The CEO of Nokia Walks Into A Bar...

Ok, it wasn’t a bar it was a press conference with ex Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, but since you may need drinks with your team to brainstorm after this post, I thought the title was apropos.

Here is some general info to provide a backdrop for our story: Microsoft acquired Nokia in 2013 for 7+ billion dollars. Since then, Microsoft pretty much failed at their version of an “iPhone” and Nokia was sold off along with other assets for a measly $350 million. However, Nokia is free to make phones again as Nokia, and recently announced two new Android devices. This is why they are showing up the social feeds, and how we get to why we are here.

The new phones are stirring up old Microsoft merger news, and in particular, a press conference where ex Nokia CEO Stephen Elop famously broke down crying while delivering this now infamous phrase:

"We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost."

For me, any day a $7 billion dollar check comes my way I would consider a win, but I get why it wasn’t. The iPhone came out in 2007, and Nokia didn’t have or develop a viable a strategy to compete with it. In the few years that followed, Nokia didn’t develop technology that was on “iPhone” trend or ahead of it. They literally missed the opportunity to compete, and became obsolete as the consequence. $7 billion dollars was essentially the cost of that failure, and the ax that ended Mr. Elop’s Nokia career.

But wait, there’s more…

Every failure is an opportunity to do better, so let’s honor the lesson here. As 2016 ends and a new year begins, investigate what your competition is up to. Figure out quickly how to compete with products, service and technology that will disrupt your business, or worse, attract your customers. Develop an internal “think tank” for creative ideas focused on customer acquisition and retention, and new ways to engage with these people unrelated to sales and service.

Beyond what your competition is doing, make sure you are always current with industry and marketing trends. If you don’t have a handle on how to deal with Millennials, now would be the time to figure that out. By 2020, they are the decision makers, and those relationships need to be cultivated for growth now.

A special gift, just for you…

I just completed my annual Print Buyer Survey and I am happy to report that PRICE dropped to #4 out of 5 in importance regarding why customers choose new print providers. It was #2 last year. Who you are is now more important than what you do, in many ways. Keep that in mind at all times in 2017, and THANK YOU all for an amazing year — Print Long and Prosper!