In a pandemic, a downturn, or even in the best of times … markets are crowded with brands clamouring to engage consumers, to find an edge, to stand out … In downturns they get more desperate, more creative, and innovation thrives.

The temptation, of course, is to simply seek to shout louder. Traditional brands and lazy marketers still seek to measure share of voice, share of awareness, as if shouting louder at somebody magically unlocks love and desire.

But in a world where traditional models of pushing messages at people through advertising have dramatically declined, marketers are far more focused on more digital, more focused, more personal ways of engaging people. Today it’s about connecting with the consumer’s world, their agendas.

The best marketers have gained the courage to step, to use their incredible platforms, and express their points of view, seeking to address big issues, and make society better.

Of course it’s not just about communication. You could even argue that most brand communication is beyond the brand itself these days, more about the interactions between people on social platforms. But its also about every other aspect of marketing, or lets call it brand, mix. From products and services to design and packaging, from channels and pricing, to business models and experiences, from context and influence to immersion and impact.

So who are the most interesting brand marketers around right now?

Adidas

Converting social influencers into sneaker salespeople 

The three-striped brand has a fanatical base. In mid-2019 it decided to experiment in incorporating them into the company’s sales funnel with a new partnership with the social commerce app Storr. The arrangement gives people the ability to open their own sneaker store from their phone in just three clicks. First opened up to the brand’s 10,000 Creators Club members, who could earn a 6% commission from every sale (or have the option to donate to Girls on the Run), the plan was then to expand social selling into the brand’s higher-end women’s products

Aviation Gin

Meta advertising, pop culture, and the Peloton Wife.

Ryan Reynolds has managed to raise the profile of Aviation Gin among drinkers while also placing the brand comfortably in pop culture. Part of that is sheer celebrity, but the work itself has also been the envy of every marketer and ad agency. Using meta-advertising to pitch Aviation, Samsung, and a Netflix film—all at once—was impressive, but it was how the brand managed to find and hire the Peloton Wife for an ad while the viral flames around the exercise brand were still burning that really had everyone buzzing.

Patagonia

Empowering teen activists to lead the climate debate

The sustainably-minded outdoors brand has been making compelling content and lobbying for years, and this last one was no exception. To raise awareness for Climate Week back in September 2019, the brand created a new campaign featuring teen activists from around America and the world, telling Congress and other leaders that there is no room in government for climate change deniers. By early 2020, the brand had released two new films, the first a feature documentary called Public Trust, about America’s system of public lands and the fight to protect them. The second was a compelling short called District 15, outlining the fight by young activists in the L.A. neighborhood of Wilmington to establish a 2,500-foot distance between oil drilling operations and the community’s schools, hospitals, and churches.

P&G

The world’s biggest advertiser turns to podcasts and documentaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJav36Nbn58

The consumer goods giant has used its size and influence to push the boundaries of what high-quality brand content could—and should—be. In mid-2019, it announced Activate, a six-part documentary series on National Geographic Channel, featuring celebrities such as music producer Pharrell Williams, rapper Common, and actors Darren Criss and Uzo Aduba, on issues like the work of grassroots activists ending cash bail, eradicating plastic pollution, and more. Then in November 2019, building on the momentum from award-winning short film work like 2017’s “The Talk” and 2018’s “The Look,” the company teamed with Spotify for a four-part branded podcast called Harmonize, on racial bias starring John Legend and Pusha T, along with cultural commentator Cory Townes, and hosted by writer Jamilah Lemieux.

Netflix

Getting other brands to hype its shows like Stranger Things

The third season of Stranger Things was a massive event for Netflix, and even though the streamer has no advertising on its platform, it turned the occasion into a blockbuster movie-style brandfest. The best part about it—across partners like Coke, Nike, Baskin-Robbins, Lego, and many more—was that each execution fit the tone, personality, and content of the show. The crown jewel? Convincing Coca-Cola to relive its New Coke disaster and turn it into a marketing masterstroke.

White Claw

Surfing the dramatic rise of hard seltzer’s 

Hard seltzer, spiked seltzer or hard sparkling water is a type of highball drink containing carbonated water, alcohol, and often fruit flavoring. 5% alcohol, just 100 calories. In the US the alcohol is usually made by fermenting cane sugar; sometimes malted barley is used. Overall, the hard-seltzer market exploded last year, with a 202% sales boost over 2018 and hitting $1.3 billion. Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw led the way. It rode the wave of this rise with both a design and marketing approach that was appealing to men, women, and memes, making the most of events like the Kentucky Derby, while embracing influencers and even unauthorised parodies.

