if you don't act, everything is equal to zero." Usually the team is stuck in an execution dilemma because it wants to conceive a perfect blueprint but there is no action, and Leah tries to inspire and motivate the team. Just make sure With 80% of the correct rate of action, you can begin to act.
In short, we should use consumer empathy to help companies innovate better, and then test the creativity in a real world and implement it with courage.
All in all, as far as Japanese companies are concerned, a system policy must be established, and the board of directors with actual management rights should be transitioned to the supervision organization focusing on corporate management and strategy formulation. This will provide a more conducive environment for directors who are not involved in corporate governance and allow them to make more meaningful contributions to the board of directors.
Find the Truth
Lehi believes that corporate insights should come from multiple sources of information and not just rely on research. He said: "Study is like holding a flashlight into a dark room. What you see is only where you look and people don't see the whole picture."
He used the term “consumer empathy†that we often use to explain that in-depth consumer understanding comes from focusing on intuition and emotional factors, not just on rational analysis. He said: "We must constantly look around, observe customers and their lives, understand their problems, fears and hopes so as to gain insights into their needs." Leah urged the top management of companies to pay close attention to the real needs of consumers by: Working in the shop, each manager works in a shop for one week each year.
Think Big
With regard to a bold business strategy, Lech commented: “If we want to survive, we should sometimes give it a go. As a marketer, if you want to make some achievements, you must let your actions attract the attention of the entire world. A correct concept was strangled in the process of management decisions."
He gave an example of the Tesco Clubcard. He said that if the project is approved under the normal budget process, the Tesco Club Card will not be available. How did Leah let it pass? He used another set of approval principles: real-world environmental testing projects. He explained: "We conducted a secret market test on it and found that customers like it very much. Therefore, once we have verified that the idea is feasible, we will advance this business."
Take Risks
Following a bold idea, it is risk assessment. I like Leah’s own statement. He said: "All the things that I've done before that made me proud, if they failed to achieve it as planned, then any one of these failures will make me be fired." He added to "adventurousness", first of all, Be faithful to your own values; second, don’t bet on the company’s bets. You can test them first.
He gave a real example. At the time he was 24 years old and was a marketer. He introduced a series of simple, affordable products, Generics. He showed the series on the big screen, but then Ian, the marketing director? MacLaurin said: "Don't promote these low-level products. We want to advertise high-end brands." But Lehi insisted on his own idea and told management that consumers needed such products. This series of products later became Tesco’s competitive products.
Action (Act)
Lech thinks: "You may have ambitions, but if you don't act, everything is equal to zero." Usually the team is stuck in an execution dilemma because it wants to conceive a perfect blueprint but there is no action, and Leah tries to inspire and motivate the team. Just make sure With 80% of the correct rate of action, you can begin to act.
In short, we should use consumer empathy to help companies innovate better, and then test the creativity in a real world and implement it with courage.
All in all, as far as Japanese companies are concerned, a system policy must be established, and the board of directors with actual management rights should be transitioned to the supervision organization focusing on corporate management and strategy formulation. This will provide a more conducive environment for directors who are not involved in corporate governance and allow them to make more meaningful contributions to the board of directors.
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