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Ahead of the curve...

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About three months ago while traveling to LA for qualitative research for Coors Light I listened to a really good podcast on Leadership from the Harvard Business School. The following quote caught my attention:

"In order to truly stay ahead of the competition the rate of learning has to be higher than the rate of change."

Though I believe that quote to be very true, I also feel that learning has to be defined. People learn and adapt from every situation, consciously or subconsciously, but every situation makes an impact in our brain. Thinking about the rate of change... in the culture that we live in, the rate of change is so fast and vast, that it might feel pretty impossible to stay ahead.

I feel that everybody has a story to share... so I believe that listening to people, aside from reading, is the best way to learn and stay ahead of the curve.

Some brands that have done this are: Coca Cola, Nike and Madonna...

BUT what is your brand's way of learning and really staying ahead of the curve?

Just remember that one thing is perception and the other is reality...
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  1. VicJanuary 7, 2009 at 9:41 AM

    As a planner, I've always thought that in order to truly understand human behavior, one needs to go out there and talk to people on a regular basis. I would not be surprised if companies like Coca Cola, Apple, Nike do that constantly. On the other hand, for many other brand managers and planners, it seems to be more convenient to hide behind their computers to learn as much as they can about their consumers from vast and complex quantitative reports. Don't get me wrong, I think quantitative research is useful when is used to confirm qualitative data. I often find qualitative research more exciting because one gets to experience consumer's reactions, stories, feelings, etc. To me, walk the walk is a good way to stay ahead of the curve.

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