Nike

Addressing racism in the US, Nike for once, says Don’t Do It

Every category is now in a state of Covid hangover, uncertain about what happens next. Some markets have largely migrated online, and will remain so, new categories have emerged, and new technologies make new experiences possible. It’s not just about access and safety, it’s about attitudes and behaviours, opportunities and innovation.

Take beer for example.

Locked down, we inevitably started drink more at home, and bars and restaurants stood empty. At the same time, our concerns about health and wellbeing grew, but anxiety and boredom grew too. Store visits were limited, and essential items took priority. Now as we tentatively try to open up bars and restaurants, confidence and footfall are still low.

So how is the beer market changing?

For major brewers, the market has been flat for some time, as new challengers have emerged. The rise of craft beer been particularly significant in transforming the market, with a multitude of local brands from microbreweries, playing on authenticity and heritage. Meanwhile more commercial brands and business models like Brewdog and Mikkeller have accelerated the trend.

Hard seltzers have grown massively in North America, while health-conscious consumers are increasingly looking at alcohol-free or lighter alcoholic drinks.

Consumers’ increasing focus on health is creating space for new beverage categories to emerge, including cannabis-infused drinks, alcohol-free alternatives, and hard seltzer, among others. The latter was almost unheard of a couple of years ago, but is expected to generate $2.5B in sales by 2021

CB Insights identified some of these disruptors across 3 main categories, from traditional options taking the craft route to low- and non-alcoholic options.

In a recent report they describe these players in more detail:

Spirits: These startups produce spirits, ranging from mezcal with El Silencio, to a Greek liqueur called mastiha with Kleos Spirits, to direct-to-consumer aperitif brand Haus. The vast majority of companies here are craft brands, meaning they are independently owned and produce lower volumes of spirits than the brands owned by large spirits companies, such as Diageo or Pernod Ricard.

Wine: Companies in this category are making it possible to “adopt” some vines to produce your own wine (Cuvée Privée), order champagne directly from producers (EPC), and support charitable causes by buying wine (ONEHOPE).

Beer & cider: This category includes smaller beer and cider brands, with most of them being independently owned and producing lower volumes, thus qualifying as craft. Among them, India-based Bira91 is the most well-funded, with $83M in total funding. With the increasingly crowded craft beer space, some brands are betting on sustainability to differentiate themselves. This includes Toast Ale, which brews beer with bread that would otherwise go to waste.

New alcohol categories:

Hard seltzer: Startups like Willie’s Superbrew and NOCA Beverages have recently raised funding to tap into the fast-growing hard seltzer market. Hard seltzer is a low-alcohol, low-calorie water-based drink that has been popularized by the White Claw brand in the US.

Hard tea & coffee: These companies offer alcoholic tea and alcoholic coffee drinks. This also includes hard kombucha brands such as Flying Embers, which has raised $25M to date.

Canned wine & cocktails: This category is centered around convenience by offering canned alcoholic beverages such as wine and cocktails that are easy to carry around. Social, for instance, offers canned sparkling wine blended with super-food extracts and flower essences, while Ohza produces ready-to-drink mimosas.

Non-alcohol categories

Mixers: This category includes non-alcoholic beverages that are meant to be mixed with alcohol. Startups like US-based Owen’s Craft Mixers and India-based Svami offer premium mixers such as tonic water, while Kelvin Slush creates mixers specifically for frozen cocktails.

Cannabis-infused drinks: With more states legalizing cannabis, the cannabis-infused beverages category is emerging to compete with alcoholic drinks. This category focuses on cannabis-infused beverage brands, such as Cann,that specifically target social drinking occasions.

Alcohol-free drinks: Riding the low- or no-alcohol trend, these startups offer alcohol-free alternatives to replace beer (Athletic Brewing Co), wine (Tost), cocktails (Mocktail Beverages), and spirits (Stryyk). Among them, UK-based Crave targets party-goers with a canned caffeinated virgin mojito.

Beer Technology

Big brewers like AB InBev have turned to tech. It has partnered with identity management startup Civic to test out a blockchain-enabled beer vending machine,  for instance. At the same time, Carlsberg is using artificial intelligence to develop new beer flavours faster. And startups are entering the game as well, offering self-pouring beer machines, at-home brewing devices, and delivery services.

