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Written by ZOOZ
consulting and training | (972)-9-9585085 | info@zooz.co.il
| www.zooz.co.il
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| Issue 01 |
Hello!
We are glad to
send you the first issue of LaZOOZ.
The newsletter is
sent as a free service to thousands of senior executives
in the Israeli market. It will be published
every other month, and will not include advertisements.
In the newsletter you will find short
articles on a variety of subjects, including: an
interview with a senior executive, tips on strategy and
effeciency, book review, descriptions and
examples of innovation tools, the logic of advertising and more.
We tried to keep it short, assuming that
your
time is precious
and the work is plentiful.
Those who wish to learn more, will find
links to articles and relevant information sources.
We hope that you will find the newsletter useful. We will be glad to read any comments and suggetsions.
Pleasant reading!
Ari Manor, CEO, ZOOZ
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Details
An interview with a senior executive
Yosi Yarkoni,
Head of Marketing, Advertising and BD, Mizrachi Bank
- Number of employees in firm:
3,000
- Number of employees under my direct responsibility
: 21
- We provide: Banking services
- I'm on the job for: Seven
months. I worked at Bank
Hapoalim before that.
- I like on the job:
Everything, absolutely everything - from developing
differnet things, such as database marketing; through marketing strategy;
business development of markets, areas and activities;
and even fasicinated by the sales issue.
- Most difficult on the job: The change of marketing point-of-view.
Banks in general, and Mizrachi in particular, are not
at the leading edge of marketing action. Untill recently
their all held the productive (or product focus) approach.
Only in the past 5 years the client has gained focus,
and there is a long road ahead. I believe
that within five years or sooner, banks will take the
lead in advanced marketing. Already today we see the first
evidences for it. For instance, Bank Hapoalim is the
8th largest advertiser in Israel, compared to much
smaller advertising in the past.
- Goals I set for myself:
On the job - I want to realize the existing plans, and
lead the advanced marketing in the bank in
an
banking in general; to be a role model in marketing
work processes, and their execution (it is just as
important). In life - I wish to
continue to be challanged, to get up each morning and be
sorry for the time I take to commute -
because work is so fascinating.
- Our vision: To be the
third largest bank in Israel, and to lead Israeli
banking despite of the (small) size. We already lead
in percentage of return on capital for our clients,
and in new products. We arrived
at this vision because we provide all the
variety of services provided by Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim,
and are required, like they are, to apply
to requirements of regulation, personnal services, etc - and
in order to fulfill these a certain critical
mass is required. The gap between us and the
first and second largest banks is huge, so
third place seemed suitable. As for leading in banking -
in order to grow and breakthrough we need to
do things better than others.
- Origianl product in our market: With all the public discussion of
bank commissions, and the not-so-positive image of
banks - an innovative idea of Mizrachi bank is a
no-interest overdraft approach.
When an account is positive for half of
the month, and negative for the other half, we
do not charge interest. We should charge it - it
is basic fairness. This is an innovative product, which has
not been imitated for four and a half years, and that
has won us new clients and the loyalty of existing
clients. Only Bank Hapoalim has done something similar, with
the idea of commission schemes, but it concern pre-fixed commisions, rather
than interest-less overdraft.
- Sources of innovation:
We used to have a unit for product development. Later,
each product department made its
own developments, and today we are re-building the bank's
product development unit. Me Too is a major
source for ideas in banking. another source is responding to
client needs. For example, when the inflation rate drops,
we respond to the unatractiveness of the interest with
various structure programs.
- Book recommendation:
Good to Great,
by Jim Collins, (see details in this newsletter).
- Send comments to: yossiy@mizrahi.co.il
- Would you like to be interviewed?
: contact us
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Focus
On strategic development in practice
A strategy of value-innovation
When people work on the
development of a stategic plan, they usually
focus on
the forces operating in their market (competitors, suppliers,
clients...); on achieving a competitive advantage through cost leadership, differentiation or focus; in short - following Michael Porter's model. Is there a real alternative to this approcah? Can it produce better results? Apparently yes.
A
comparative study conducted by two INSEAD
professors over 5 years in 30 companies, lead to the
conclusion that in order to grow in income and profits
well above the average of a given market, companies have
to change the rules of the strategic ball-game: to
redesign the market (instead of follow its dictations);
to ignore the competitors (which follow the exisiting
market rules); to focus on what most clients want
(instaed of adjusting to various market segments);
to ignore existing assets and abilities (instead of of
trying to use them); and to develop an unusual solution
for the clients (even if it is well above the customary
product or service in the market). Working along these
lines, while creating a major breakthrough (in the
product, service or supply) which provides extraordinary
value to most of the clients in the market, was
termed by the researchers a strategy of
value-innovation.
A follow-up research examined
100 new firms from various markets, demonstrated
that a company that made true value-innovation, achieved
in average 4 times more income and 10 times more profits
than ones that didn't do so. The researchers describe
their findings in a detailed article published in HBR,
and list a relatively quick and simple process for
forming a value-innovation strategy:
1. Identify an interesting and
attractive market
2. Find out what most
clients in the market want more than anything
3. Build an innovative mix that
answers the need you identified:
Cancel or minimize customary elements which do not serve
this need, and
Add or enhance
necessary elements, even if they are well above the
market norm.
