Strategic Design | marketing & branding thoughts by Nick Rice

Companies that ride economic trends grow more rapidly than companies that rest of their laurels. Pretty obvious, but without good trend data it's hard to know where to point your business strategically. Here are McKinsey's ten trends in 2006 that will shape 2015:

1. Centers of economic activity will shift profoundly, not just globally, but also regionally.
2. Public-sector activities will balloon, making productivity gains essential.
3. The consumer landscape will change and expand significantly.
4. Technological connectivity will transform the way people live and interact.
5. The battlefield for talent will shift.
6. The role and behavior of big business will come under increasingly sharp scrutiny.
7. Demand for natural resources will grow, as will the strain on the environment.
8. New global industry structures are emerging.
9. Management will go from art to science.
10. Ubiquitous access to information is changing the economics of knowledge.

If you're on the business battlefield now, there's not doubt you're living a lot of these. So while these may not seem revolutionary; the real question is how are you evolving your long term strat plan (5-7 years out) to account for these trends? Your short term plan (1 year out) should be able to flex enough to allow for changes to make you more competitive.

Unfortunately a lot of marketing teams are not a core part of the corporate strategy sessions that define business direction. If that's the case you have to step it up. You're not bringing enough value to the table. No one should know more about customer desires and how to address them properly than the sales & marketing team. Over time a data-driven process that keeps you riding current trends instead of fighting them will get you a seat at the table. Drive it and you will succeed.

technorati tags > market, trends, research, mckinsey, strategy, strategic plan, business,