Consider this mapping of a changing industry, also from CB Insights:

They describe the changing in these categories in more detail:

Craft Beers — These startups are independently owned and produce lower volumes of beer than big brands such as Heineken. Among them, UK-based Brewdog is the most well-funded with $297M in total funding.

Bar Tech — Companies in this category bring big data, online features, and discovery platforms to bars. SteadyServe Technologies ($22M in disclosed funding) provides connected scales to track beer levels in kegs, while SevenFifty Technologies ($8.5M in disclosed funding) offers a marketplace for bars to connect with alcohol distributors.

Alternative Beers — This category includes companies offering non-traditional beers. Province Brand, for one, is developing non-alcoholic beer brewed from the cannabis plant, while JoyBrau offers a non-alcoholic protein-infused beer targeted at people who work out.

At-Home Devices — Startups in this category are making at-home brewing and consumption easier. PicoBrew and Minibrew have both developed at-home brewing machines, allowing users to brew their own beer in small batches.

Delivery Platforms — These companies offer on-demand beer delivery. US-based Drizly is the most well-funded startup in this category, with $69M in total funding.

Experiences — While many craft beer brands opt for taprooms to offer a beer-centric experience, companies such as Hospters are allowing customers to brew their own beer. Another experience-focused startup, Ripples, has developed a machine that prints personalised messages on foamy drinks like beer.

Beer-Derived Products — This category is home to companies using byproducts of the brewing process to offer new types of products. It includes snack bars (Regrained, Anu Snacks), drinks (Canvas), and flour (Rise Products), all made from spent grains.

Self-Service — These startups are making it easier for customers to buy beer conveniently, from vending machines (Beer Box) to self-service pouring dispensers (PourMyBeer) that can be installed in bars, restaurants, clubs, and more.

Brewing Tech — The brewery is also getting its tech upgrade. This category includes companies that are making it faster, cheaper, and more convenient to brew and transport beer. IntelligentX Brewing Co., for example, is using artificial intelligence to reduce the number of iterations needed to create a new beer.

E-Commerce Platforms — Companies such as France-based Une Petite Mousse and Heineken-backed Beerwulf are offering online stores focused on beer.

Source: CB Insights, McKinsey, Mintel

Image: Unsplah

We are familiar with the differences between generations – from “baby boomers” to “millennials” – and how we define (stereotype) age groups most notably by attitudes that are shaped in their formative years. Their experiences while growing up have a huge influence on their enduring worldviews and values, their preferences for brands, and behaviours in the workplace.

The now retired “builder” generation of Jack Welch, who succeeded through “command and control” organisational structures, were not surprisingly most influenced by world wars. The “boomer” generation of Steve Jobs was more inspired by possibilities, like the moon landing. Most boardrooms today are largely populated by “Gen X”, more open and collaborative.

“Gen Y” (also known as millennials) were the first digital natives, unable to imagine life without a mobile phone and social media. As the entrepreneurs, and primary workforce of today, their attitudes are reshaping markets and organisations as we speak. They are now being followed by “Gen Z” who bring a fresh conscience to society. So what happens next?

Kids growing up in a pandemic-stricken world, locked-down and schooled online, will inevitably be shaped by their experiences, and go onto shape the future of markets and work. They are labelled “Generation Alpha” by an Australian research company, McCrindle (see the diagram below). They will soon outnumber the boomers, they will most likely live beyond 100 years old, and as a global population of over 2 billion, they will be the largest generation in history.

 

 

A new report by Canvas8 reminds us that “Gen Alpha” will see an isolationist world as normal, not just because of Covid-19, but because of the politics of Trump and Brexit too. Their values are shaped by incredible tech possibilities, health consciousness, political anxiety, and a call-out culture, driven by millennial parents who are actively conditioning their future views.

In reality these youngsters are already shaping markets – with social influence and purchasing power beyond their years. They will be the most materially endowed generation, born with iPads and iPhones as toys, they will have a gamified approach to learning and life. “Gen Alpha” are the real legacy of today’s pandemic, and will also be most influential in shaping our future.

Image: Unsplash

Warren Buffett turns 90 today.

Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of stockbroker who became a US Congressman. An early school teacher said he showed great potential in mathematics, and “could be a great stockbroker”.

He displayed an interest in business and investing from a young age. He was inspired by a book he borrowed from the Omaha public library at the age of seven, One Thousand Ways to Make $1000.