- The article is published in the
book: Kim and Mauborgne,Value Innovation, HBR on Breakthrough
Thinking; pp. 189-217, Harvard Business School Press 1999
- To buy it in Amazon
(PDF file)
: click here
- For information on an
in-house value-innovation workshop
: contact us
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Education
A must-read book for managers
Good to Great / Jim Collins / HarperCollins
Jim
Collins' first book Built to last,
dealt with the issue of what
conserves the competitive advantage of #1
firms in their market, and has become a classic for some
time now. Pofesssor Collin's second book, Good
to Great, tackles a much more relevant question
(for most managers): what should a firm do in order
to become the leader in its field. This
book, like its predecessor, is based on a an in-depth five year research, producing suprising and illustrative conclusions.
Read this book in order to
understand what it takes in order to make a good company
into a great one, including: recruiting the right people
(according to the vision
and direction), a
modest (yet stubborn) CEO, many small changes (rather than a
single dramatic change). These insights and more, exposed for
the first time in this book, have created quite
a storm when presented two years ago, and are
now considered vital and up-to-date approaches
in management.
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Innovation
Methods and tools for managing innovation processes
Adjustment to
the Environment
The Adjustment to the Environment thinking tool allows for the rapid development of ideas for product or service improvement. It is an extremely worthwhile tool, forcing users to think "externally" - about the clients and the environment.
The stages of using Adjustment to the Environment are:
1. Choose an existing product
or service
2. List elements in its natural
environment
3. Try to make the
product/service better adjusted to each element
Example 1:
- Existing product: baby pacifier
- Environmental elements: mouth, teeth, lips, face, nose, eyes, shirt...
- Improvements that have already been made:
- Orthodontic pacifier (adjustment to teeth)
- Clip-on pacifier (adjustment to shirt)
- Improvements that have not been made (as far as we know):
- A fragrant pacifier (adjustment to nose)
- A pacifier that is resistant to teeth wear and tear (adjustment to teeth)
Example 2:
- Existing service: university
- Environmental elements: students, cars, community, other universities...
- Improvements that have already been made:
- Paid car park (adjustment to cars)
- Student exchange (adjustment to other universities)
- Improvements that have not yet been made (as far as we know):
- University car mechanic - for students (adjustment to cars)
- A library shared with other universities (adjustment to other universities)
- A detailed description of Adjustment to the Environment may be found in this
article
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Invention
An innovation which
surprised the world market and competitors
Electra Nature
Air-conditioners - with a humidity control system
For the
first issue of LaZooz, we have
chosen to
present a "homemade" Israeli idea.
In June-July 1997 Electra had a
series of innovation workshops for managers of different
departments, in order to come up with good ideas for
air-conditioning innovation. Out of the 73
ideas that were produced, the most highly rated by
the participants was an air-conditioner that would
"distribute humidity in winter, while heating".
An attempt was made to develop such a
product, and the appropriate budget allocated.
In
january of 2002, following many hours of R&D,
Electra proudly presented Nature, the world's first and
only humidity-control system air-conditioner. It is a
central conditioning unit which preserves 35%-50%
humidity in all rooms, thus preventing the feeling
of dryness and suffication, and giving inhabitants a
comfortable and pleasant feeling. Indeed a refreshing
innovation.
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Futurism
Innovation ideas not yet realized
Innovation
ideas
for cars
The
following ideas were developed using various thinking
tools, and do not exist at present
(to the best of our knowledge):
1. Tail
warning lights that light up when a car
gets to close (with an appropriate sensor)
2. A
seat/compartment/safety strap
for dogs/cats
3. A
built-in mechanism that automaticaly prevents travelling
in red lights
4. A car
with a see-through floor (for seeing obstacles/flat
tyres, for ease of parking...)
5. A
deatchable trunk - turning into a
suitcase
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Move
What's new at ZOOZ
SCAMPER
SCAMPER is
a method for producing ideas using seven different tools
(Substitute, Combine, Adjust, Modify, Put to new use, Eliminate and
Reorganize). It allows for an accelarated development of creative ideas,
in order to improve processes, products or
services.
ZOOZ now
offers a full day workshop in which participants learn the seven SCAMPER thinking
tools, apply them to a relevant field, rate the ideas and
discuss several ideas in depth. The workshop was given
to managers in Coca Cola and again
at Staruss Icecreams.
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Efficiency
A tip on effective management
Anti-Spam Software
If you
and others in your organization get a lot of "junk
email" (Spam), at office or at home, you'd surely be happy
to get rid
of the hassle and save
yourselves time and aggravation. MS-Office does offer a screening
system, but we find it clumsy and inefficient. Therefore, we
recommend using a designated Anti-Spam software, out of the
numerous softwares available (some free of charge and others for
a fee). A good anti-spam software should automatically screen 99%
of your junk email, and yet leave 99.9% of your legitimate
mails untouched.
SpamBully, for instance, is the one
we use on our computers. It marks every contact on
your Outlook Address
Book as a legitimate sender,
as well as people to whom you send emails.
At the same time, it automatically screens any emails from
senders which you mark as spammers (a process called
"learning" or "training"), or anyone listed in an updated online database
of known spammers. Screened emails are placed in a "Spam"
folder, which may be checked for a faulty screening of a
legitimate email.
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Exposure
A creative advertisement and its logic
Inversion
An ordinary adverisement the
promise to the client is of the form: If you do X you
will get Y". In an Inversion logic, the
formula is different: "If you don't do
X, you'll get a very, very bad result".
In other words, instead of showing the benefit, one
presents the problem the client has, taken to the
extreme. In the above example, an advertisement
for a weight-lose institute, the headline reads:
"Overweight?"...
Somewhat more interesting,
challenging, and appropriate for advertising products or
service which are abstract or non-photogenic.
- Source: Overweight?; Cristalle de Paris;
Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore;
Gregory
Yeo,
Justin
Lim,
Eric
Seow
- For information on creative
advertising work is on page 5 of
our training description (Hebrew, PDF
file)
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