sloane

Poor Strategy Is Costly

I've posted comments on here before linking back to posts on the Marketing Doctor's blog ( blog.marketingdoctor.t... ). He blogs from a branding perspective--a really simple concept, but one that is often lost sight of and which fits with the ideas in this article. The example of the drug companies, for instance--in marketing their products, they side-step the question of what their brand/s is/are supposed to be--what I think Dr. Tantillo refers to as their 'core essentials.'

Dr. Tantillo did a post on Citigroup last week, when its stock was down at $3.77. He argues that Citigroup strayed from its roots--lost sight of its brand:

"We don’t really call them conglomerates anymore, and we talked about “synergies,” but the basic idea was the same: create massive companies with hundreds of thousands of employees, which would supposedly save bottom-line costs and create one-stop shopping for consumers and companies."

"Leading with marketing rather than deal finance would have shown that the basic natures of a bank and an insurance company are very different, and combining them would only dilute both."
Citigroup post: blog.marketingdoctor.t...