Sex And Competitive Strategy: The Madonna Effect

Author: Christian Bamber
Posted: Monday 22nd August, 2011. 10:09:49

The purpose of strategy is to achieve certain enterprise objectives and in nearly all cases these objectives are to survive and to prosper by being better than our competitors.

If corporate strategy is the “where should we operate and compete” then competitive strategy is the “how should we operate and compete” in order to gain a competitive advantage over our rivals, and this is what we will look at this week.

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was for many years the world’s highest earning female entertainer. After five years of struggling in New York, she finally landed a recording contract and in 1983 “Madonna” sold 10 million copies, while in 1984 “Like a Virgin” hit the 12 million mark. Then came a string of chart-topping albums, world tours, movie roles, and a unique image transcending multiple fields of entertainment: rock star, actor, author, pinup.

Now, what was at the heart of Madonna’s long lasting success? Sorry Madonna fans, but let’s face it, it wasn’t outstanding inherent talent! Objectively speaking, her abilities as a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter and actress are modest at best.

However, Madonna possessed a relentless drive and dedication to achieve one single goal, that of superstardom. For the best part of 30 years, she has worked unceasingly to establish, maintain and reinvent her popular appeal.

In addition, Madonna has leveraged upon the talents of others and many of her personal relationships have been stepping-stones to career transitions, most notably her move into Hollywood assisted by her marriage to Sean Penn (and an affair with Warren Beatty!).

From her “street kid” look of the 80s, through hard-core sexuality, spiritual guru, and to philanthropic figurehead today, Madonna’s reincarnations have always kept her fans happy. She knew what would appeal, even if it sometimes meant treading a fine line between the shocking and the unacceptable.

Madonna had a strategy conducive to success and four themes stand out which have been repeatedly observed throughout history in other successful enterprises:

1. Simple, consistent and long-term goals: Madonna displayed unerring drive for stardom at the expense of other aspects of her life, or at least incorporating them into her overall plan.
2. Deep knowledge and understanding of the competitive environment: her multiple reincarnations reflect an astute awareness of the dynamics of popular appeal and what sells at the time.
3. Objective appraisal of resources: Madonna exploited her strengths and protected her weaknesses. For example, her live performances relied heavily on her team of highly trained musicians, dancers, choreographers and technicians as opposed to her own performance abilities.
4. Effective strategy implementation: it’s no good having a great strategy if you can’t implement it. Madonna’s energy and leadership galvanized those around her to allow for quick and effective implementation of a response to the current competitive environment.

So the lesson Madonna can teach us about competitive strategy is to do our homework and understand the detail of the veterinary industry, from the influence of ever changing external factors to what our nearest competitor down the road is doing, and develop or adjust our strategy accordingly.

Furthermore, we need to be realistic about our own strengths and weaknesses and capitalise upon those strengths that can give us a unique advantage over our competitors whilst at the same time recognising and addressing our shortcomings.

And now for a little bit of game theory: Madonna created a unique position for herself – there was no one else like her at the time. The Holy Grail for a veterinary practice would be to do the same, i.e. adopt a competitive strategy that places the practice in a unique and valuable position in the eyes of its clients. There is no point in competing like-for-like with the nearest practice, whether on services offered or, more commonly, price.

The result of such head-to-head competition is a zero sum game whereby no one is a winner and both practices end up grinding their margins down to breaking point. Instead, try to find a unique position by offering something not only valuable but also ideally something hard to imitate, perhaps because you have particular strengths in this area.

For example, someone in the practice may have a certification in a particular discipline of veterinary medicine such as dermatology or behaviour which would be a selling point to many clients.

But it’s possible to get a bit more creative about the offering such as maybe offering an in-house insurance policy for clients and their pets or even a “cradle-to-grave” health package.

Remember, the best positions are obtained by offering something that is hard to imitate and this is where business acumen and creativity are required in equal measures.

Of course, all this is easier said than done but such is the art of strategy. I still didn’t mention Toyota and this will have to wait for another week. At least Madonna got her mention although I do apologise to all Madonna fans out there!

Next week

Financial objectives should be only one of the four pillars of a good strategy. Next week we will look at how and why we should design a well-balanced strategy.

Christian Bamber is Principal Consultant and Director of Approach Strategy, a consulting firm specialising in strategy services to service industries and not-for-profit organisations. For more information, please contact Approach Strategy at christian@approachstrategy.co.uk. Tel: 01225 722 654 or visit their website www.approachstrategy.co.uk

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