营销大师公开课：竞争制胜之道

    从今天起，我们将在连续六周的每个周五，请宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble）前营销总监、《增长力：如何打造世界顶级品牌》一书的作者吉姆•斯登格带来系列专栏文章，讲述那些追求完美的优秀公司都采取了哪些优秀的做法，以及它们从竞争中脱颖而出的秘诀。

    顶线增长（也称营利增长，即营销效应所产生的收入增长——译注）对于每个聪明的企业领导来说都是第一要务。但是近年来，随着发展中市场增速放缓，加上似乎从各个角度冒出来的竞争，人们对顶线增长的渴求变得愈加迫切，甚至可以说有些疯狂。

    既然顶线增长这么难搞定，为什么企业领导们不好好研究一下如何让企业增长的学问呢？

    两年前我出版了我的第一本书《增长力：如何打造世界顶级品牌》。这本书是根据对50个高增长品牌长达10年的研究，以及我在宝洁公司25年的经验和教训写成的。它的主题是：那些提出并积极践行一个更高理想的公司都获得了极高的增长率回报。

    最近探讨所谓基于理想或曰基于目标的增长理论有很多，我的书只是其中之一。另外两个例子是亚当•格兰特的《予与取》（Give and Take ）和丹尼尔•平克的《驾驭》（Drive）。

    我在宝洁公司学到了企业增长的基本原则。在宝洁工作期间，我看到当宝洁的领导践行某种理想时，宝洁的几十个子品牌在几十个国家都取得了显著增长。在我从事咨询业务的那些年，当企业领导追求某种理想时，也产生了相似的成果。而当他们没有追求理想时，有时我会发现他们就会陷入某些困难。

    于是，我与一位同事，也就是辛辛那提大学卡尔•H•林德纳商学院（Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati）的克里斯•亚伦教授进行了为期一年的全球之旅。我们想去探索商业操作的智慧，看看那些践行某种理念、同时成功地在竞争中战胜了竞争对手的企业都采取了哪些行为和做法。

    This is Part 1 of a series for Fortune.com by Jim Stengel, former global CMO of Procter & Gamble and author of Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies. In today's Guest Post and in five more over the next five Fridays, Jim digs into the best practices of the best ideal-based companies and explores how they outgrow their competition.

    Top-line growth is and always has been the first priority for every smart business leader. Yet lately, the conversations about growth are becoming more urgent, even frantic, as developing markets slow and competition seems to come from everywhere.

    With top-line growth so elusive, why aren't more leaders acting on the abundant learning on how to grow businesses?

    Two years ago I published my first book, Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies. The book is based on a 10-year study of 50 high-growth brands, combined with stories and lessons from my 25-year career at Procter & Gamble. The central theme of the book: brands that articulate and activate a higher ideal -- in all they do -- are rewarded with especially high rates of growth.

    My book is just one of many recent explorations of the power of an ideals-based, or purpose-based, approach to growing a business. Adam Grant's Give and Take and Daniel Pink's Drive are two other examples.

    I learned the fundamental rules of growing businesses at P&G, where I saw remarkable growth by dozens of P&G brands in dozens of countries when leaders acted on ideals. Now, in my consulting practice, I see similar results when leaders activate ideals -- and I see others struggle when they fail to do so.

    So I went on a year-long, global road trip with a colleague, Professor Chris Allen from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati. We wanted to discover practical wisdom, to get "granular," to shed light on the behaviors and practices of leaders who are activating ideals and outgrowing their competitors.