Every truly successful business--those that are enduring, scalable and sustainable--is built on three key pillars: 1. A clear and compelling strategy. 2. Creation of marketing tools designed to communicate the offering to the marketplace and to persuade customers and prospects to purchase them. 3. Training employees and other key players in the mission on the macro and micro components of the company’s strategy and their role in delivering on it. Taken together, rolled out as a continuum, these pillars are the essence of The Idea Chain™.

1. “Great things are not done by impulse,
but by a series of small things brought together.”
–Vincent Van Gogh

2. OVERVIEW
Every truly successful business--those that are enduring, scalable and sustainable--is built on three
key pillars:
1.
A clear and compelling strategy.
2. Creation of marketing tools designed to communicate the offering to the marketplace and to
persuade customers and prospects to purchase them.
3. Training employees and other key players in the mission on the macro and micro components of
the company’s strategy and their role in delivering on it.
Taken together, rolled out as a continuum, these pillars are the essence of The Idea Chain™.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGY
Managing your business based on The Idea Chain™ process is critical because breakdowns or lapses in
any of the vital pillars, virtually assures the failure of a key initiative and, ultimately, of the business itself.
Time after time, strategies created in the executive suite are met with enthusiastic support at the
moment of inception only to go up in smoke before they reach the marketplace. Or even come close to
it.
This failure to move beyond the strategy stage to comprehensive implementation is almost always
traceable to the absence of The idea Chain™ in the organization. The company is likely balkanized, with
executive strategy, marketing and training working in disconnected silos.
In this fractured culture, the seamless connectivity between the key pillars that is the signature of
excellence at the Apple’s and the Google’s of the world, is instead sets of isolated and warring factions.
The Idea Chain™ represents a new way to think about and manage your business. To provide a
competitive advantage more powerful than is available through traditional means, such as the singular
reliance on any one of the following:
•
•
•
•
Product innovation,
Marketing clout,
Meticulous execution, and/or
Training.
The Idea Chain™ is, in essence, a management tool that enables leadership to break down the walls of
separation and the related development of corporate fiefdoms in order to generate strategy, but most
importantly, drive it through to fruition.
The Idea Chain™ is a powerful means of achieving a scalable and sustainable business model. It
involves more than just the development of ideas; companies cannot be in business to simply develop
ideas, they must monetize them. Given its ability to make a powerful impact in the marketplace, The
Idea Chain™ is a “monetization machine.
”

3. The process also assures that marketing is not created for the sake of awards or aesthetics and
training is not disconnected from the strategic direction. In fact, The Idea Chain™ deploys a unique and
innovative training model, Doubt Based Learning™ that reinvents the traditional approach to training. This
is covered in greater detail in a separate white paper by Mosaic Learning.
THE IDEA CHAIN™ OBJECTIVES
The Idea Chain™ accomplishes a series of key objectives:
•
Brings winning ideas to market in a cohesive and seamless fashion.
•
Creates a more compelling and consistently memorable experience throughout every touch point.
•
Cross-sells and up-sells prospects and existing customers across all products/services and
expedites the traditional buying cycle among existing customers.
The Idea Chain™ is simply, but powerfully, the development of a winning idea and the respective game
plan to take that idea and bring it to market to help you maximize ROI. The ideas must persuade and
motivate people. Customers, prospects, employees, members and influencers.
GETTING STARTED
The Idea Chain™ begins with a discovery to analyze the current state of the business and identify
where the fissures are in the managerial continuum. This entails compiling market intelligence by secret
shopping the process, speaking with and/or surveying viable prospects and customers. This is the
equivalent of a deep dive into the business learning where the strengths and weaknesses are often
invisible to the members of the team. The greatest value of the discovery is that it reveals information
about the company and its business model that is so often camouflaged, intentionally or not. This
requires management to take a hard look in the mirror, providing a compass for where and how it needs
to act.
Once the issues are identified, the Idea Chain™ will provide your firm with a unique fulcrum, leveraging
the fusion of strategy and tactics involved in the customer acquisition and retention strategies.
T OUCH P OIN T M A P
As part of the discovery, every point of interaction must be looked at. A comprehensive touch point map
will provide a unique vantage point to view the continuum of contact from prospect to customer and
the on-going communication thereafter to retain customers for life. The process of charting, visualizing
and monitoring the customer experience from end to end will help minimize any brand gap and ensure
consistency of the brand experience at every interaction and with every prospect and client.

