3.2 Platform

Do it with Power AND competitive advantage

3.2.1 Our Point of View

Platforms

Leaders who have Power Platforms:

Have the potential to get closer to the success of their vision
Have the potential to be more successful at winning sustainably over time
Identify and connect opportunities by asking "What if" and "What Next"

Have competitive advantage and opportunity to lead
Need to focus Both Internally AND Externally in order to drive more and better leverage of resources, assets, competencies & technologies

What is the benefit of it?

Help leaders to be prepared for the future by investing in the right competencies, assets, and technologies that are required to win
Provide the ability to pivot to new challenges and opportunities that minimize risk and maximize the opportunity

What is the cost if you don´t embrace this?

Get stuck in the present without seeing opportunities for the future
Lose competitive advantage and opportunity to lead

Key Takeaway: A powerful platform allows leaders to successfully pursue opportunities while leveraging internal and external capabilities to win in the market and create and capture new value

3.2.2 Global Examples

International leaders and their experience in platforms

Powerful Platform -

Good For You

Indra Nooyi

Former CEO, PepsiCo

For Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo the powerful platform is "Good for You" and it allowed Pepsi to transform its future portfolio of products and make them more in line with changing customer needs (healthy lifestyle) and changing global landscape and regulations (tax on sugar).

It also allowed Indra Nooyi to envision essential partnerships to make the platform more robust and create barriers to entry for the competition.

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Major trends supporting this platform

Obesity and Diabetes increasing
People looking for weight management solutions
Government Tax on Sugar
New and Healthy ingredients

Powerful Platform - Crunch

Steven Williams

CEO North Americas, Frito Lay

At Frito Lay, the powerful platform is "Crunch" which helped the company's leader to move beyond potato chips and add new product lines.

Preceding "Crunch," consumers viewed Frito Lay simply as a a potato chip making company. However, after several research studies, customer and other stakeholder interviews, the company realized that what they sold was not potato chips but the joy of "crunch" to its customers by making and keeping chips more crispy and crunchy.

This realization liberated the company and allowed them to diversify crunchy products and appealed to different audiences in different regions, such as 'Nachos with Salsa' in Mexico.

Major trends supporting this platform:

Growing demand for Variety Packs and Healthy Snacks
Snacks for Occasions and on-the-go packing
Increasing household expenses on small consumer items
Regional products that add to the crunch portfolio

Powerful Platform - Binge

Reed Hastings

Co-founder & CEO, Netflix

At Netflix, the powerful platform is "Binge" not only helped to meet the needs of new generation of Consumers; it also created a new pipeline of products.

Netflix began as an online platform that would provide all of its content in one place to its subscriber base. However, with online streaming changing the video entertainment landscape as well as the entry of new players with changing business models, Reed Hastings and his team needed a platform offering more than just online streaming because the switching cost for customers in that market was minimal.

Binge provided the required stickiness and lock- in for the customer base and also allowed Netflix to develop new capabilities and find new markets with help of new partners across the globe. Today, Netflix is more better positioned thanks to the Binge platform.

Major trends supporting this platform:

Growing demand for online content & video
Rise of smartphone-based subscription streaming services
Hyper-personalization of content and video
Rise of Centennials as an important segment of consumers of online content

3.2.3 Brazilian Examples

Brazilian leaders and their experience in platforms

Flavio Pripas

Investor, Redpoint eventures

Fernando Musa

Former CEO, Brashem SA

Jean Vogel

Director of New Business, Agora Tech Park

Description: Flavio Pripas is a visionary who believes leaders will not succeed in pursuing new opportunities by doing everything by themselves. On the contrary, he insists leaders must orchestrate their abilities with outside strengths and networks to increase possibilities of success.

Description: In over 30 years of leadership, planning and development experience, Fernando Musa admits leaders can get lonely in their positions due to the high expectations from their teams.

Description: Jean Vogel's experience in driving innovation ecosystem collaboration has made him understand that every stakeholder has a unique perception of situations and objectives.

Key Insight: Communication is a crucial skill that needs to be developed in order to bring others along with you during your journey.

Key insight: Find people in similar positions or a go-to knowledge network to discuss ideas, opportunities, and build confidence.

Key insight: Align stakeholders and embrace opportunities together in a way that generates results. Leaders must be able to separate the roles of the different actors in a way that generates synergy towards the same objective.

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