The Trax123™ is the enhanced version of the original market-think® solution which was developed in the year 2000 and has since then been prototyped and copyrighted as an innovative solution for companies transforming for greater market competitiveness through brand-focused strategies. It was created from the observations of an experienced practitioner who realized that companies at all stages of growth have to continue to develop new knowledge structures, work environments, processes and systems before they can readily equip themselves for market-critical competencies. While customer-focused strategies, processes and technologies have long been implemented by successful companies, the brand focus extends the strategic orientations and perspectives of a company to encompass not only what customers want, but also what companies are able to competitively deliver. When brands are created, they demonstrate the synergy between what companies produce and what markets seek. But to effectively create this continuous synergy between the business and market, knowledge, experience and organizational creativity is essential. The Trax123™ therefore accelerates the integration of knowledge, innovation and brand management – business processes not often sufficiently institutionalized for market impact at the majority of our organizations.

All companies would benefit. A maturing company could use the integrated Trax123™ process to audit existing knowledge, identify innovation possibilities and strengthen market goodwill through brand-centric business thinking. A fast-growing company operating in competitive markets would find the approach effective in reprioritizing business strategies to meet changing market demands. A company with stagnant or diminishing market growth could adopt the method to illuminate potential areas of opportunities and risks. And last, but not least, early growth companies could use the solution as a blueprint for strategic action in clarifying market opportunities and therefore the sequencing of resources and skills to be built as the business evolves.

The Trax123™ uses structure, design, technology and process knowledge as the key levers in the integration of new competencies with existing organizational talent and skills. It does not focus on the building of one category of capabilities, but fuses multi-faceted knowledge to promote new behaviours and new ways of thinking and doing within the confines of traditional organization. The target of the accelerated learning is to innovate for sustainable market power through deeper knowledge and to protect this knowledge through brand-driven processes. It targets the rapid creation of a new work culture though a proprietary thought-provoking and design-driven environment. Central to the Trax123™ are the market-think® modules which function together as a discrete “incubator” to continually generate new ideas and innovations. The method also deploys technology enablers (the patent-pending EMP™ or Enterprise Market Planning system) to facilitate new knowledge, customer and learning behaviors. The difference is the focus on experiential learning where participants use real business case studies and processes to reflect, analyze and respond with new methods and ideas in a structured and integrated manner. In short, the Trax123™ accelerates innovative knowledge management and thinking and promotes the creation of brands in the protection and sustenance of market power.

Without exception, our past clients have singled new learning and accelerated understanding of market, customer and competitor dynamics as the key benefit of the program. While impact have varied in accordance to the pre-program skills of participants, organizations who have adopted the market-think® 123 method have built strategic and scalable competencies in market-focused strategies, processes and knowledge. An example is the innovative brand unit built at Petronas Dagangan and the “first of its kind” customer-focused SME advisory unit at the SME Bank.

There are 3 options to the Trax123™ programs. A short “Quick Fix” 3-day version, an extended “Exploratory” 3-week version and a comprehensive “Intensive Workout” 3-month version.

The Quick Fix. 3-day version delivers on a quick snapshot of potential market opportunities and introduces new and condensed thinking on how a company can quickly exploit their current capabilities versus what they can innovate in the future.

The Exploratory. The 3-week version extends the learning of the “snapshot” and details knowledge, innovation and brand opportunities in an action plan to drive brand-driven business strategies and plans.

The Intensive Workout. Finally, the 3-month version equips an organization with the required competencies and organizational capability to initiate the process of institutionalizing effective knowledge, innovation and brand processes to drive the alignment of business with brand strategies.

Almost every function within the organization would qualify – depending on the requirements of company. As the method crosses three major processes from knowledge to innovation and brand management, latent talent and capability could come from any part of the company. The more important criteria for success is the willingness to learn, commitment to the value of ideas, and enthusiasm to be part of something new and innovative.

As a business transformation process and an integrated method which promotes new organizational thinking and action, leadership commitment, the appropriate people and financial resources would improve the impact of the Trax123™. However, from experience we have discovered that project and leadership strength of the team leader and the level of support given by top management affect the quality of program results. Nevertheless, regardless of these occasional “barriers” to optimized performance, the impact of the method has without exception delivered satisfactory outputs in the creation of new and market-critical thinking and capabilities.

The results of the Trax123™ are pre-determined at the start of the project. Occasionally, participating companies are interested only in new learning and new approaches to business issues and problems. But learning in a vacuum has its disadvantages, as without real-time experimentations on actual business issues, organizational enthusiasm and commitment can prematurely fade. The program therefore promotes the alignment of Trax123™ measures against actual business KPIs where evolving gaps between the business and brand performances can be attributed to inconsistencies between business and brand processes, systems and investments. However, as a condensed program, the Trax123™ only delivers on the structure and frameworks to accelerate the convergence of knowledge, innovation and brand management as drivers of market competitiveness. While early results can therefore be achieved through the accelerated learning and short-term applications (such as the impact of competitor knowledge on service and/or product development), longer term and visible success can only be delivered through sustainable delivery of the integrated method.

As a strategic and cross-functional process, the best place for the Trax123™ to reside is with the CEO’s office where strategic decisions are made. Otherwise, there will be insufficient visibility for the project and therefore organizational importance and support for it. While we have located the project at various functions from the change management to the communications and corporate planning units, they all suffer either from the lack of business knowledge and/or the lack of marketing and communications expertise. No function in traditional organization captures or is currently authorized to act on the multi-faceted and cross-functional knowledge and capabilities required in the building of brand-driven businesses. More often than not the responsibility for knowledge, innovation and branding is dispersed across the length and breadth of organization. We, therefore suggest, that the Trax123™ starts off in the project mode under the ambit of the CEO and decisions made later when capabilities have been built and results demonstrated as to where and how the new capability should be located within the existing organizational structure. The Trax123™ unit could therefore be a temporary project with finite objectives and timelines or it could evolve into a new department reporting to the appropriate authority. For example, both the units built at Petronas and the SME Bank were new functions reporting to the Managing Director.

Without a doubt, knowledge management, innovation development and brand creation are three of the most important processes in competitive advantage for any enterprise. Yet, each or all of these market-critical processes appear to suffer from the lack of investment and support at the majority of companies, regardless of the prevailing concern regarding their importance. The continuous practice of the Trax123™ ensures that pursuit of these three pillars of business competitiveness will endure and that knowledge, innovation and branding will eventually be institutionalized as mainstream activities at our organizations.