Playing Monopoly
November 3, 2009 by Chris Colbert · View Comments
- Image by elycefeliz via Flickr
But the truth is that all monopolies die or slowly fade away. The British Empire. Polaroid. GM. Marshall Field’s. Standard Oil. Facebook. Harvard University. The United States…
So why do monopolies inevitably die and/or lose their dominant position?
Because they end up believing that they are above the realities of the marketplace and the need to evolve, to wholly innovate and constantly reinvent themselves. Their first-to-market position convinces them that their brand position and value proposition are permanently secure. They stop listening to the market, they overextend their offering, they take on initiatives that are motivated more by ego and largess than by practical consideration of what would serve their customers (or citizens) best. They lose focus on what is relevant and what really drives sustainable value. They ignore the competition.
A monopolistic position creates a false sense of competency, alarming forms of “strategic laziness,” and a reluctance to take on what I call “essential risk.”
So is monopolistic aspiration the wrong intention? I think not. The way to avoid the downside of the upside is not to eschew the desire to “own the market” but to eschew ego, to be laser focused about what really matters to the people you serve and to look the truth about it all directly in the eye and act on what you see. Clarity. Humility. Practicality. Candor. Bravery. Ardor.
All key to winning the game again and again.
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Chris Colbert is one of the two founding partners of the original Holland Mark (the "Mark," his middle name). His role is to guide the agency back to its leadership position in New England and ensure that its success is defined by the success and happiness of the agency's clients and employees.
Before relaunching the agency in 2007, Chris was the managing partner of Pile and Company, a leading advertising industry consulting firm. From 1986 to 2001 he was the president of Holland Mark Advertising, the $180 million integrated advertising and direct marketing firm in Boston, and a principal in its sister company BeNow, a $70 million marketing database technology firm. Chris' brand strategy and integrated communications clients have included Blue Cross, TJ Maxx, Universal Studios, Ameritech, Polaroid, Liberty Mutual, The Boston Globe, Thomson Consumer Electronics (RCS), Scholastic, Compaq, and Red Lobster. In addition to his leadership responsibilities, Chris is Chairman Emeritus of the Advertising Club of Greater Boston, a past member of the boards of the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, the Executive Service Corps, and the Greater Boston Food Bank. He currently sits on the boards of the Institute for Health Metrics and HEARTH, and blogs at The Power of Simple.
Chris received a BA in History from Connecticut College and an International MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.
