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The significance of product design, for business success, is discussed.

The marketing industry brought about great changes in the 1960's, but current advertising needs to make progress. Consumer loyalty should be rewarded, and overly complicated marketing schemes will probably not pay off. Strategic co-marketing is attracting customers, as the Internet supplies access to a new population of consumers.

Companies may follow four suggestions to discover new opportunities that may enhance their core capabilities. They should first ask themselves whether the products and services they provide can survive in other areas and whether such areas can promote the company's growth. They should then determine whether such a market can be found depending on the company's requirements and ascertain if a promising market exists in new industry identified.

Business management can be compared to painting. Like artists who must capture fleeting images, executives need to look for business opportunities can capitalize on them. Also, executives need to look at their businesses from different angles to gain a better understanding. In addition, employees can be likened to colors on a palette board that need to be integrated to produce a beautiful picture.

Companies resort to a lot of ingenuous strategies to achieve growth in the competitive decade of the 1990s. Companies wishing to find fresh inspirations for growth can start by evaluating ten strategies. Firms can introduce new products designed for convenience, do some backward thinking, engage in co-branding, delivering on their promise, create new marketing strategies, develop new businesses, create a variety of products, develop second-entry product lines, create new images for old products and combine elegance with simplicity.

Companies should adopt innovative product management strategies to achieve growth in the highly competitive, unpredictable business environment of the 1990s. These include introducing products which make life easier for customers, developing products based on 'backward thinking,' using brand multiplication, looking for new market channels, recycling old ideas and offering products which 'offer more for less.' By implementing these methods, businesses will enhance both revenues and customer satisfaction.

Retail chains and wholesale distributors are seen as the gatekeepers to end-consumers and are considered to wield considerable influence over the US marketing business. One of the greatest challenges that the manufacturing industry faces is reaching an agreement with the major retailers and wholesalers that would allow manufacturers to have control over their pricing structure, profit margins and brand image, while at the same time giving them access to the wide customer base of the gatekeepers. Those who are in the best position to bargain with distributors are the manufacturers that offer innovation, variety, brand identity, profitability, quality, and service-responsiveness. Manufacturers who bundle products, train distributors to hone their selling skills, create demand for products and have geographic clout also stand to do well when negotiating with the gatekeepers.

Several companies, including British Airways PLC, J.C. Penney Co, and Taco Bell, have revitalized their growth, earnings, and market positions by changing their marketing strategies. British Airways went from a $200 million loss on operating revenues in 1981 to 1982 to a $412 million profit in the 1990s by becoming more customer oriented. The airline introduced many strategies, including travel services for business-class customers, and special fares for customers over the age of 55. J.C. Penney eliminated its blue-collar image by changing its product mix, developing upscale in-store displays, and improving customer service. Taco Bell increased its market share from 40% to 70% by introducing a cut-rate pricing strategy. Changing a corporation's image involves several steps, including conducting thorough market research, developing a long-term identity strategy, and making a change in strategic priorities.

Several companies have become successful by going against fundamental marketing principles. Body Shop International, a cosmetics firm, spends no money on advertising, selling its products through its own franchises instead of drug and department stores. Body Shop relies on trained salespeople, along with its policy of using natural ingredients, to attract customers. J.C. Bamford Excavators, an industrial equipment manufacturer, has become successful by providing customers with free on-site trials of its expensive equipment. Both of these firms have successfully implemented marketing strategies that are unusual for their particular industry.

New and innovative concepts in manufacturing can provide the field of marketing with fresh ideas to help it meet the challenges of the 1990s. Ten manufacturing concepts that have relevance to marketing include cutting waste; retraining employees; and computer-integrated manufacturing. Marketing departments can redesign products and packaging, resulting in reduced costs for shipping warehousing. Upgrading job skills and cross-training marketing employees insures high product quality even if key employees are absent. Companies can integrate the marketing, sales, and logistics aspects of their business with computers to enhance communications, and expedite order processing and warehousing.

Companies must address the issue of unlearning. This is necessary to allow employees to optimize their skills and competencies. They must first unlearn old behaviors and practices in order to learn new things. Unlearning can be delayed by three sources: physical, emotional and psychological. These delays are important because they provide insight and awareness during the learning process. Some tips on how to unlearn more quickly are presented.

Maketers can apply three strategies to cope with the existing deflationary climate. The first approach is to establish new market segments and promote new uses for current products. Proctor & Gamble Co, for instance, began promoting Pepto-Bismol to travelers with queasy stomachs. The company also began marketing its Cover Girl Makeup to ethnic groups using black models. Another alternative is to offer product-mixes. AMP Inc, for example, shifted from selling connectors to selling wiring subsystems composed of cables, wires, connectors and wiring harnesses. Levi Strauss & Co and The Lee Apparel Co increased marketing efforts for their basic blue jeans, in response to increased designer jeans prices. Revenue can also be obtained from marketing mixes. For example, PepsiCo Inc allows its distribution contacts and vending networks to sell beverages of other companies.

Employees without titles or formal authority are often responsible for the execution of corporate plans. Some of the leadership styles employed by those employees are presented here.

The concept popularized by Canadian author David Johnston called 'triangle of success' may actually be applied to individuals to achieve both personal and professional development. By focusing on one's standard of living, family and self-actualization, individuals may find an efficient means of harmonizing work and family. It is likewise important for individuals to reflect on their selves from time to time so as to ensure that these three parameters are in a state of balance.

The failure of the marketing departments of many companies to adopt total quality management (TQM) strategies often makes them less effective than the manufacturing, engineering, inventory and purchasing departments. Unlike these quality-oriented corporate operations, marketing in many firms is unaggressive when it comes to enhancing customer service, insensitive to the customers' concern for prices, and not too concerned about 'quality certifying' their advertising and promotion agencies. Very few marketing departments have gone as far as entering into partnership arrangements with their major dealers and distributors. Many marketing people are reluctant to adopt TQM because it advocates practices that are inconsistent with the marketers' traditional functions, views and behaviors. For instance, TQM encourages team work while marketers are used to seeing themselves as leaders.

The reasons behind the growing trend towards product design are discussed.