The branding challenge

What exactly do you want to be famous for?

GreySpace comment

The market value of a knowledge-based business primarily lies in the quality of its portfolio – the mix of propositions, capabilities and client relationships that keeps a company one step ahead of its competitors.
It therefore makes sense to examine its components regularly and make adjustments to:

  • The mix of propositions, where we can distinguish developing new intellectual property from capitalising on, and commoditising it (which to some extent but not entirely is covered by what Maister calls Brains, Grey hair and Efficiency)
  • The mix of relationships: input-based, output-based and shared risk arrangements.

There is one other portfolio element that GreySpace routinely adds to its investigations, and that is what we call the capabilities profile. Any choice of portfolio only makes sense if bundles of competencies can be fielded that can handle these successfully. Examples are channels to market, managerial abilities, marketing and sales approaches etc. GreySpace tends to focus in this regard on the development of specific networks (or 'communities of practice') that add the required flexibility and focus to parts of the portfolio, while avoiding increases in headcount or organisational complexity.

Case example

For an IT business consultancy, this issue became urgent when margins on its main services range declined sharply over a short period. Directors decided to launch a project which, amongst other measures, had substantial impact on:

  • Client turnover
  • Average client spend per year
  • The speed of bringing new services to market
  • The sales and delivery cost of large commoditised services
The branding challenge