| KEY FINDINGS |
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KEY NOTE SPEAKERS
The Honorable Christine
Todd Whitman,
Governor, The State of New Jersey
Edie, Weiner,
President, Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc.
"Playing The Competitive
Game A Whole Lot Smarter."
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ROUNDTABLES
Chaos In The Public
Information Domain
Re-Intermediation: Emerging
Brokers in the New Value Chain
Money At Zero Gravity
The Aging of the Globe
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| CLOSING
REMARKS |
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KEY NOTE SPEAKER
The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman,
Governor, The State of New Jersey |
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It's not easy to
lose, but women must get up and try again.
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Throughout your
career, it's important to stop and take stock
of who you are and what you want to be known
for. I want to be remembered for making the
State of New Jersey a better place to live
and work and raise a family. |
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Term limits are
wonderful. Second terms afford you the luxury
of accomplishing your goals without having
to worry about getting re-elected. |
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Improving the quality
of life for the people of the State of New
Jersey involves more than cutting taxes, job
growth, roads and bridges, or enabling the
business climate. It includes providing affordable
healthcare, lifestyle alternatives for the
aging population, preserving open space, creating
a cultural trust fund, and providing quality
education for all children. These issues are
often described as womenés issues.
They're not. They're everyone's issues. |
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The party that
doesn't win the presidency this time will
have a woman on their ticket next time - and
a woman should be right at the top. There's
no need to serve as vice president first. |
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Few women run for
office because they don't think they have
all the necessary credentials. Many women
are still working their way up the corporate
ladder. Also, women are harder on other women
than men, and, since there are so few of us
in elective office, we're under constant scrutiny.
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It takes money
to run a campaign, and fundraising is extremely
difficult for women candidates. Make donations.
Women supporters are not used to writing the
big checks. We're tighter with our money and
have less disposable income. |
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KEY NOTE SPEAKER
Edie, Weiner, President, Weiner, Edrich,
Brown, Inc.
"Playing The Competitive Game A Whole
Lot Smarter." |
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The selling game
has changed. As in football, you have four
downs to sell and win. |
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First down: Price.
You're competing on one or all of the following
- price, quality, convenience, and assortment
- and it's almost impossible to score significant
yardage. |
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It's tough to compete
on price. Many organizations are rushing toward
low cost. Competing on quality is difficult
when quality is homogenized. Competing on
assortment is hard when technology and distribution
systems allow for customization and broader
channels of distribution. Convenience isn't
a competitive advantage when consumers have
24/7 access to Internet and direct mail channels. |
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Second down: Customization
or individualization of your product. |
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We're moving into
the 21st century with the technologies and
knowledge bases to more closely personalize
or customize virtually any product or service.
Price, quality, convenience, and assortment
become less important when a consumer can
get precisely the product or service they
want. |
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Third down: Reputation.
This isn't about the quality of your product
or service. Reputation is what your organization
stands for, and increasingly, there are a
lot of organizations competing in this arena. |
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Cause-related marketing,
public affairs, sponsorships, community outreach
programs, etc., help organizations to stand
out in the global marketplace. However, over
the last decade, more and more corporations
have been jumping on the "social consciousness"
band wagon. |
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Fourth down move:
This is your last chance. You can punt, which
is a safe move, giving the ball to the opposition
and reacting to their next move. You can kick
a field goal, which is an up-in-the-air business
strategy as opposed to a customer strategy.
This can be a merger, an acquisition, or a
strategic alliance. The smart fourth down
move is to go for the touch down, and that's
relationship. |
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Build a relationship
with a barrier to exit for your customer.
Make it costly for them to buy anywhere else.
You must know what your organization is selling
and how to market it to create a monetary
bond with your customer. Once you have built
this relationship, the benefits are extraordinary.
You gain the right to make mistakes - and
the opportunity to cross-sell to an engaged
consumer. In a market where it's easy to mess-up
and expensive to buy new customers, this is
an enormous edge. |
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CASE STUDY
Deborah Kolb, Professor of Management,
Simmons Graduate School of Management
"Who Loves You, Baby?" |
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No company really
loves you, even if it's your own company.
