As transformation specialists we have never heard clients talking about the need to transform more than now.
With lockdowns lifting around the world, leaders are having to do two things exceptionally well: focus existing resources to compete in the pre-vaccine environment over the next 12 to 24 months and reposition to win in the post-pandemic world.
3 key drivers to adapt to survive
In a recent BCG survey of business leaders, almost half said that they expect their company’s profits to decline by more than 20%, and 90% are planning company-wide cost-reduction programmes.
However, CEOs should not accept declining performance as inevitable in the new reality. They cited the need for three overarching actions: act early, take a long-term perspective, and the need to focus on growth as well as cost reduction.
According to the World Health Organization, winning the fight will be a marathon that lasts until a vaccine or highly effective treatment is widely available—12 to 24 months from now. So the winners will be those who have a transformation strategy designed to help them adapt to meet new needs, not just the short-term ability to compete and be resilient.
In the absence of reliable forecasts CEOs need to set the agenda and be proactive about the need to reimagine the future of their business.
Boldly reimagine your brand and offering
For most companies, the immediate priority is to secure the cost-efficiency and continuity of their current operating model. However, in addition to having short-term liquidity and stability, business leaders need to ensure their brand is focused even more obsessively than ever before on ‘new norm’ customer needs. And do this in a way that has even more clarity of articulation than ever before.
Most of our senior clients are agreed that CEOs should not allow the focus on near-term profits and competitiveness to obscure the need to transform the brand in order to win the future.
Part of this is taking action to boldly reimagine the offering. According to a BCG study, the total shareholder return of the 50 most innovative companies outperformed the MSCI World Index by 10% during the 2008 financial crisis. And it’s no surprise that most reimagined offers will focus on accelerated digital and AI improvements across the online customer experience.
Our friends at BCG provide a useful framework for the top 5 priorities:
To transform to win the future, we would urge clients to start by reviewing their brand and reimagine their offer at the same time. That’s where our proven brand transformation model comes in Brand Builder.
