B School or Pizza Night?

 

Skip B-School, Go out for Pizza instead.

My wife & I are out for our weekly dinner:
Cold ante-pasta for two, pizza, BYOB claret.

A woman comes in with two children.

Owner: Are you here for a pickup?

Wife: No. We're here for dinner. My husband is
picking up a bottle of wine. Can you bring us
two glasses.

The husband comes in carrying a brown, paper bag.
I have a bad feeling about this.

Wife: Where's the wine?

Him: I thought we'd have beer instead...

Silence.

I feel chills up my spine.

As we get ready to leave, my wife goes to powder her
nose. I pay the check. 

Before we leave, I say to the woman,
"My wife & I weren't able to finish our wine, would you like
it?"

She says thank you. I pour her a glass. 

As we leave, she says in a loud voice--for her husband's benefit--not mine, "What a nice man. What a very nice man."

The B-School lessons:

1 Bait & Switch:  He offers a customer 

Pizza and Wine--he delivers Pizza & Beer.

2 Over promise [wine] Under deliver [beer]

In cans, not even bottles.

3 Market penetration from a competitor

Seizing the opportunity, a competitor 

delivers a free sample of wine.

4 Inventory optimisation.  Why 

leave inventory on the shelf when

you can use it to attract new customers?

5 Marketing strategy:  From the old canard

"Marketing:  Find a need and fill it."

6  Shelf space optimisation: Create 

additional shelf-space by rotating 

stock or giving discounts or by repurposing.

7 Revenue enhancement: What I gained

with the bottle of wine will see diminishing

returns--hence, I put the product into circulation

and add benefits to the investment in the wine.

8 Consumer demands:  Consumers want wine,

I deliver wine.

9 Market expectations:  The market expectations

were not fulfilled.

10 Sales

11 Customer retention

12 Customer Service

13 Product distribution

There is so much to be learned if you simply

see things in a new light or from a different 

perspective.

Regards,

Slim

Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
Etats-Unis

Copyright © 2022 Robert Asken
All rights reserved

Technology or Strategy?

 Technology or Strategy?

The game of Chess was invented in India circa 6th C. AD. It

is a game of strategy. It was invented centuries before the invention

of computers, of technology, of electricity.

Through the magic of metaphor--you are there. And your friend, who invented Chess, shows you the game. But he feels the game is lacking. He asks you for some advice about strategy. You ponder the game and suggest some changes. Flash forward, 1,500 years.

Through the magic of metaphor, Chess was never invented. However, your friend calls you up to say he's invented a video game called Chessboy. However he feels the game is lacking and asks you for advice. You tell him you know nothing about technology. He tells you, he doesn't need tech advice, he needs strategy advice.

You ponder the game. You tell him, "Well, the Bishops move diagonally and the rook moves in a straight line up and back and side to side. That's good. But the Knight should have a different move. Say, two up and one to the side or one up and two to the side. You invent the strategy of castling. And you describe the strategy of en passant.

He thanks you and reprogrammes the game with the strategies you described.

Caveat: The difference between strategy and technology.

Regards,

Slim.

© 2021 Robert Asken

All rights reserve

Box 33

Pen Argyl, PA 18072

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