M A N A GE M E N T
4 Rules That Will Change Rulers by Jay Deragon
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hile many managers know the organization can’t survive without understanding the “rules” many more don’t understand you can no longer manage by your rules. The rules and rulers have changed. It is one thing when the rules change but it is entirely different when the rulers change.
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The business environment is less forgiving. The pace of change is accelerating, ultra low-cost competitors are beating old high cost legacy systems, knowledge has become a commodity and is rapidly increasing customer power, and an ever-lengthening menu of social demands. Traditional management models that emphasize optimization over innovation, and continuity over change, simply can’t cope with a less forgiving and impatient marketplace of buyers. New web-based collaboration tools are replacing formal hierarchy. For the first time since the pyramids were built, human beings have a new way of managing themselves, via online, distributed networks. New workforce expectations will reshape work environments in the years ahead. If you’re part of the first generation to grow up on the Web, you don’t think of the Internet as something “out there”—as a tool you use to reserve a hotel room, buy a book, or rekindle an old flame. Rather, the Web is something you’re perpetually in; it’s as ubiquitous and transparent as water to fish. As a digital native, the Web is the operating system for your life, the indispensable and unremarkable means by which you learn, play, share, flirt, and connect. The experience of growing up online will profoundly shape the workplace expectations of the workforce of the future, which is today.
Luxury and Leisure A in the 2012 “Brand K F
ive years ago, when retailers were sent spiraling from the economic downturn, only 8% of US apparel buyers felt fashion brands and logos were of increasing importance when it came to differentiating their wardrobes. However, in the following years Brand Keys consumer research tells a very different story, especially as to how consumers are making their fashion buying decisions.
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Since 2008, the importance of brand names has consistently increased, standing in 2012 at 29%, more than tripling in importance over four years. And consumer expectations continue to rise as shoppers increasingly seek uniqueness in their choice of fashion brands. Taking the top spot is Ralph Lauren / Polo, followed by: one’s favorite sports team, Armani, Nike, and Versace, Chanel, tied for fifth place.
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“No matter the category, we see one trend growing – the increasing importance of fashion brands. While it’s true that consumers are not spending recklessly, that very reality is what drives them into the arms of true brands,” said Amy Shea, executive vice president of global brand development for Brand Keys, Inc., the New York-based brand and customer loyalty research consultancy. The more considered a purchase, the greater the role a strong brand plays in the decision making process, especially true in the very personal category of fashion. These research findings are an incredibly accurate measure of this shift, particularly in regard to the brands people see as being more important when it comes time to buy.
Luxury and Leisure, Sharing Space Brand Keys 2012 Fashion Brand Index findings also demonstrate more of a shared space between luxury and leisure apparel. Luxury brands like Versace and Chanel moved up to 5th place from an already respectable showing in the top 10, along with leisure brands like Nike (#4), J. Crew (#7) and Hilfiger (#11). Uniqlo made the list for the first time, in 12th place among male fashion buyers. Another indicator of the importance of couture and casual is Ralph Lauren/Polo, — a brand that does a brilliant job of negotiating both sides of that consumer lifestyle, taking the number one spot among the total audience. This is further indication of the importance brand plays at every level, not just in the luxury space. Clearly differentiated casual apparel brands
The rulers are the many, not the few. The few used to manage the many but because of the change in rules fueled by the web the few are now managed by the many. The many expect the social environment of their work life to reflect the social context of the Web, rather than a mid-twentieth-century management bureaucracy.
If you are a manager or a leader (or think you are) then the sooner you awaken to the not so silent revolution happening before your eyes then the sooner you’d understand the new rule and rulers. Today the thoughts of the marketplace are nothing like your thoughts, and the ways of the marketplace are far beyond anything you could imagine. 22
August 2012
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© FFR- Focus On Fashion Retail
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