Patrick Lefler
Patrick Lefler
Patrick Lefler is the founder of The Spruance Group -- a management consultancy that helps growing companies grow faster by providing unique value at the product level: specifically product marketing, pricing, and innovation. He is a former Marine Corps officer; a graduate of both Annapolis and The Wharton School, and has over twenty years of industry expertise.
How to fail in your differentiated pricing strategy
Coupons are one of the many ways that retailers differentiate pricing. But to do so successfully, they must erect barriers (or hurdles) to prevent...
SpruanceQuarterly Summer 2010 has hit the press…
Full Court Press: A John Wooden lesson for today’s CEO In 1964, coach John Wooden’s UCLA basketball team won their first NCAA title; the first...
Oracle hires Mark Hurd; Ellison goes for the jugular of H.P.
Earlier today, Oracle Corp. named Mark Hurd co-president and appointed him to its board of directors, heightening the rivalry between the software company and...
Sun Tzu and The Art of War: Avoid direct confrontations at all costs
Ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu is perhaps the earliest known business strategist. He is credited with authoring The Art of War, one of the...
Is Volvo’s new brand strategy going to stress luxury or safety?
In an article from today’s Wall Street Journal, Swedish car manufacturer Volvo is said to be under the gun by its new Chinese owners...
Unexpected customers from unexpected markets…
For small growing companies, customer development is the most important task to ensure survival. And this customer development process is all about understanding who...
Is Dodge giving away the store by offering a money-back guarantee?
Right now at the Dodge Tent Event, you can purchase a new Dodge, drive it for 60 days and if you're not 100% blown...
Keeping your eye on the ball is worthless if you’re focusing on the wrong ball.
In 1991, Encyclopedia Britannica posted record revenues of $650M. Less than five years later, the famous encyclopedia, once the undisputed repository of all the...
High-performance collaboration
In a earlier post The network is the innovator, the power that the network effect has on innovation was examined. Based in-part on an...
How do you sell a $1,000 handbag that resembles a brown grocery bag?
In an article published in this weekend's Wall Street Journal here (subscription may be required), it’s reported that Spanish leather goods brand Loewe has...
Improvement is not innovation
Improvement and innovation - in today’s world the two terms are more and more used interchangably. It’s a trend that’s been promoted the business...
The network is the innovator
In a 2005 essay written by Phillip Evans and Bob Wolf of the Boston Consulting Group titled Collaboration Rules, the authors highlight (among other...
Is Amazon in the business of selling books or selling technology?
Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article titled The High Cost of a Cheap Kindle (subscription may be required) that highlights some of the...
The FAA learns a lesson from Disney – FastPass for the airlines
There is an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that details the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) recent move to alleviate the...
The birth, near-death and rebirth of Western Union
Western Union is a great example of a company that was able to transition from a leadership position in a waning business sector to...
The importance of marketing and innovation
Peter Drucker believed that business had two primary functions: marketing and innovation. And he was very clear about this is his various writings. "A company's...
Does globalization inhibit creativity?
For the better part of two decades now, the globalization of markets has moved steadfastly forward and for the most part, this has been...
Innovation means abandoning the old…
There are a lot of ways to describe innovation - it’s one of the most over-used words used in business today. But what exactly...
Innovation and the view from the top…
Why does innovation seem to be so difficult for companies to successfully execute? One reason brought up by author Geoff Colvin in his 2008...
Book Review – The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business
Known nationwide as the Retail Doctor, Bob Phibbs has recently come out with a new book - The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing your...