MasterCard's keys to survival

The credit card underdog is taking on rival Visa with smart technology, memorable marketing, and global ambition. But what happens when consumers put their cards away?

FORTUNE, October 23, 2008 — On the desktop screens at MasterCard Worldwide, you can see the economic pulse of the globe in real time. In the suburban St. Louis control center of MasterCard's global-payments network, rows of analysts keep watch over the flow of nearly 20 billion transactions a year in 210 countries, more than the United Nations has members. When the matrix of green lights flashes a red spot, the money traffic controllers immediately reroute the transactions to keep commerce flowing.

Meanwhile, in suburban New York City, the staff at MasterCard Advisors monitors the payment network, plus surveys and other outside data, to produce bulletins on America's retail health. In early October, days before retailers released their monthly results, Advisors noted sharply... continue reading

General Mills CMO Talks Growth, Sustainability†

Brandweek, October 17, 2008 — In today's tough economy, when food companies are battling escalating ingredient costs, heavily scrutinized marketing practices and fluctuating stocks, General Mills is driving growth with a business model that includes marketing at its core.

Mark Addicks, CMO and svp of General Mills, revealed what those strategies were during a speech this morning at the Association of National Advertisers' conference in Orlando, Fla. Addicks credited "leadership, scale and leverage" as the three factors fueling General Mill's brand portfolio in an unstable food business.

What's New at MySpace

With Facebook surging, cofounders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have gone back to their roots -- music, pop culture, and a proven cash-flow ad model -- to spur a next phase of growth. Will that be en

Fast Company, August 27, 2008 — Chris Dewolfe, the lanky, shaggily hip CEO of Myspace, is holding his last meeting of the day from a prone position, a collection of long limbs stacked on a tiny red love seat. The early evening powwow, taking place in the cramped office of his senior communications director, is interrupted when I come crashing in to say good-bye.

Sprint Puts Positive Spin on Losses

New York Times, August 7, 2008 — Sprint Nextel, the troubled No. 3 wireless carrier, lost nearly a million customers in the second quarter. But the company says it lost some of them on purpose.

Meanwhile its chief rivals, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, respectively gained 1.3 million and 1.5 million new wireless customers. As customers tighten their spending during rough economic times and when nearly nine out of every 10 Americans already own a cellphone, winning customers from a competitor is the only way to grow quickly. And at that task, analysts say, Sprint is struggling.

Keeping Up Nintendo's Momentum†

As Wii Products Leave Pipeline, Iwata Looks to Services, New Gamers for Growth

Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2008 — After overseeing several years of rapid growth at Nintendo Co., President Satoru Iwata faces new challenges: how to keep players of the company's videogames interested, and how to cultivate a new wave of customers.

Under the 48-year-old Mr. Iwata, Nintendo has already redefined videogames and widened their appeal beyond the typical young male player who favors fast, action-packed games. Its DS portable game device, launched in November 2004, has attracted young women and an older audience with a touch-sensitive screen players can write on and simpler games, such as the brain-training quiz game Brain Age and the virtual-pet game Nintendogs. The Wii videogame console, released two years later, allows users to wield a controller as they would a tennis... continue reading

What Marketers Can Learn From Twitter's Stumbles†

The Service Is a Victim of Its Popularity -- and Its Unresponsiveness Is Costing It Fans

Advertising Age, July 29, 2008 — What are the limits of consumer loyalty when a particular product or service consistently stumbles, or just doesn't work? What if those stumbles are actually due to the immense popularity of the product?

Any fast-growing brand that has seen its infrastructure quiver under the weight of widespread customer demand should look for a lesson on how not to do things in Web 2.0 darling Twitter.

Pernod Puts Its Buying Spree on Ice†

Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2008 — Ahead of the release of its fiscal-year sales Thursday, drinks maker Pernod Ricard SA signaled a change in its growth strategy.

The French company, which has been on an acquisition binge, said it plans to sit tight for the next few years and nurture the labels it already owns.

"Organic growth is a must," Pernod Managing Director Pierre Pringuet said in an interview.

In Search of Growth Leaders†

Most companies have managers who can turbocharge results. The trick is finding -- and nurturing -- them.

Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2008 — Organic growth. It's the Holy Grail these days of chief executives battered by global competition and eager to find new streams of revenue without always resorting to acquisitions. A cottage industry has sprung up to advise companies on how to achieve organic growth. But many companies already possess the means to turbocharge their sales, break out of industry molds and capture new markets with innovative products and services.

All Systems Go

How General Electric's jet-engine division in Ohio is boosting the company's business in China. A case study in advanced global strategy

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — More than a billion people were watching late last year when the first commercial airliner ever built by a Chinese firm rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai. China's state network, CCTV, broadcast it live, a proud symbol of the country's rising technical prowess. Yet if you looked closely, there was another peacock preening. Of the 19 suppliers that collaborated on the 90-passenger regional jet, only one had its logo on the plane: General Electric, which built the engine. No surprise, perhaps, that GE subsidiary CNBC was the only foreign network permitted to cover the event.

There is no company on the globe that's better at leveraging the multiple parts of its business to feed growth than GE.

Ning's Infinite Ambition

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — Here's something you probably don't know about the Internet: Simply by designing your product the right way, you can build a billion-dollar business from scratch. No advertising or marketing budget, no need for a sales force, and venture capitalists will kill for the chance to throw money at you.

The secret is what's called a "viral expansion loop," a concept little known outside of Silicon Valley (go ahead, Google it — you won't find much). It's a type of engineering alchemy that, done right, almost guarantees a self-replicating, borglike growth: One user becomes two, then four, eight, to a million and beyond. It's not unlike taking a penny and doubling it daily for 30 days. By the end of a week, you'd have 64 cents; within two weeks, $81.92; by day... continue reading