If you're looking for love from your company
and the approval of the people above you,
it's time to get a life. Ask yourself instead,
which company do you love and what is it you
really want from a relationship with that
company. |
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Most women seeking
a top position want recognition, career growth,
credit for what they've done and will do,
promises kept, a commitment, job satisfaction,
healthy work/life balance, a chance to help
other women move up, and an opportunity to
do some interesting things with their lives. |
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If a top spot opens at your organization
you should:
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• Tell the CEO that you're in the
running. Never ask for a shot at the job
or assume that he knows you're interested.
• Make your boss and the CEO your
sponsor. Seek his advice. Ask what skills
and experiences are necessary to step
into the spot.
• Gain support from the CEO. It establishes
you as a top performer - someone the company
does not want to lose - and a key candidate.
It also improves your negotiating position
with the Board of Directors.
• Build a supportive coalition on
the Board.
• Leverage other offers. Remember
you have options and are recognized as
a talent.
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ROUNDTABLE
Chaos In The Public Information Domain |
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Consumers assume
that information, like credit card numbers,
is private. Consumer information is, in fact,
open to theft unless it is protected. Corporations
are also at risk of information theft. |
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Each US citizen
is surrounded by a zone of privacy, as defined
under state laws. As privacy lines are blurring,
however, that zone is penetrated regularly.
Legal systems are ill-equipped to respond
and penalties aren't in place. |
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Currently, there
are over 300 drafts of new federal privacy
legislation pending in the US. Consumers and
corporations need to take responsibility for
protecting their own privacy. |
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With chaos, comes
opportunity and responsibility. Smart companies
are asking consumers to opt-in or opt-out
of information sharing and marketing programs.
Businesses must gain and not violate the trust
of their consumers. |
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Different privacy
protection standards apply to government,
since they make the checks and balances and
have access to the broadest range of private
information. |
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Direct marketers
have always blurred privacy lines. With the
Internet, privacy became a top-of-mind issue. |
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Consumers want
their privacy protected, but they aren't losing
sleep over theft and misuse of information.
With the exception of identity theft, consumers
recognize that they don't lose much when an
organization gets their name and address.
However, they are anxious to protect healthcare
information for fear it will limit their ability
to get insurance or the next job. |
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Privacy legislation
must protect children and consumer choices.
Technology and competition among ISPs, cable
systems, and telephone providers can block
access and create a society of information
haves and have-nots. |
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Privacy is an economic
issue. |
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ROUNDTABLE
Re-Intermediation: Emerging Brokers in
the New Value Chain. |
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The great trend
of the second half of the 20th century was
dis-intermediation; the bypassing of traditional
channels for the delivery of goods and services.
Now, we're overwhelmed by too many distribution
channels. Re-intermediation, the introduction
of new intermediaries into the value chain,
is helping us to regain control and forcing
us to look at customer service in a broader
sense. |
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Brands-within-brands,
stewards and navigators, agents, the formation
of affinity groups, service providers, and
vendors that simplify the use or brands are
the new intermediaries. |
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Intermediaries
on the Internet are removing cookies, protecting
privacy, monitoring click-throughs, placing
banner advertising, tracking sales and commissions,
sponsoring discount programs, and leveraging
consumer loyalty programs to sell product. |
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Information intermediaries
help consumers to recognize the differences
between brands, convince consumers of the
value of brands, and help them to make better
brand choices. |
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Packaged-goods
companies can strengthen their brands on the
Internet. Consumers don't make purchase decisions
on product alone. Add-on services and the
company's reputation are key. |
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Technology both
simplifies transactions and gives consumers
and business-to-business customers more choices,
which leads to increased customer satisfaction,
and that is good for business. |
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A small, upstart
competitor is a big threat if they can intermediate
better and faster than the market leader on
behalf of the customer. |
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Internet travel
sites put the consumer in control. They can
book travel 24/7, negotiate for price, make
reservations, and pay quickly. That's why
they are among the most successful sites. |
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Customization is
like truly interactive TV, not here yet. Consumers,
however, like the beginnings of customization
and are willing to put up with fledgling brands
while they evolve. |
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Customer service
is critical to building lasting relationships
and satisfaction. Think twice before outsourcing
this function or installing a menu-based telephone
answering system. Human contact is important
in every aspect of the selling process. |
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ROUNDTABLE
Money At Zero Gravity |
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We are entering
the "financialized casino economy."
