Ideas & Insights – blog

Everyone knows about the infamous C-suite, but there may be a new permanent resident joining the ranks of the CEO, CFO, CIO, CMO and CTO: the CDO. The Chief Data Officer first started appearing in Fortune 500 companies five to ten years ago, but in the...

Manufacturers Alliance is one of the best-kept secrets in Minnesota. For over 20 years, the alliance has provided local manufacturers with professional education, training, networking and resources to improve their companies, businesses and more. Their presentations on current topics go beyond manufacturing to include product development,...

The more we become involved in MinneAnalytics, the more we learn the power of big data, and most importantly the insight, training and networking offered by this local (and free!) organization. For those new to Minnesota or data analytics, MinneAnalytics is a nonprofit organization dedicated to...

This week, Axiom sponsored the 15th Annual Society of Concurrent Product Development conference at 3M’s Innovation Center. Like Axiom, SCPD is focused on accelerating innovation, business results and outcomes. Its membership is comprised of corporate functions including: engineering, innovation, marketing, sales and human resources. The 2016 conference,...

Caveat: The following comments are my own, based on my own experiences, with my own personal bias. Recent outrage over Facebook “shaping the news” has me scratching my head. The accusations that editors are preventing some types of news from appearing in the “Trending” section Facebook,...

  A recent article in the New York Times talked about a basic business practice: adapt or die. This is nothing new for business, and something that we deal with in marketing on a daily basis. The interesting part about this article was that it was...

This week, I’m in Las Vegas attending the 2016 Hardware Show. The show is attended by nearly 20,000 owners of independent hardware stores throughout North America and the manufacturing companies who sell to them. These retailers have long struggled to compete with big box home centers...

How non-traditional strategies can help solve customer problems Customer requests within B2B markets are becoming increasingly more particular and individualized when it comes to buying.  Customers want to find businesses that offer the best solutions for the most competitive price. Then, upon narrowing down the competition,...

I was out to dinner with a friend last week, when I suggested he try something new. He proceeded to tell me that he’s a creature of habit who likes to know what he’s getting and doesn’t see a need to branch out. So, I told...

Did you know most people have a shorter attention span than a goldfish (Statistic Brain)? Did you know that simply including the word “video” in an email’s subject line, you could boost open rates by nearly 20 percent, while also reducing unsubscribe rates by 29...