“Ask managers to make 10% more profit, and the pruning knives are dusted off. Ask them to grow 10% through acquisition, and a list of take-over candidates will be on your desk in the morning. But ask them to achieve 10% autonomous growth through innovation, and all you hear is silence.

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Because of the high saturation level of markets and the commoditization of products and services, creating value through innovation has become top sport. The most important first step toward innovation is to build a Connected Enterprise — a company that operates as a 24/7 radar station, connected with its markets, consumers, society and technology. Building a Connected Enterprise is today’s number one challenge.”

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Roland van Kralingen is Sage Partners’ subject matter expert in marketing. He is involved in many branding and positioning projects in Europe, where he is recognized as a key contributor to the marketing profession.

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After earning his MBA, Roland started his career at the advertising agency TBWA International. While at TBWA, Roland served as a consultant for a number of large international brand companies. He started the TBWA companies in the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan. In 1986, he was appointed to the governing board of TBWA International. After the sale of TBWA to BBDO in 1992, Roland started The Positioning Group, serving an international customer base concerned with product positioning and innovation challenges. In 2006, Roland and his son Rogier founded the consultancy firm INNOA, operating out of a beautiful historic church in Amsterdam and serving clients across Europe. Most recently he has launched the Marketing Fund, acting the CMO for client companies.

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Roland is senior fellow at the University of Groningen and guest lecturer at the Nyenrode University and Erasmus University Business School. He has written a number of books on innovation and branding, listed below. Roland’s favourite saying is: “Fortune favours the bold.”

 

Books by Roland van Kralingen:

• Superbrands

• Make Dust or Eat Dust

• The Transparent World

• Brandworld: Rethinking Branding

• The Growth Engine