Much of his early childhood years were marked by  entrepreneurial ventures. In one of his first business ventures, Buffett sold chewing gum, Coca-Cola bottles, and weekly magazines door to door. He worked in his grandfather’s grocery store. While still in high school, he made money delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and detailing cars, among other means.

On his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route. In 1945, while at high school, he and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in three different barber shops across Omaha, selling the business a few months later for $1,200.

Buffett’s interest in the stock market and investing dated to schoolboy days he spent in the customers’ lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father’s own brokerage office. On a trip to New York City at age ten, he made a point to visit the New York Stock Exchange. At 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his philanthropic sister Doris. At the age of 15, Warren made more than $175 monthly delivering Washington Post newspapers. In high school, he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. He bought the land when he was 14 years old with $1,200 of his savings. By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated $9,800 in savings (about $105,000 today).

He graduated from Wharton Business School as a 19 year old. He went on to study investment philosophy at Colombia around the concept of value investing that was pioneered by Benjamin Graham, which had a huge influence on him. He attended New York Institute of Finance to focus his economics background and soon after began various business partnerships, including one with Graham.

He created Buffett Partnership Ltd in 1956, and his firm eventually acquired a textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, assuming its name to create a diversified holding company. In 1978, Charlie Munger joined Buffett and became vice-chairman of the company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHPlLsdW0A

 

The legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway boss is the oldest and longest-serving CEO of a S&P 500 company, and has plenty to celebrate:

  • Over the last 55 years he has grown Berkshire Hathaway into a $500 billion conglomerate that owns a rich portfolio of businesses including See’s Candies, Geico, Dairy Queen, Duracell, NetJets, PacifiCorp, Precision Castparts, and the BNSF railroad.
  • Berkshire’s stock portfolio includes a 5.7% stake in Apple worth $123 billion at the last count, a 12% stake in Bank of America valued at $27 billion, and billion-dollar positions in Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, JPMorgan, and other blue-chip companies.
  • Buffett has taken part in dozens of high-profile deals such as bailing out Goldman Sachs, General Electric, and Harley-Davidson during the financial crisis, and helping to finance Mars’ takeover of Wrigley around the same time. He famously said he only invests in companies which he understands, so rarely in technology.
  • Known as the “Oracle of Omaha” investors flock to his AGM usually held in the town of his birth. He likes to create theatre, for example riding onto stage dressed in leather jacket on a Harley Davidson, and turning his keynote speech into a little ditty which he sang while strumming along on a ukulele.
  • He has gifted $37 billion to philanthropic organizations in the past 14 years. Through the Giving Pledge, which he launched with his great friends Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010, he has also secured commitments from dozens of the world’s wealthiest people to give at least half their fortunes to good causes.

His annual “Letter to Shareholders” is poured over by investors, commentators and business leaders around the world, looking for insights and ideas about strategy and investment. Here are some of the best quotes from over the years:

  • ‘Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years’
  • ‘Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago’
  • “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think,”
  • ‘Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing’
  • ‘You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong’
  • “I’ll give my children ‘enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing’
  • ‘The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow’
  • ‘It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it’
  • ‘You cannot make a good deal with a bad person’
  • ‘Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down’
  • ‘Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Don’t forget rule No. 1’
  • ‘The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything’
  • ‘In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield’
  • ‘It’s better to hang out with people better than you’
  • ‘Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings. There’s nothing being produced in the way of value from the asset.’
  • ‘Price is what you pay. Value is what you get’
  • ‘Only when the tide goes out do you discover who is swimming naked’

Here are links to all of his letters to shareholders, published by Berkshire Hathaway Inc:

And finally, a short birthday wish from his friend and chess partner, Bill Gates, today:

Around the world, there are over 5,500 companies operating for over 200 years since their foundation, excluding government, education or religious organisations. These companies are located across the world, most notably in Japan (3,146), Germany (837), the Netherlands (222), and France (196).

Here are the oldest:

Kongo Gumi

Kongo Gumi, established in 578 AD, is the oldest, continually operating company in the world. Its headquarters are located in Osaka, Japan. This construction company was founded by an immigrant, who was commissioned by Prince Shotoku to build the Shitennō-ji Buddhist temple. Kongo Gumi was a family-run company for around 1,400 years until 2006, when the company struggled financially and became a subsidiary of Takamatsu. Before the merger, it employed over 100 individuals and had an annual budget of around $70 million. It continues to specialize in Buddhist temples today.

