Travel & Tourism Archive
May 8, 2013 | 1 Comment
Choosing not to preserve a 1000 year old Viking ship doesn’t really surprise anyone in Norway.
For Americans who are used to their own country putting mere 75 year old documents behind bullet proof glass, though, nothing could be more confusing than the longstanding debate about the fate of the Oseberg ship – a remarkably well preserved 1200 year old Viking ship unearthed from a burial site in Norway in the early 20th century.
I have been spending this week in Norway for a series of events and meetings, and yesterday I had the chance to visit the fascinating Viking Ship Museum on the western side of Oslo in a small peninsula called Bygdøy. For over ten years there has been a proposal and debate about possibly moving the ship to a new museum in Bjørvika, Oslo. The hesitation is understandable. Such an old ship may be too fragile to move. And the long term effects of today’s preservation techniques are unknown.
In the current museum, there is a video of a scientist talking about how the preservation techniques used nearly 100 years ago actually caused artifacts to disintegrate over time – the exact opposite effect of what was intended. Ironically, this also leads to the “strategic waiting” debate that the museum struggles with today.
Should the preservation team of archaeologists and scientists preserve the artifacts and ships with currently known best practices, or wait for a newer and better technology to be developed by our future scientists?
This is the same question we might be faced with ourselves as it relates to business strategy. Wait or launch? Use what you have or wait for something else to come along?
Entrepreneurs often say go. Historians say wait. The difference comes from how much patience you have to wait for results.
And that’s ultimately what strategic waiting comes down to – calculating how much you are willing to pay for short term results versus the time cost of waiting and acting later (and presumably more strategically).
In other words, are you better off waiting like an American … or a Norwegian?
March 3, 2013 | 14 Comments
I’m going to break one of my own rules today. Usually, my philosophy for sharing marketing insights is to always use a positive tone. Even when a strategy is executed poorly, I would rather focus on missed opportunities than write about the negative. That usually works for me … but not this time. What doesn’t work is when a brand…Read More >>
February 12, 2013 | 12 Comments
Disney World isn’t just a magical place for families or kids. It’s also pretty magical for marketers too. The Disney Institute has been around for more than two decades teaching business people from any industry how to apply techniques that have been honed at Disney Parks over years and years. Last week as I took a theme park adventure with…Read More >>
December 10, 2012 | 1 Comment
What’s the Trend? New and old friends change the travel experience by curating where to go, and offering more local authentic experiences. Your friends are the new travel agent and tour guides, as a host of new services online and offline enable any traveler to get recommendations for unique experiences from friends. Beyond recommendations, this is also enabling far more…Read More >>
December 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment
What’s the Trend? Technology helps optimize the process of buying everything from fashion to medical prescriptions. As consumers become more conscious about what they buy, where they buy it, how much they spend for it, and how much time shopping takes – retailers and app-makers are discovering that the ultimate competitive advantage may come not from what you sell, but…Read More >>
November 26, 2012 | 2 Comments
As a creative marketing guy, I love a good idea. In fact, I’ve spent many hours sitting in conference rooms brainstorming with teammates to come up with them. So when I first saw Verizon Wireless’ big new campaign called Share America – I was instantly engaged. It is a great concept involving an up and coming band (Hot Chelle Rae),…Read More >>
August 18, 2012 | 11 Comments
Business is unpredictable, but its amazing how much time is spent in corporate marketing and PR teams trying to anticipate and avoid any sort of unplanned events. So yesterday when an Air France flight had to divert from landing in Beirut to an unplanned landing in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Unfortunately for them, payments for fuel in Damascus can…Read More >>
July 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
NOTE – To see a full visual roundup of the best and worst marketing, visit my London 2012 Olympic Marketing – Best & Worst Pinterest Board. As the world turn its attention to the Games in London today, I'll have to indulge my Olympic passion from afar this time around. I've been a lover of the Olympics since I was in college…Read More >>
May 21, 2012 | 2 Comments
NOTE FROM ROHIT: Likeonomics is now AVAILABLE – if you read my previous post and decided to wait to buy it because I asked you to, thank you!! Please purchase your copy of Likeonomics RIGHT NOW! About four months ago I was sitting at home during an unseasonably warm evening in late January. It was the night of the State…Read More >>
May 4, 2012 | 4 Comments
Several weeks ago I was standing on a street corner in New York. (This is not the sentence I thought I'd start this post with, but go with me …) After unsuccessfully trying to hail a cab, I decided to try out an app I had heard about called Uber. I had heard it was useful for those kinds of…Read More >>
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