4. THE I D E A CHA IN IN A CT IO N
THE I D E A CHA IN IN A CT IO N
MOSAIC partnered with a marketing agency that was servicing a major financial services firm. The
MOSAIC partnered with a a postcard campaign and funneling leads through a call center firm. The
firm had been sending out marketing agency that was servicing a major financial services to a series
firm had been sending out a postcard campaign and funneling leads through a call center to a series
of representatives. The results were mediocre at best. In the course of the analysis and research, in
of representatives. The results were Idea Chain™, MOSAIC and the of the worked together through
collaboration and through use of the mediocre at best. In the course agencyanalysis and research, in
collaboration and through achieve a Idea effective outcome.
several complex issues to use of the more Chain™, MOSAIC and the agency worked together through
several complex issues to achieve a more effective outcome.
The issues included the following:
The issues included the following:
• The creative, messaging and format of the mailers were impersonal in nature and often disposed
of before they even reached format of audience, penta-millionaires in nature customized and
• The creative, messaging and the target the mailers were impersonal with very and often disposed
complex needs.
of before they even reached the target audience, penta-millionaires with very customized and
complex needs. between the lead and the call center/representative was broken. The call center
• The connectivity
•
•
•
•
The connectivity between the lead and the call with a representative and the reps The call center
made prospects jump through hoops to speak center/representative was broken. were passive in
their sales approach, not asking for a consultation. a representative and the reps were passive in
made prospects jump through hoops to speak with
theirentire experiencenot asking for a cold, plastic, transactional, commodity experience.
The sales approach, was a terrible, consultation.
The entire marketing initiatives were over weighted with budget commodity experience.
The direct experience was a terrible, cold, plastic, transactional, and severely underweighted with
response marketing initiatives were over weighted with budget and severely underweighted with
• The direct of sales activity.
response of sales activity.
The challenge and related strategy was to find a way to entice high-net worth individuals, a particularly
The challenge and related strategy was to find a way to entice high-net worth individuals—aparticularly
The challenge and relatedto reach and influence –to speak with high-net worth individuals—a representative.
influence, to to entice financial services representative.
difficult market segment strategy was to find a wayspeak to a their firms financial services particularly
difficult market segment to reach and influence – to speak to a financial services representative.
MOSAIC deployed its Idea Chain™ methodology and developed a series of unique mailing concepts
MOSAIC deployedthrough the clutter of direct mail and increase a element of doubt and increase the
mail, introduce the series of unique mailing concepts
designed to break its Idea Chain™ methodology and developed the likelihood of reaching the prospect.
designed to break through a box containing a basic and increase receiving a Loom T-shirt wrapped
Among the concepts, the prospect. Among themail white men’s Fruit likelihood of reaching a pair ofin
likelihood of reaching was the clutter of direct concepts, was a the of the shoebox with the prospect.
Amongbandconcepts, was a box containingcontained the element of surprise needed to capture a in
a belly the blackmessaging. The packagethe basic with a men’s Fruit of the Loom T-shirt wrapped
basic men’s with dress shoe wrapped in a front white red belly band containing a direct message.
a belly band with messaging. The package contained powerful; theof selectiveneeded to capture a The
prospect’s attention. The messaging of surprise needed to capture a surprisewould never attention. the
The package contained the element was simple, yet the element prospect prospect’s purchase
prospect’s attention. Theyet powerful, they partner with what they services firm that be doing; justthe
average person’ssimple, so why wouldlaunching doubt in a financial prospectpresently served the average
messaging was T-shirt, messaging was simple, yet powerful; the may be would never purchase as
average person’s T-shirt, sopurchase an they partner with a financial services firm that served the average
person?
the prospect would never why would average pair of shoes off the rack, then why would they consider
person? with a typical financial services firm that serves the masses?
partnering
Once the concept was approved, MOSAIC and its partner agency orchestrated the entire campaign from
Once the concept was and introduced MOSAIC’s sister company, Mosaic Learning,entire campaign from
ideation to completion approved, MOSAIC and its partner agency orchestrated the to train the team of
ideation representatives on the logistics, the follow-up company, Mosaic and Mosaic Learning’s Doubtfinancial to completion and introduced MOSAIC’s sistersales methodologyLearning, to train the team of
financial representatives on the logistics, the follow-up sales methodology and Mosaic Learning’s DoubtBased Learning™ approach.
Based Learning™ approach.
This is a prime example of how The Idea Chain™ helps companies imagine new possibilities, wins minds,
This is a prime example ofand offers Idea Chain™campaign from marketing to sales.
commands market share how The a seamless helps companies imagine new possibilities, wins minds,
commands market share and offers a seamless campaign from marketing to sales.

5. C ONCLUSION
MOSAIC is proud to take a seat at the table when companies are brainstorming:
•
New products to develop,
•
New market segments to attack,
•
Means of addressing long-standing barriers to growth, and
•
Complex problems stymieing the organization.
In each case, MOSAIC employs the Idea Chain™ with the client as a means of refining its business
model so that it achieves excellence from end to end. In the traditional corporation, the concept of “one
company” is more of a model than a reality. The ugly truth is that functional departments and business
units operate on a semi or fully autonomous basis, having only a dotted line connection to each other. This
appearance of cohesion may satisfy the requirements of a well-constructed org chart, but fails miserably
in the real world acid test of implementing a true enterprise solution for human capital. That is the power
of The Idea Chain™.
To find out more about MOSAIC’s proprietary Idea Chain™ methodology, schedule a complimentary
consultation by calling 301/927-3800 or visiting us online at TheMOSAICTeam.com.