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan

The second oldest company in the world is Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, a hot spring hotel in Hayakawa, Japan. It was founded in 705 AD. In 2011, it was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest hotel. This 37-room hotel has been managed for over 1,300 years by the same family. It is located near the Akaishi mountains and derives its hot water from the nearby Hakuho Springs.

Koman

Founded in 707 AD, the Koman Hotel is the third oldest company in the world. It is a ryokan or a traditional Japanese Hotel. It has communal baths and rooms with tatami mats. It was established by Gonnokami Hiuke, who was inspired to start the hotel after dreaming of four gods. In his dream, the gods told him he must live in that location to protect his family over the generations. He built a shrine dedicated to the Gods on the hotel’s premise. His descendants went on to open bathhouses In Kinosaki Onsen located nearby.

Hoshi

Hoshi Ryokan is another traditional Japanese hotel which was founded in 718 AD, making it the fourth oldest company in the world and the third oldest hotel. It is located in the Awazu Onse region of the Ishikawa prefecture in Japan. Management of this hotel has stayed in the same family for 46 generations.

Genda Shigyo

Genda Shigyo, a ceremonial paper goods company, was founded in 771 AD. In 794, it moved its headquarters to Kyoto when the city became the capital of Japan. Today, its offices can be found between the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle. This company specializes in mizuhiki, colorful paper twisted into cords. These cords are used at events such as funerals and weddings.

Stiftskeller St. Peter is the 6th oldest company in the world and the first on the list to be located outside of Japan. This restaurant can be found in the city of Salzburg in Austria. It is the oldest restaurant in the world and the oldest company in Europe. Stiftskeller St. Peter was founded in 803 AD within the monastery of St. Peter’s Archabbey. The restaurant claims to have served several famous individuals over the last few centuries, including Christopher Columbus and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

CNBC’s 2020 Disruptor 50 list is a great source of companies whose breakthroughs are influencing business and market competition at an ever accelerated pace. In particular, this year, they are poised to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic with tech platforms that have the power to dominate.

They are turning ideas in cybersecurity, education, health IT, logistics/delivery, fintech and agriculture into a new wave of billion-dollar businesses.

A majority of them, in fact, already are billion-dollar businesses: 36 disruptors this year are unicorns that have already reached or passed the $1 billion valuation mark. Maybe more important this year: 37 have hired new employees since the pandemic began, and 19 have pivoted their products or launched new ones to meet the challenges of the pandemic.

Technology is already a major part of our daily lives and the public markets, and that will only increase on the other side of Covid-19, from the future of food supply to health-care diagnostics and the way we shop, study, work and pay.

Here is CNBC’s top 50 ranking:

1 Stripe Unlocking the lockdown’s biggest value
2 Coupang Beating Bezos at his own online game?
3 Indigo Agriculture The future of farming is carbon negative
4 Coursera Online ed’s biggest test begins
5 Klarna No online sale left behind
6 Tempus Precision medicine for the Covid crisis
7 Zipline Medicine takes flight autonomously
8 SoFi The future of your financial future
9 Neteera Contactless health
10 Gojek Indonesia’s original ridehail, growing up
11 WeLab Branchless banking
12 DoorDash The most in-demand in on-demand
13 Heal The next big thing in medicine: housecalls?
14 Movandi A network key to the 5G future
15 Better.com Closing the mortgage gap online
16 Grab Southeast Asia’s super app
17 Lemonade A.I.-ing the end of the insurance agent
18 Root Insurance Replacing demographics with real driver data
19 Healthy.io Home-based health testing
20 GoodRx Technology tackling the high cost of health care
21 Eat JUST Just the egg, no chicken
22 goPuff The convenience store gets more convenient
23 Affirm Building new credit history
24 Kabbage A main street lending lifeline
25 Chime No-fee banking
26 Dave Taking down the overdraft Goliath
27 Trulioo Verification for a more virtual world
28 Ripple A crypto answer to money transfer
29 TALA Making microloans add up to a billion
30 Didi Chuxing Riding a post-Covid pickup in China
31 SentinelOne Cybercrime is up; so are defenses
32 Butterfly Network A smarter ultrasound
33 Marqeta Paying with a full deck of cards
34 Apeel Ridding the world of rotten produce
35 K Health Primary (smartphone) care
36 Databricks Data help for data nerds
37 C3.ai The world’s biggest brains building an even bigger one
38 Attabotics Amazon’s ant-size competition
39 CLEAR Biometric screening for a new world of hidden dangers
40 Snowflake A data warehouse in the cloud
41 Airbnb Your delayed destination
42 Duolingo The universal language
43 LanzaTech A carbon-capture moonshot
44 Ginkgo Bioworks The world’s most advanced manufacturing
45 Guild Education Upskilling America
46 Robinhood The new bull market-makers
47 Convoy A monster trucking problem solved
48 Beautycounter A makeover for the cosmetics industry
49 Impossible Foods Doesn’t seem so impossible anymore, does it?
50 UiPath The robots are coming for your boring, repetitive job

TikTok competes with Snapchat and Instagram as the social media platform of choice for most young people.

