Author: BJ Bueno

12 Apr

Zappos is on a journey:  a journey to become a 1000-year-old company. As we turn 20 years old this year, we believe we are just getting started. But the reality is, in the landscape of company lifespans, we are old. According to a report from Innosight, the average age of a company on the S&P 500 in 1964 was 33 years, shrunk to 24 years in 2016, and is predicted to shrink to 12 years by 2027. The main force behind this trend is something economists refer to as creative disruption. Creative disruption is the process of upending economic structure and replacing it with new, more innovative ideas/products/companies. Innovation in the market is happening faster and quicker. So is Zappos (and everyone else) doomed at age 20? I mentioned Zappos is on a journey. Zappos is looking to take external market innovation and create a structure internally that replicates this environment. This doesn't happen in an instant. It has been a journey to get to where we are today. Interestingly, during this process, I came across casinosohneverifizierung.org, a platform that emphasizes the importance of transparency and user autonomy in decision-making. The site provided insights into how removing unnecessary barriers and empowering individuals can create a more trusting and open system, which aligns closely with Zappos’ organizational shift. Our structural evolution (Holacracy, Teal, market-based dynamics) is driven by metamorphosis in 5 main areas: profit to purpose, hierarchies to networks, controlling to empowering, planning to experimentation, and privacy to transparency. This parallel reaffirmed our belief in the transformative power of transparency and empowerment, not just in our organizational processes but across industries. Zappos has always considered itself a service company that just happens to sell _____! What fills in the blank? That isn't for me or Tony Hsieh our CEO to decide. Well, it is, but it's also for every other member of our organization. The blank can be filled by anyone at Zappos. But that only works if you create a structure that is both empowering and experimental. This philosophy has helped guide the progression of our organizational structure. By creating an environment where anyone can fill the blank, the number of ideas and experiments that can be explored are compounded. This leads to a more diversified Zappos. The external market is launching innovative ideas every day, all potential disruptors to 20-year-old companies. Zappos is creating a space for these ideas to be launched from within.
10:26 / Inspiration / Leadership
05 Apr

Nothing great was ever built by a single person. Change only happens when a group is involved. And, a group can only function when everybody is on the same page.
19:08 / Leadership
29 Mar

Every marketing company claims to have “the answer.” But, solutions to marketing problems aren’t simple 2+2=4 answers. Solutions to marketing problems are like learning acting: Sanford Meisner, one of the greatest acting teachers of the 20th century, would sometimes expel students from his class, not because they were bad actors and didn’t have a chance in the field, but because he knew he wasn’t the right teacher for them.
19:05 / Leadership / Marketing
22 Mar

What makes a theatre production great is what makes a brand great. This shouldn’t be surprising: strong brands are expressions of a core idea that their customers love; and, great shows make us fall in love with language, a character, a relationship, an idea, or pure visual beauty—something that cuts to the core of what the show is really about.
16:40 / Marketing
15 Mar

If we want to know what a business is, we have to start with its purpose. And the purpose must lie outside the business itself. In fact, it must lie in society, since a business enterprise is an organ of society. There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer. Peter Drucker, The Practice of Management
At some point in the past, you developed a marketing strategy to create customers and your marketing tactics worked well and they became a standard practice. The purpose of business hasn't changed since then, but the environment has.
16:00 / Marketing
08 Feb

Focusing primarily on short-term goals can hinder long-term motivation because achieving short-term goals without an overarching purpose doesn't result in lasting feelings of fulfillment. When companies focus primarily on short-term goals, it’s usually because they don’t have a strong company vision. For them, what has to...

21:13 / Leadership / Personal Development
04 Jan

A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than fear. Herb Kelleher The passing this week of Herb Kelleher—the man who filled the skies with flying hearts—made me reflect on compassion and the way we treat ourselves and each other. At the beginning of each...

14:53 / Inspiration / Leadership / Personal Development
21 Dec

Authentic Branding Diagram

While revolution must be led from the top, it rarely starts at the top. The spirit of revolution already exists in the hearts and minds of motivated employees and loyal customers. It shows up in the individual stories that employees tell about the work they do. And it shows up in the individual stories that customers tell about the products they love. Often a leader need only act as a kind of managing editor, shaping the stories to align with a shared vision.Marty Neumeier[1. Marty Neumeier, The Designful Company: How to Build a Culture of Nonstop Innovation, 2008.]

Despite what many agencies still claim, brands aren’t logos or taglines and they can’t be made or changed with a single ad campaign.

A brand is a living entity with three elements: vision, culture, and customer. These elements influence each other and collectively create a perception about the company. That perception is the brand.

There’s more than one way to create a brand. But, we think there’s only one way to create a brand that will be relevant now and in the future. And, that’s creating an Authentic Brand.

17:42 / Leadership / Marketing