Monopoly Rules: Seminal Ideas and New Paradigms for Strong Profits

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Two Key Dimensions of Monopolies: Space and Time
Milind Lele’s Monopoly Rules (2005) has very strong and applicable ideas for any business aiming to gain high profits in a given set of industry circumstances.  It touts the concept of creating a “legal” monopoly through opportunistically exploiting shifts in an industry or market and competitors’ blind spots.  The book’s major tenet? “A monopoly is an ownable space for a useful period of time.”  Lele’s recognition of these two dimensions of space and time as the key to a monopoly is simple, powerful, and extremely useful to any business or organization.  For this idea alone, the book is worth reading, and worth its weight in gold.

Own Space, Not a Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Lele claims that ownable space over a period of time is at the heart of every successful business, not “sustainable competitive advantage” (SCA) as Michael Porter expounds on in his book, Competitive Strategy.  Lele sites that business success is not derived from unique products, strong brands, large scale, low costs, but that these factors are a means to an end, with the monopoly of capturing the marketspace for a given period of time being the true end.  Starbucks, until recently, had a dominant “good-tasting-cup-of-coffee” monopoly without any SCA.  Contrary to everyone’s assumptions, Southwest does not have a SCA of being a low-cost producer.  It does, however, have a “cheap seat” monopoly, and thus it owns the budget traveler space.  The high barriers-to-entry in the airlines industry have allowed Southwest to hold this monopoly for as long as it has.  Wal-Mart’s original strategy and success was derived through being a “local monopoly,” and its large investment in small towns raised its barrier-to-entry into that area.

The Monopoly Kaleidoscope and the Dollars and Cents Value of Monopolies
This critical deduction in Monopoly Rules changes the way you can view business and what should be addressed to be successful.  It is an important strategic paradigm shift, and the key strength of the book is how Lele explains his point effectively and simply through these examples.  He also invests time explaining how monopolies develop through three key factors of a monopoly kaleidoscope: industry shifts, competitor shifts and customer shifts.  To illustrate a company’s market value is often much higher than that of competitors in a monopolized space, he uses a simple formula of revenues per share versus share price to develop a ratio.  Companies with a ratio of 3.5 or higher typically have monopolized marketspaces.  In 2005, he sites Microsoft’s ratio at 8.0 and Coke at 4.5.  He contrasts their success with the struggles of Revlon during this period which is reflected with a ratio of 0.61.  As a University of Chicago Business School grad, I liked his quantification of the real dollars and cents’ effect a monopoly has in terms of a company’s value in the marketplace.

I am willing to talk with blog participants live via phone for free consultations.  I am also available to companies, businesses and organizations for consulting engagements and speaking opportunities.  For any of these request, E-mail me .  I will help my readers in any way possible – I want to share my knowledge and expertise.

Mike Bolden marketing expert and blue ocean strategist – writing to inform, enlighten, and inspire.  Author of forth coming book, “Owning Marketspace”.  Available for consulting and speaking engagements.

Monopoly Rules Milind Lele Sustainable Competitive Advantage SCA Monopoly Kaleidoscope Monopolies Turbo Tagger

Nikon: Marketspaces, Memories and Moments

Competing Against Canon and Other Players
As far as competing against its rival Canon and other players, Nikon should trade lower margins and competitive pricing for volume in marketspaces where Canon and overall competition are strong.  Nikon should seek less crowded spaces or places where Canon is weak, based on the previously mentioned dimensions.  In these weaker marketspaces, Nikon can leverage profitability and sales by offering a strong portfolio of accessories that cater to the needs and preferences of any photographer’s lifestyle or usage occasion and type. 

Emotion-Oriented Marketing and Ads
From a marketing and advertising perspective, Nikon would do well to develop strong emotion-oriented advertisement before and during the holiday seasons.  They should tie ads to customers in each major strategic marketspace for the things in life that they care about; not necessarily photography-related.  Nikon can make light reference to features of the camera, but the ads should focus on capturing memories and important moments.

What Do You Think Nikon Should Do?
As for Nikon’s other businesses, precision equipment, scanners, and microscopes, they should replicate the strategic-dimensionalized marketspaces, except the major focus should be usage.  How would you approach Nikon’s markets?  Is there anything else you would do to stem costs?  Do you agree with my lifestyle and usage dimensionalization as a way to develop camera models, their features, and targeted advertisement?

I am willing to talk with blog participants live via phone for free consultations.  I am also available to companies, businesses and organizations for consulting engagements and speaking opportunities.  For any of these request, E-mail me .  I will help my readers in any way possible – I want to share my knowledge and expertise.

Mike Bolden marketing expert and blue ocean strategist – writing to inform, enlighten, and inspire.  Author of forth coming book, “Owning Marketspace”.  Available for consulting and speaking engagements.

Nikon’s Perfect Picture: Returning to Profitable Growth

Nikon’s Current Profitability Drop
Nikon faces challenging times these days: its net profits fell in its fiscal first quarter to 17.95 billion yen from 23.45 billion yen in the previous year.  According to the Wall Street Journal’s August 7th edition, Nikon had a 23% drop in net profit.  Interestingly, revenue in Nikon’s camera division rose 14% to 165.2 billion yen, boosted by strong sales of single-lens-reflex (SLR) digital cameras.  Unfortunately for Nikon, however, costs wiped out robust sales of its high-end digital cameras.  This growth in costs are due partly to initial expenses involved in the launch of new products such as its D700 SLR digital camera and advertising costs in the U.S.  Additional challenges include rival Canon, who is expanding sales to newly retired, deep-pocketed hobbyists, and people who switch to digital camera from traditional film.  This is a key marketspace because many of these customers buy expensive inter-changeable lenses which lock in future profits for their cameras’ manufacturer.

Focus On Customers’ Lifestyle and Usage
What can Nikon do to stem this profitability slide?  Focus products, advertising, and marketing resources around lifestyle and usage dimensions.  From a lifestyle perspective, Nikon can focus on people who are newly retired, young parents, avid vacationers, special event recorders, party throwers or goers, etc.  From a usage perspective, they can also focus on professional photographers, beginners, outdoor events, indoor events, portrait pictures, action or sporting events, night shots, kids, etc.  The importance of this orientation is to gear and develop models and features based upon strategic and key lifestyle and usage dimensions, and then target given marketspaces.  Equally as important, targeted marketspace selection will minimize ad costs and optimize market coverage.  Similar to its first fiscal quarter this year, Nikon can absorb a substantial ad cost hit initially to develop brand equity among strategic buyer groups, but these costs can and will be lower once the market has been developed.

I am willing to talk with blog participants live via phone for free consultations.  I am also available to companies, businesses and organizations for consulting engagements and speaking opportunities.  For any of these request, E-mail me .  I will help my readers in any way possible – I want to share my knowledge and expertise.

Mike Bolden marketing expert and blue ocean strategist – writing to inform, enlighten, and inspire.  Author of forth coming book, “Owning Marketspace”.  Available for consulting and speaking engagements.

NIkon Nikon’s Profitability Drop High-End Digital Cameras Canon Lifestyle and Usage Dimensions Marketspaces Turbo Tagger