The big question is: What do the top 0.1% of companies do? In a conference I gave last year at the World Compliance Forum at the United Nations on the use of new technologies, I asked the attendees to raise their hands if their companies had commissioned at least two market research studies. Very few hands went up. However, when I asked those who did raise their hands about their brands, it turned out that most were very large, mostly multinational companies. Here you can find the presentation from the conference I gave at this forum.

Later, I asked two people from the front row who hadn’t raised their hands why their organizations did not hire specialized agencies. They mentioned that their directors viewed it as an expense and preferred to have their marketing analysts handle it instead. I told them: “There you have the answer to why you’re not growing at the same pace. Large organizations invest in hiring the best talent, both internal and external, the best agencies, the best consultants, the best technologies, and the best practices. What characterizes a large organization is having a clear long-term vision and seeking all available resources to generate new competitive advantages. This is not just for their current business but also to explore new businesses and technologies to manage risk. The COVID-19 pandemic made it very clear that no one is secure; any organization can disappear within weeks.”

In this session, we set out to design the North Star (vision) that allows us to adjust the short, medium, and long-term business growth plan. This week’s questions to enhance our medium-term strategy are: Can all our collaborators describe the company’s objective for 2025? Do we have a 10-year long-term growth plan?