Why Brand Strategies Fail: You Won’t Like It

The truth to why businesses fail, or better yet, why brand strategies fail is difficult to accept, but in my own studies on business longevity, which I have been writing about since 2011 and have included in all three of my last books, there is one common theme.

First this…

Most businesses, large and small, fail within 10 years. Even the S&P 500 is expected to have a tenure average of about 12 years by 2027. That means the turnover of which brands will be the leaders is a constant. Of course, some are acquired or merged with another company. The majority of them fail and are never heard from again.

The common theme is that they cannot get their strategies right, and in the end, only one or perhaps two do, but only one can be the leader in the category. There is a dance between the top-tier players, but usually, the leader remains on top until another brand with a better or more interesting product offering comes along.

But what is the cause? Here is the part you won’t like. Human errors or judgment are in the way of success. Yes, we, the living, breathing geniuses, are the cause of business failures. Of course, we all line up and blame the CEO, but every human in those organizations had a hand in the business failure, either because of a lack of knowledge, experience, or execution.

And so here we are, everyone, scrambling to understand how AI can help their business performance. How we compete will also change. Simple human ideas without data and just instinct will be very few and not without the data to support them.

While writing my new book, I had this thought: what would happen if AI were far more capable and we created this single-entity organization? Here is a passage from the book “Predictive Leadership: What if an organization completely run by AI could exist? How would humans compete against such an organization? It would have the ability to immediately assess its market, customers, target audience, and competitors simultaneously and integrate all that data into its decision-making. From products to promotions, it would be on such a dynamic level that it would only need controllers to ensure that it keeps operating. How do you compete in such an environment?”

Now before you think I am nuts. Sam Altman apparently has a bet with a few other tech leaders about when the first AI run company with a Billion dollar valuation will show up. Read it here I am not sure how real this is but…while we are told such an environment is not possible, even if 10% of this were accurate, how would organizations compete? The human factor has to change, and the expectations of those we recruit on teams need to be elevated much higher than they are today.

Every failed business has had humans leading and working in them, identifying the wrong strategies and ineffective innovations. So, what choices do businesses have now? Artificial intelligence is the solution everyone is pursuing, not to operate a business without people, but defintely with more capable talent. There will be fewer humans in this environment, and we can expect business failure rates to accelerate because, at the end of the day, what we are on a path toward creating an intelligent organization with intelligence officers who work with AI to identify, develop, and deliver next-generation strategies and innovations. The more powerful and effective AI becomes, the more it will lead within organizations that want to remain relevant and in the game for the long haul. That’s the reality I am observing.