PPB December 2020

Roger Burnett and Stan Phelps will present "Differentiating With Purpose &Promo" on January 14 from 10-11 amCT during the PPAI Expo Direct-2- You. Register at expo.ppai.org. with doing so, you’re building a well-positioned differentiation strategy, a strategy that has consistently and repeatedly been shown to outperform the marketplace. It’s not simple to execute, and many businesses have made unsuccessful attempts to align on purpose, but those that are successful report results that would make any entrepreneur gleeful. The nature of the work changes when viewed through a purpose-driven lens, but the business outcomes have a tendency to be memorable when driven from a place of purpose. Competitive differentiation was already a difficult proposition in the pre-COVID-19 economy, but a record-setting run of prosperity covered up a number of glaringly obvious problems that have been laid bare when the economy returned to the starting gate: 1 Many businessowners started their business in the time since the 2008 Great Recession. They haven’t experienced this type of economic downturn and have no experience in handling the realities of a constrainedmarketplace. 2 A booming economy created jobs for almost everyone. When there’s sufficient work to keep everyone busy, the need to stand out from your competitors is mitigated. 3 Generational differences between late-career Baby Boomers and ambitious Millennials was already creating tension in the workplace; tension that has nowmorphed and grown with added layers of socioeconomic and racial tensions facing the American public. (Stan Phelps and Brian Doyle do a masterful job covering this generational concern in Gray Goldfish. ) As wemove to the post- pandemic portion of our economic rebirth, it will be of specific interest to watch how the predictions made in the Richard Edelman graphic happen in each of our communities. It’s interesting to witness the localization of spending that can be seen in a robust open-air farmers market thriving in the face of the pandemic as shoppers seekmore COVID-19-friendly environments to buy food coupled with a renewed interest in knowing where the products being bought were grown. Nothing like the farmer www.antwerpdiamondsincentives.com Add Color to your Incentive Programs 18 | DECEMBER 2020 | INNOVATE