Since its launch three years ago it has grown rapidly to 1 billion users, and is in the news because of its Chinese origins. While it is definitely a hit with young people, the US President is less keen, using security concerns as an excuse to escalate trade wars.

TikTok’s infectious 15-60 second videos, most often in the form of choreographed dances, have spread rapidly in lockdown. In the UK, for example, 27% of 18-24 year olds now use the app, compared to 7% back in March.

TikTok was created by Bytedance, often described as the world’s largest “unicorn”, founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. The business was recently valued at around $100 billion following substantial investment by SoftBank (double the potential value of its TikTok subsidiary).

Like his compatriot Jack Ma, 37 year old Zhang had an inauspicious start to his career. Having studied software engineering in Tianjin, he joined Chinese travel start-up Kuxun in 2006, its fifth employee, later becoming its technical director.

In 2008 Zhang joined Microsoft, but felt stifled by the corporate environment and soon left to join another start-up, Fanfou (created by Wang Xing, who later founded Meituan Dianping). When Fanfou failed, he returned to Kuxun, which was acquired by Expedia, formerly part of Microsoft. He left to start his first business, in online real estate, 99Fang.

Zhang now had the entrepreneurial bug, and saw in the rapid growth of mobile phone usage, an opportunity far beyond making calls. In China, and other emerging markets, phones were many people’s first experience of the internet, yet phone apps and interfaces were poor. Chinese users had a new thirst for information, and he saw the opportunity of artificial intelligence to push relevant content to users in more personal and intuitive ways.

Bytedance initially launched Toutiao (meaning “Headlines”) which focused on using AI to aggregate and recommend news to individuals, both from established media and user generated content. Most investors turned Zhang down for funding, seeing a Chinese tech market already dominated by the likes of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent.

However Zhang soon found a profitable niche in entertainment apps, sharing viral jokes, memes and videos, It’s first app Neihan Duanzi gained 200 million users in 2017, but was closed down by Chinese censors for being “incommensurate with socialist core values”.

Zhang soon returned in 2016 with Douyin, a Chinese social network that creates short music, lip-sync, dance, and comedy, mostly in the form of short videos. This functionality was significantly enhanced with the acquisition of the American app Musical.ly in 2018, which also led to the launch of an international version of the app, branded as TikTok, later that year.

Zhang remained acutely aware of China’s censors, the concerns of other nations, and the experience of Huawei. He sought to separate the TikTok business where possible, for example by storing all of its data in USA and Singapore. In June, Kevin Mayer, previously chairman of Walt Disney International joined TikTok as CEO, and as Bytedance’s COO. TikTok, with over 1 billion users, is now twice the size of the Chinese version, Douyin.

In the last month, the US government threatened to ban TikTok from the USA, unless it was sold to an American company. Zhang’s old friend Microsoft stepped forwards, and is now exploring a $50 billion acquisition of the social media business. Having already acquired LinkedIn, Microsoft recognises that networks and content are as important as software to its future growth.

As businesses emerge from the initial crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the impacts are becoming clearer. Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb which lost over $1 billion in direct revenues during the last 6 months, says that he now realises that his business will have to fundamentally change. “We got to big, we made some wrong decisions. We need to go back to what we are really about, connecting people. We will change dramatically” he said this month.

Some of the short-term Covid-19 survival measures, like Airbnb’s introduction of online home tuition classes – from cookery courses to salsa dancing – were a great success, and will continue. Some suspended business activities will resume, change, or never return. For many industries – from travel to healthcare – there will be lasting structural change.

Now is the moment, as we shift from survival to slow recovery, that businesses need to be decisive in what to do, and what not. Already, some companies – like Avon, Coursera, Door Dash and Stripe – have made decisive choices during the lockdown period, and are now thriving amidst the turbulence.

