Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Trees...

Large oak trees which grow from small acorns over a longish period of time sounds like a perfect analogy for a small investment growing over a long period into something magnificent.

Might be a bit cliched for some though.

If it's a young business you could use the analogy of a child growng up. Just don't be the spoiled and troubled teenage years at the moment - a powerful, athletic and newly qualified university graduate might be a better look...

Hope one of those helps.

ChrisB

Interesting animals and their young can be a good metaphor for corporate growth.

Elephants, giraffes, tadpoles/frogs, etc. are all interesting, familiar and lend themselves to the contrast between young and adult -- the essence of growth.

The other approach -- perhaps cliche by now -- is the corner store (with Mom and Pop behind the counter) and the successful superstore that results when they do all the right things and grow as a result.

Hope this helps.

As your client is a financial institution, think about money "growing" from a people perspective -- that is, a baby's piggy bank, a child's lemonade stand, a youngster's paper route, the college kid as a waiter, the young adult with his/her first job, etc. etc.

Growth happens, and we always need to make -- and save -- money. But our perspective changes and do our needs.


Another aspect is the KIND of growth. A teacher once asked me if I wanted to be a squash or an oak tree. I looked at her, dumbfounded. She explained, "A squash grows fast and it's life is over in about 4 months. An oak tree grows more slowly and steadily, but it leaves a legacy. What will you be?"

Ahhh, a legacy. That's an interesting approach to growth (rather than pure growth for growth's sake). So the tree analogy just might work.

The idea is that good things, lasting things, take time to grow.

Good luck.

patopatty...

Here's a different approach which might be of use.

I'm thinking of the growth in the relationship the corporation has with its customers - so, you might trace that relationship through the traditional stages of courtship:

1. first sight (how do customers find out about the corporation)
2. asking for a date (how can they test out its services)
3. going steady (how are they treated once they are a customer)
4. getting engaged (what processes endear them to the corporation)
5. marriage (what makes them want to be loyal)

A bit old-fachioned perhaps, but a useful analogy, none the less - just as long as it doen't lead to divorce!

Good luck,
Bob

For a financial corporation, you might enjoy using some growth ideas that are more business oriented.

Building a sky-scraper makes for a great growth idea and has some nice business visuals
- strong foundations
- Good blueprints (planning)
- giant cranes (support staff, partners)
- welders and beam workers (raising the structure over the skyline)

And for a creative idea that might be a little far fetched, but could be original--do you know those great giant termite mounds that end up being 20-feet tall? They're created grain by grain by these little ant-like termites. Could be good images about hard work creating a great, giant structure...

hi there

Growth for a Financial corporation can be measured in various capacities like increase in asset, increase in wealth of clients etc.

so, you can use the graphic/pictures of growth of wealth of one of your client (some model pretending to be your client) over a period of time as an analogy of growth of your Fin Corp.

You can also show a business as a child and show its growth into adult as analogy.

Show only the running legs of a child, a kid, teenager and an adult in succession. This will act as analogy of growth of you Fin Corp.

hope that helps.

cheers!!