Who is Your Customer, and What Do They Want?
Posted: September 1, 2009
Author: Randy Shumway
In the late 1990s Levi-Strauss failed to anticipate new consumer tastes in jeans, and subsequently lost $6 billion in market value. Meanwhile VF Corp., maker of Wranglers and Lee Jeans, worked with customers to introduce new styles that increased VF’s market share.
Companies need to approach production and marketing decisions with an understanding of customer needs. This paper explores the relationship between success and effective customer research.
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Author
Randy Shumway
Randy Shumway founded the Cicero Group (www.cicerogroup.com) in 2001 with four people working out of a basement. At the beginning of 2017, when Randy stepped down as CEO, Cicero had grown to over 350 professionals with offices crossing the United States. In 2016, Randy was awarded Utah’s Lifetime Achievement award and was named CEO of the Year in recognition of his professional accomplishments.
Randy’s vision in founding Cicero was to deliver more than mere strategic recommendations to organizations but to actually roll-up sleeves and help organizations effectively execute the ideas.
During his more than 16 years at Cicero, Randy has led multiple transformation and change management engagements for Fortune 1000 clients in such sectors as High Tech, Telecommunications, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Consumer Products and Education.
Having stepped down as CEO, Randy today leads the Change Management and Transformation practice at Cicero as well as the firm’s private equity subsidiary.
Randy is on the corporate board of Snowhite and of Angoss Software (TSX: ANC). He serves on two state appointed boards – the state’s Economic Council and its Education Commission. Randy serves on multiple volunteer boards such as Southern Utah University, Utah’s Employment Taskforce, Boy Scouts of America Great Salt Lake Council, and EducationFirst. He is a prolific author in the Deseret News and in Forbes regarding effective education and economic public policy.
Prior to starting Cicero, Randy was the Executive Vice President and Managing Partner at Answerthink. He started his career at Bain & Company. Randy obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School, graduating with highest academic honors (Baker Scholar).