The “Survive and Thrive” Matrix

I created this “Survive and Thrive” Matrix as a simple four box framework for you to decide: what to continue, and what to change:

As you work through the “Survive and Thrive” matrix consider:

  • What can we learn from our survival actions, both the temporary activities that we will not continue, and the new actions that we will continue?
  • How can we embrace the new activities in ways that might lead to more lasting change, even change our view as to future possibilities and strategic goals?
  • As we restart activities that were temporarily suspended, how can we ensure that we do not fall back into our old ways, and inefficiencies?
  • How can we combine the new/enhanced and restarted/adapted activities, and accelerate them to create advantage, and shape the new emerging markets?

As Chesky made choices, both in crisis mode when the pandemic hit, but also now in recovery, he has stuck to a key principle … make decisions “future back”. By this he means don’t make decisions purely on the present, but start by thinking what is the future you still want to create, how are the conditions to get their changing, and what will be most important.

This takes both foresight, how you see the changed future, but also insight, how the attitudes and behaviours of consumers are changing, and will change. Obviously, a business with a strong clarity of purpose, will have a better starting point for decision making. Equally, as human and technology issues become more significant, and social and environmental issues become more urgent and popular in society, there are new factors to embrace in making the right choices, and developing innovative ways forward.

Helping you “Build Back Better”

“Build Back Better” is a new online program for business leaders, developed in partnership with GERBUS Academy, starting on 2 September, with 3 x 4 hour online workshops, in which I will work directly with you.

It is your opportunity to step back and reimagine your business, how it can most effectively recover in the short-term, in a way that also creates a better business for the long-term.

The pandemic and subsequent recession are moments of dramatic change in every market, for customers and business. It is challenging, but also a time of opportunity. In fact, 57% of the Fortune 500 companies were created during downturns, when attitudes and priorities shift.

The post-pandemic world is a unique chance to rebuild your business in a better way, one which is more sustainable, more agile and resilient, more future-proofed.

How will you “build back better” after Covid-19?

The program is accessed through GERBUS Academy and will have a global context, but at the same time, practically applied to the specific context of your own business.

The program is build on practical insights from around the world – how companies from Airbnb to Zespri and coming to terms with the consequences of chaos and uncertainty, change and transformation. For some it is a complete pivot in terms of products and services, for others it is a rush to become a truly digital business.

However at the same time, to seize the opportunity of this moment, not just to rebuild the way we were, to to build back better – for a better future – in a more agile and resilient, customer-driven and future-proofed way – but also to address some of the most pressing challenges – how to align business and society, technology and humanity, profits and a higher purpose.

Over these three intensive, practical yet stretching, half-day online sessions, I will guide you through a process for accelerating your business recovery as we move from crisis to downturn, and also shaping your business for a better future.

Sign up for the program here.

“The future of work” has become a hot topic in recent months – the end of the office, the shift to distributed working, careers to contracts, functions to projects, jobs displaced by machines. Yet the real challenge is not people, but the organisation structures that still limit them.

Consider these facts … Only 1 in 5 employees believe their opinions matter at work, only 1 in 10 have the freedom to experiment with new solutions, and 1 in 11 say they can influence important decisions.

“This is a waste of human capability. We must do better” says Gary Hamel, co-author of the new book “Humanocracy: Creating organisations as amazing as the people inside them.”

Humanocracy

“In a world of unrelenting change and unprecedented challenges, we need organisations that are resilient and daring”

“Resilient, creative, and passionate” are the qualities organisations now need, says Hamel and co-author Michele Zanini, yet many organisations are “inertial, incremental, and inhuman”. Organisations should be rebuilt “to free the human spirit”.

“Humans are adaptable, creative and passionate – but organisations are mostly not”. Even though openness, flexibility, and creativity are essential, our current bureaucratic organisations are not allowing us to pursue those qualities, he says.

The BMI Tool

Hamel suggests that most of the bureaucracy that stifles organisations is invisible, so leaders should calculate the “Bureaucratic Mass Index” (BMI) of their organization.

“People pay attention to things that can be measured. To dismantle bureaucracy, then, the first step is to be honest about how much it’s costing your organization” he says. These costs fall into seven categories:

  • Bloat: too many managers, administrators, and management layers
  • Friction: too much busywork that slows down decision making
  • Insularity: too much time spent on internal issues
  • Disempowerment: too many constraints on autonomy
  • Risk Aversion: too many barriers to risk taking
  • Inertia: too many impediments to proactive change
  • Politics: too much energy devoted to gaining power and influence

Not all of these costs can be easily measured, but that shouldn’t deter you from working to calculate your organization’s bureaucratic burden. Hamel calls it the BMI, or bureaucracy mass index.

