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Benchmarking

I had my hell week last week with 3 exams which were all marketing modules. Then I thought about how nice it would be if I were back in Copenhagen listening to the Services Marketing teacher speak and only attend an verbal/oral test (aptly called oral defense which lasts for only 20 min).

Thinking about him made me remember of his most favourite topic - benchmarking. I remember he always told us that a marketer has to not only know the theories behind marketing, but also how to be creative. Is creativity born or made?

Well, to him, it can be trained.

How?

One way is benchmarking.

The norm for benchmarking is to compare yourself to the best there is in the industry. But to him, this is being myopic.

His favourite line... "Do what McDonald's does. Mac benchmarks itself against, not KFC, not another fastfood restaurant, but F1"









Yes, Formula 1.

It's a good benchmark if you consider that when it comes to the pit stop, the personnels handling the racing car have to be efficient, accurate and ready-to-go in a matter of seconds.

Cool isn't it.

That's probably how M manages to come out top against the others.

By thinking differently, and being a leader rather than a follower in its industry.

So the next time you decide to improve yourself, don't look at your peers... look elsewhere, and you'll probably find something valuable there which will go a long way ;)

Comments

Israel Hotels said…
Informative blog. Benchmarking marketing initiatives lets you determine the effectiveness of your efforts compared to the best practices in your industry. Thanks

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