About Us
What we’re about
Insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions! BizLife Smarts is a portal into insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions that are often so simple yet elusive. My experience from business and life over 25 years and 40+ countries has become a repository of uncommon sense that can make you successful in both. You must learn to follow the process in that order; insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions. Ditch the 200 page manuals, endless Powerpoint presentations, 9 month waffling studies with no conclusion…..and visit us for a daily dose of uncommon sense, simple solutions to complex business challenges; in bite size, but nourishing chunks…oh, and we also throw in a bunch of life lessons to boot. After all, what is business without life?!
Insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions are more overlooked as a process, particularly in the corporate world, than you would ever believe.
The Nyansapo – Adinkra wisdom knot – which drives our philosophy
“The symbol conveys the idea that, “A wise person has the capacity to choose the best way to attain a goal. Being wise implies broad knowledge, learning and experience, and the ability to apply such faculties to a practical end.” – Willis, The Adinkra Dictionary.
So…I’m sure there’s all manner of snake-oil salesmen out there trying to hawk a similar pitch to you. What makes Bizlifesmarts different? Experience and proven results. It’s that simple. I’ll repeat. Insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions have always delivered results. We are actually fed up of watching the lack of this simple discipline of insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions (yes, I’ll keep repeating it) being ignored, in place of lazy muddy thinking; shortcuts as a means to an end; and plain stupidity or lack of intellectual application driving our economy, industries, professions and workplaces backwards. From my experience 80%+ of the marketplace are stricken by this affliction.
Bizlifesmarts is here to help overcome this.
So…what is the fact-based evidence of our ability to do so?!
Ogilvy & Mather, Rightford, Searle-Tripp and Makin – 1996 Adage International Agency of the Year
From small Cape Town design shop of 4 guys to global agency of the year in 20 years – all this through the isolation of the apartheid years!
The bumble bee hive had several mantras, but key amongst them was ‘We don’t work for the client; we don’t work for ourselves – We work for the brand!’
Insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions drove the quality of the creative product. Being Relevant, On-Strategy, Surprising, Engaging sold a whole bunch of product.
Having not only a clear grasp of your business, vision and mission; but a tight handle on insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions made O&M, R, S-T &M the jewel in the crown of the storied Ogilvy & Mather global network and gave them the right to preserve their “bumble bee” identity, within the Ogilvy network.
Ogilvy & Mather Rightford’s, as we were often known, is where I came of age as a strategist and the environment that put hair on my chest as a professional. The list is long, but believe it or not, here it is. My talents were nurtured and brought to the fore in the areas of analytical and creative thinking, intellectual rigour, candour, originality, perserverance, the discipline of knowledge, entreprenuership and being an inventive maverick.
Kentucky Fried Chicken –
KFC’s glory years were prior to the mid-1990s. They have lost direction since then as they search for an identity, thus the fluctuating brand value. In working on the KFC, we understood it’s essence.
South African Breweries/ SAB Miller
South African Breweries (SAB) is truly an African success story. For 100 years SAB served it’s captive, apartheid market, up until South Africa’s independence in 1994. (I’m sure you’re wondering how ‘success’ and ‘apartheid’ can co-exist in the same sentence).
Each brand served it’s own segregated market. 1995 was a watershed year, where it’s apartheid champion Lion Lager either had to transform it’s brand image or be thrown into the dust heap with that evil heritage. 1995 was also the year a young Kenyan advertising man landed in South Africa for the first time.
Behind the leadership of the visionary Graham MacKay and a keen usage of insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions SAB identified it’s emerging markets competitive advantage to drive growth and became the no. 2 global brewer in acquiring Miller Brewing to become SAB Miller.
With a close to two decade run of global leadership it was evident that the company culture, vision and superior performance was driven by a strong leader. The young man from Kenya learned on the front lines that SAB always carried a gun to a knife fight! With the unfortunate death of Graham MacKay, SAB soon after gave in to a takeover by Anheuser-Busch, bringing them back to the world of mere mortals of the brewing world.
Castle Brewing/ SAB/ SAB Miller growth from big African fish to global whale was driven by visionary leadership built on insights, strategies and fact-based solutions.
The Coca-Cola Company
How does a 125 year old company consistently remain the world’s most recognisable brand and weather the storm of competition, economic cycles, changes in tastes and preferences and remain eternally relevant?! Yes, I’ll repeat it again…by having clarity on insights, strategies and fact-based business solutions. Not only have they clearly and consistently delivered their operational business model, but they have never wavered from their reason for being. Selling flavoured beverages is a means to an end. Their reason for being is to consistently deliver shareholder value!
Of the two things that The Coca-Cola Company is non-negotiably obsessive about, much of the public is unaware of the second. The first is to always be within arm’s reach of desire. The second is to always deliver shareholder value. As a Coca-Cola professional not only was penetrating theproduct’s and brand’s presence to the smallest village, hamlet and outpost, and every beverage for every taste and occasion; but I watch the company’s financial and stock market performance like a hawk. It was a daily routine – deliver shareholder value. As a result of this company-wide obsession, The Coca-Cola Company has not only delivered shareholder dividends since 1920, but has increased dividends in each of the last 55 years!
Tourism Leadership
Tourism sector experience based in Africa but embracing global principles and appeal was in each instance predicated on breaking down each challenge to a simple insight – and indeed, it was always a simple, yet elusive insight. From there leading the due diligence, delivered the strategies and fact-based solutions.
Kenya Vision 2030 and Kenya Tourism Board
- Delivered 20.5% average annual growth of arrivals and tripled annual tourism earnings over a 3 year span.
- Was the team leader for tourism sector strategy development for Kenya’s 2008 – 2030 country economic blueprint.
Regional and global blue chip brands
- Lead revenue management to maintain market leadership on comparative revenue generation, gross margin and overall revenue uplift.
- Maintained market leadership in regional and global economic crisis periods with both growth of individual propertly profitability and opening of new hotels, lodges and camps.