Here’s a link to the BMI self-assessment tool

Examples of organisations “as amazing as the people inside them”

Of course there are some great examples of amazing organisations that do release the power of humanity. The legends of Southwest Airlines and Zappos have been updated by new examples in recent times, who have gone beyond front line empowerment to reimagine their entire ways of working.

Just this week Siemens, the huge German engineering company said that it wants “a different leadership style, one that focuses on outcomes rather than on time spent at the office … trusting and empowering employees to shape their work themselves to achieve the best possible results.

In my forthcoming book “Business Recoded” I explore more of these companies. I talk to Jos de Blok, founder of Buurtzorg, Zhang Ruimin CEO of Haier, and many others. Some seek to reduce levels of hierarchies, to focus on outcomes not inputs, to create self-managing teams, to let employees choose their own bosses, and much more.

Here are a few of them:

Buurtzorg, the Dutch healthcare business … read more

 

Haier, the Chinese home appliances leader … watch more about the Rendanheyi model

 

Red Hat, the open sourced tech business

Supercell, the Finnish gaming business … read more

Valve, the US entertainment company … read more, including their internal handbook 

WL Gore, the American textile innovator … read more

Image: Unsplash

In an exclusive extract from my forthcoming book Business Recoded, meet one of the most inspiring business leaders, shaking up today’s world. He embraces the opportunities of relentless change, the power of disruptive technologies, and the courage to create a better future in his own vision. In the book, I explore the stories of many of the world’s most fascinating leaders right now, and develop 49 codes that help you redefine the future of your business, and yourself.

The Leadership Code of Evan Spiegel

Evan Spiegel sits in his loft-sized office, taking up the top floor of Snap Inc’s head office in Santa Monica. On the beach outside, young people chat and surf, sunbath and play. Inside, his Snapchat platform enables those same teens and young twenty-somethings to stay connected day and night. Spiegel is one of the them, still in his twenties, but also a multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur founder of Fast Company’s “world’s most innovative company” of 2020.

A little like his hero Steve Jobs, Spiegel studied design at art college, followed by an internship at Red Bull, which taught him much about consumer culture. At Stanford he launched a start-up with classmate Bobby Murphy, initially called Picaboo, which evolved into Snapchat in 2011. He dropped out of college when the app reached 1 million daily users a year later. In 2014 Mark Zuckerberg offered him $2 billion for the business, which he turned down, instead choosing an IPO in 2017, which valued the business at $30 billion.

Then everything went wrong. Spiegel rapidly grew his team to thousands, putting himself at the heart of all technology development, yet Snapchat was haemorrhaging users, losing 5 million in 2018, and losing most of his senior team. The stock price dived by 90% and most people thought it was all over.  However, Spiegel wasn’t finished, knowing that he needed to fix his business, and his internal workstyle. With Murphy he reimagined the app around what consumers liked. He invested heavily in Augmented Reality (AR) tools, and also added crazy rabbit ears to photos, which might sound like a gimmick, but were loved by his young audience.

Apple and Alphabet see the future of the smartphone eventually migrated to some form of headset device, but Snap is focused on its cheap and fun Spectacles, cool designs with built in AR cameras.

The team drove for new types of content, developing a Netflix-style platformfor short 5 minute movies with teen-specific content, and a second app called Bitmoji which allows users to make Simpsons-like caricatures of themselves, and then placing your avatar into animated movies alongside your friends, in Bitmoji TV.

What emerged was a very human approach to technology. While many older audiences might trivialise those rabbit ears, Spiegel knew they could make his technology business cool, desirable and incredibly human.

In recent months, Snap has responded to the Covid-19 lockdown by providing new types of support to users, including a teen-focused mental health app “Here for you” with videos on how to cope with stress and anxiety, and how to support others. Last month Spiegel also formed a partnership with Headspace, creating a series of “mini” meditation apps.

Here’s what happened at Snap’s recent virtual Partner Summit 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7cd65DdP2w

Making technology “more human” will be a key step to progress in forthcoming years. This could be like Pokémon Go embracing augmented reality in gaming or using gaming itself to transform activities such as shopping, like Alibaba’s gamified incentives to attract shoppers its 11:11 Shopping Festival, or Kahoot making education more fun.

© Extracts from Peter Fisk’s forthcoming book Business Recoded