Week 1: Impressions of the “Business Model Generation.”

This blog focuses on the text "Business Model Generation". The text starts off describing the 9 different building blocks which a business model can be broken down into. Based on those building blocks the author introduces a "Business Model Canvas" as a "tool" that helps generate and analyze a business model.  In principal it helps structuring the business plan by identifying key requirements, which the text names "building blocks", and then looking at the various business activities in connection with the building blocks. The canvas shows all those "blocks" on one sheet, allowing the analyst to gain a good overview over the advantages and disadvantages of the business model.

I like the simplicity of the tool and to me the key requirements, or building blocks, of the business model make sense. They might not be exhaustive, but are certainly a good starting point. It doesn't claim to be the only tool needed and doesn't replace other marketing and business analysis tools but rather complements those. It's main advantage is the overview over the main business areas.

Week 1: New opportunities for marketing

"The age of engage" certainly provides an interesting overview over the opportunities the evolution of the web presents for the marketers, but also emphasizes the potential potholes in the road over which a marketer can stumble. The piece nicely lists the differences between the static web 1 and the interactive, inclusive nature of the web 2. It surely is a good time for the consumer to pick and choose information channels and gather info through social interaction on the "life-web". For the marketer it means to give up control over the brand to a certain degree, and it means more of a challenge to anticipate the effectiveness of a marketing campaign, given the uncertain reception it receives in the social web. The company and the marketing group is no longer separated from the society but lives in and is exposed to the community. In a way this is not really a new concept and has always been the case. 50 or 100 years ago townsfolk was talking about shops and businesses in their town, and product related info was spread through social channels rather than from business to customer. The difference now is that we use new social platforms to spread opinions and info in a larger market. This opinions and info provides the feedback necessary for businesses to improve their offerings as well as align their value proposition with the market demands.