Page 38 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

MOST DARING
ENTREPRENEURS

Reggie Fils-Aimé Brad Haley
President and COO/ Nintendo Chief marketing officer/ IHOP
of America Bold move/ Playing a name game
Bold move/ Boosting sales
of a high-tech product with… his past June, IHOP did what
cardboard Tbrands—and especially big,
play-it-safe brands—rarely do
n March 2017, Nintendo intro- intentionally: It created confusion. The
I duced the Switch—a small, por- company announced that it would
table gaming console that became change its name to IHOb and a week
an instant hit, selling nearly 18 mil- later revealed that the b stood for its
lion units in a year and skyrocketing new burgers. (Soon after, it admitted
revenue 500 percent. To keep up the whole thing was a gag.) The
that momentum, Nintendo created a campaign was designed to drive
lo-fi accessory: a line of cardboard- post-breakfast business, and although
cutout kits called Labo, which, when some consumers felt hoodwinked,
assembled, turn the Switch into IHOP felt victorious. “We were top of
interactive objects like guitars and mind for a lot of people for a long
robots. North American president time,” says chief marketing officer
Reggie Fils-Aimé has said that Labo Brad Haley. The company earned
will not only help keep fans engaged north of 40 million media impressions,
but attract new consumers who are but more important, burger sales
less familiar with gaming and inter- quadrupled. “If you’re going to do
Ginni Rometty ested in the build-it-yourself aspect something that’s brave and daring, it’s
of the product.
got to be fun,” says Haley.
CEO/ IBM
Bold move/ Redefining Big Blue
ecades have passed since IBM was regarded as a buzzy
D quarter of revenue growth after more than five straight years
tech company, but it recently notched a third consecutive
of decline. This Lazarus-like comeback was built around the
behemoth’s “strategic imperatives”—its new analytics, cloud,
mobile, security, and social divisions, which now account for
almost half IBM’s total revenue. When someone mentions
Big Blue today, they’re more likely to be discussing artificial
intelligence and blockchain than mainframes and servers.
This is just the start for the rebooted company, according
to its CEO, Ginni Rometty, who told this year’s IBM Think confer- Glenn Chamandy Marcia Kilgore
ence in Las Vegas that its latest transformation is in perfect sync President and CEO/ Gildan Founder/ Beauty Pie P H O T O G R A P H B Y G E T T Y I M A G E S / C H R I S T O P H E M O R I N / I P 3 ( R O M E T T Y ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F G I L D A N C O R P. C O M ( C H A M A N D Y ) ; P H O T O G R A P H
with the data analytics revolution. “Probably only once every Activewear Bold move/ Lowering prices, then B Y G E T T Y I M A G E S / B L O O M B E R G ( F I L S - A I M É ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F I H O P ( H A L E Y ) ; P H O T O G R A P H B Y V I C T O R I A S T E V E N S ( K I L G O R E )
25 years, business and technology architecture change at the Bold move/ Creating a future capping sales
same time,” she told the assembled business leaders in Nevada. for a seemingly broken brand
“When you put AI together with data, you get something more arcia Kilgore has mastered wom-
profound. You get exponential learning. I believe this is the ultimate hen American Apparel col- M en’s cupboards. But the creator
competitive advantage.” W lapsed—spurred by years of Bliss Spa and Soap and Glory took
IBM has already become a major player in blockchain, which of scandal and financial struggle— on her greatest challenge with the
Rometty is convinced “will do for trust and transactions what the it seemed nobody would touch launch of Beauty Pie. Most brands sell
internet did for information.” It is one of the drivers of the Hyper- such damaged goods. Then came products at a 1,000 percent markup;
ledger, a group of businesses committed to building open-source Glenn Chamandy, CEO of T-shirt Kilgore wanted to slash prices. So
blockchain technologies, and it has unveiled several other industry company Gildan, who scooped she developed products at high-end
initiatives. IBM Food Trust is a collaboration with 10 leading food up American Apparel at auction labs and sold them at drugstore prices
producers and retailers to highlight the “most urgent areas” in the in 2017. He has since relaunched thanks to direct sales, membership
global food supply chain. with a focus on digital sales (just fees, and no expensive marketing cam-
Such ventures add credence to IBM’s claim that business one store exists to test prod- paigns. “First thought was, Industry
culture now has more in common with a startup than an organi- uct), expanded internationally, people are going to hate me,” Kilgore
zation with more than 360,000 employees. Under its yearly Global moved production overseas, and says. “Then I realized that women were
Technology Outlook initiative, every project team is encouraged improved sizing. The brand was going to love me.” To dissuade resalers
to present ideas in January, the most promising of which help the once notorious for its sexy ads, from profiting off her prices, Kilgore
corporation decide which new areas to invest in for the following and Chamandy kept the vibe but implemented purchase caps—starting
year. The blockchain division, in fact, was created as soon as it lost the raunch. Now the world at $100 of product per month, per
was discovered that two separate teams were approaching the will see: Can a brand outlive its person—to keep her mission pure,
technology from two completely different perspectives. controversy? even if it meant sacrificing overall sales.

64 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / November 2018