Business Transformation isn’t a new concept, but lately we’ve been seeing clients refocus towards multiple transformation efforts. Here, HPA Partner Richard Berger dives into what we’re hearing and why so many firms are looking to change the way they do business.

Learn more about what a simplified IT strategy looks like – and why simplicity is key to its success.

There’s no doubt our personal information, preferences, habits, dislikes and opinions are being collected and used by everyone from Facebook to florists. These businesses benefit from the data they collect on us – it’s time they used that data to our benefit as well.

Retailers like Aldi and Amazon are now challenging traditional CPG companies like Kellogg and Campbell Soup to transform the way they think about and approach both strategic acquisitions and their online offerings. It’s a new kind of competition that goes beyond your typical food fight.

You’ve heard the old saying “if it looks like a bank, swims like a bank, and quacks like a bank, then it probably is a bank.” Or something like that. Whatever the saying was, it isn’t true anymore.

Fantasy football’s runaway popularity – and the massive gambling activity it attracts – are borne from the endless combinations and possibilities it offers. After all, there is no such thing as fantasy boxing or tennis. Two competitors meet, one is victorious and the result hinges on individual performance. A football team, on the other hand, is an interconnected web of capabilities, flaws and potential. It’s a puzzle. At Highpoint, we think about that puzzle in the corporate context all the time and seek inspiration wherever we can find it.

Earlier this month, I spent some time hiking in the Canadian Rockies with my wife, and reflected on my last eight years at HPA and how much the business has changed over that time.

When I started at HPA in early 2009, we were in the throes of a major market correction and business slowdown that many had not experienced in our lifetimes. Today the concerns we most often hear from clients are how to best position themselves in a rapidly changing world.

Social media is a powerful tool that can make or break your business. As I’m sure you’re aware, United Airlines recently learned this lesson the hard way. What this incident illustrated was the speed with which a brand’s reputation can be impacted. In the age of smart phones and social media, companies can no longer ignore incidents or sweep them under the rug.

Once again, much of the talk leading up to this year’s Super Bowl was about the ads and the record billions spent dazzling TV’s biggest audience of the year. Despite our advice from last year, ad revenues spiked a new high, exceeding last year’s $15.5 billion, with each 30-second spot costing $5 million or an astounding $166,667 per second.

When Disney starts bailing on the Boomers, is it the end of the ride for the generation that used to set the trend for just about everything?

Ditching “The Twilight Zone” for a new “Guardians of the Galaxy” theme on its popular Tower of Terror ride, Disney might not be the first to throw Boomers aside in pursuit of younger, hipper Millennials.