The rules and physics of money and finance
are different. Consumer debt and wealth are
skyrocketing. Employees demand opportunities
for wealth accumulation. Valuations change
in femtoseconds, and leveraging money is better
than having money. |
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We live in an enormously
wealthy culture. US HHI was $1 trillion in
1950, $20 trillion in 1990, and $50 trillion
in 2000. |
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Inflation, war,
a currency crisis, and risk are the big destroyers
of wealth. |
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Success isn't
just about the wealth you accumulate. It's
about how much you give back too. Your social
portfolio is as important as your financial
portfolio. |
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Women are starting
companies at twice the rate of men and have
for about 10 years, however, we're still struggling
for funding. In the 80s, men moved from Wall
Street into the VC world where there were
more opportunities to make big money, so men
still control the funding of new businesses. |
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Five over-riding
themes are shaking the corporate world: |
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• The rise of the sophisticated
employee who wants a paycheck, opportunities
for wealth accumulation, work/life balance,
good health insurance.
• The labor market is tight, and
the competition for talent is fierce.
• The rise of the sophisticated investor
who receives pre-approved credit options
in the mail and expects to refinance the
mortgage or pre-pay without any fees or
penalties.
• Women are learning how to accumulate
and manage their money.
• The search for meaning is driving
women and men at the top to rethink their
careers.
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Women have undervalued
themselves, and that's why we've been underpaid.
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The era of the
dot-com pay package is over. This is the era
of the millennium executive - a hybrid of
the traditional and the dot-com ÿ and the
new entrepreneurs are driven to create wealth,
avert risk, and find meaning beyond their
job title. |
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Greed is alive
and well: greed plus security, plus meaning,
plus family, etc. Employees are no longer
paid relative to their contribution, performance,
or peers. |
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ROUNDTABLE
The Aging of the Globe |
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The world is aging
rapidly. The over 60 population in many countries
is much larger than the younger population.
This is a worldwide revolution, unprecedented
in human history, and will result in major
challenges to the retirement, healthcare,
and infrastructure systems. |
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In the US, 35 million
people are 65 or over. By 2030, 70 million
will be over 65, and the 85+ segment is the
fastest growing segment. Fertility rates have
changed. New births are down. Health trends
are improving overall, but heart disease,
cancer, and stroke remain the top diseases
for the 50+ population. |
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As people age,
they become more different from each other.
The "Golden Years" are history.
"The Diamond Generation" - the new
mature market - is multi-faceted markets of
one. |
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Aging isn't as
aged as it used to be. Old is getting younger,
and today's mature market doesn't behave like
mature markets of the past. |
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A sense of community,
connectivity, money, and good health are required
to make an older person's life happy. |
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Our expectations
for healthcare are becoming increasingly different.
Affluence is driving an increase in cosmetic
surgery. More people are using and demanding
coverage for alternative treatments and medicines. |
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Approximately 90
percent of the population believe that health
and well-being is more important to their
future than income and financial security.
Most boomers feel young and in good health
and don't expect they'll be retiring until
they're about 80. |
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We have to change
the way we educate people about retirement.
The old retirement planning markets are wrong. |
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Women are the least
prepared for retirement. Once we stop working,
we usually only have 1/3 to 1/5 of what we
will need in retirement. |
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The definition
of retirement has changed. It's no longer
about whether you're working or not working.
It's about whether you're working at what
you really love to do. |
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| CLOSING REMARKS |
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If everything is
going so well for women, why is it that... |
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• Only five percent of venture capital
money goes to women starting businesses?
• Business schools are wrestling
with a declining female enrollment?
• Young women are increasingly reluctant
to make big career moves while their biological
clocks are ticking?
• Women are abandoning major corporations
to start their own businesses?
• At a time when women can write
their own tickets, self-esteem for young
girls at an all time low?
• Why do the two most visible female
CEOs get a disproportionate amount of
negative press?
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