I listened to the Vice-Chairman of Johnson and Johnson, Christine Poon, at a GIBS evening a few months ago. While cleaning up my office for the onslaught of 2006 I came accross some stats she talked to during her 60 minutes with us. It illustrates that even when you get to the top, it isn’t easy staying there. In fact by the stats she quotes it’s easier to drop right out of the running.
Of the top 100 companies in the USA in 1980;
- Only 63 of them remained in the Top 100 in 1990;
- And only 32 of the original 100 remained in the Top 100 in 2004
Of the 68 that had dropped out by 2004;
- 18 exited the Top 100;
- 9 exited the top 500;
- 41 cease to exist today.
And that’s why I’d like to be ready for the next 360-odd days.
I wonder how many of the companies who dropped out or dropped off the face of the earth did so as a result of a combination of 5 things:
1) They became arrogant and thought that they had ‘arrived’.
2) They became complacent because of point 1.
3) They thought they had hit on a winning formula and were focussed on keeping to this formula regardless
4) Because of point 1, 2 and 3, they stopped looking to their environment, competitors, other markets and their customers and lost the race.
5) They forgot the most important rule of all – always be relevant, intuitive and new.
I am very sceptical of these surveys and stats which proclaim a brand or personality the TOP of whatever. It means very little as in most cases they are the result of really good PR and visibility. It’s the ones with staying and adapting power who are more impressive.
Madonna is a perfect example. Much has been written about her knack of reinventing herself. But she (or her very good team) are geniuses at spotting trends and then tweaking these so that it looks as though she is at the forefront of this trend, when it’s more a case of her having her finger on the pulse and being flexible enough to adapt her look, delivery and style.
I would love to see what she will be doing when she’s 80.