Oh, Grow Up

If you want to grow your enterprise, look within.

That's the message from Robert H. Bloom in “The Inside Advantage: The Strategy That Unlocks the Hidden Growth in Your Business” (McGraw-Hill).

Marketers should never assume they know everything about their customers, according to Bloom, a consultant who once served as the U.S. chairman and CEO of Publicis Worldwide.

As an example, he cites Procter & Gamble, which stumbled when it introduced the Swiffer Wet Mop in Italy. The product succeeded in other countries when it was promoted as a labor-saving convenience. But it turned out Italian women wanted products that were tough cleaners, not time savers, and they didn't believe the product could handle real mopping chores.

P&G learned that in Italy, the Swiffer line had to be positioned as “get-the-job-done” tools to clean up in the market.