September 12, 2023
August 5, 2022
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has always been a strong proponent of the “Day 1” business outlook. In fact, he’s preached the idea so often that it has become one of the company’s internal mantras. The Day 1 mentality means that even though Amazon is nearly 25 years old, the company treats every day like it’s the first day of their new startup.
Day 1 is an incredible idea – it’s a way to stay relevant and on your toes. Every successful startup begins with a solution to some problem or need. A promising startup focuses on what the consumer needs, and how they want it, even if they don’t know it yet.
“The outside world can push you into Day 2 if you won’t or can’t embrace powerful trends quickly. If you fight them, you’re probably fighting the future. Embrace them and you have a tailwind”—Jeff Bezos
Bezos suggests that strong trends are not that hard spot in today’s world. Many big companies get caught up with what has worked for them in the past instead of embracing what the present and future call for. That’s what Day 1 is all about; attacking every day by searching for ways to become and stay relevant to your customers.
Discover more about Amazon in our Explained series:
Does it work?
The concept of Bezos Day 1 mentality has received its fair share of backlash within the business community. The chief argument against the Day 1 ideology is that most companies and startups don’t know the first thing about anything when they first begin; so why stay in that awkward growing phase? The answer to that is simple: When you treat every day like it’s Day 1, you’re not simply sitting stagnant on the information you had at the start. You’re building on what you’ve learned, and you continue to evolve. Amazon certainly hasn’t been stuck in the past – quite the opposite. Amazon is now worth north of $1 trillion and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
When you look at the incredible success of Amazon, it’s hard to ignore the idea of Day 1. If it works for Jeff Bezos and the second largest company in the world, there has to be something to it. Bezos holds that it isn’t enough to have Day 1 be in your mission statement – it has to be a constant reminder. That’s why the main office building that Bezos works out of is named Day 1.
Day 2
Bezos is dead-set on maintaining a business culture that will continue to innovate, create and look outwardly towards successful trends. Day 2 brings comfort and contentment with how things have been. That’s why Amazon maintains a “never Day 2” attitude.
“Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.” -Jeff Bezos
To hold to the Day 1 mentality, you cannot be afraid of change. You must recognize how you can create a better future for your company. The absolute best way to do this is to hire the right talent around you. It may cost more initially, and it might be hard to find the right people. But when you build a team of innovative professionals, the possibilities are endless.
Be sure to allow your team leaders and other specialists freedom to do their job creatively. The best change happens when you allow the best minds access to their potential.
Day 1 Keys
In a 2016 letter to shareholders, Bezos outlined the following four keys to maintaining the Day 1 mentality.
1. True Customer Obsession
“Even when they don’t yet know it, customers want something better, and your desire to delight customers will drive you to invent on their behalf.”
Here we learn that it’s just not enough to supply a product that the customer needs. To be truly relevant to the consumer, you must provide an experience and a product before they even know they want it! You must research, observe and obsess over the clients.
2. Resist Proxies
“As companies get larger and more complex, there’s a tendency to manage to proxies. This comes in many shapes and sizes, and it’s dangerous, subtle, and very Day 2.”
No amount of calculations can guarantee repeated results in business. If you focus on the process, you are likely to lose sight of the outcome.
3. Embrace External Trends
“Big trends are not that hard to spot (they get talked and written about a lot), but they can be strangely hard for large organizations to embrace.”
This ties right into the idea of avoiding proxies or algorithms. Allow your management teams freedom to embrace trends – even further, require them to embrace trends!
4. High-Velocity Decision Making
“Day 2 companies make high-quality decisions, but they make high-quality decisions slowly. To keep the energy and dynamism of Day 1, you have to somehow make high-quality, high-velocity decisions.”
Can you see the theme here? Don’t let your business get bogged down by procedures at the cost of missing opportunities.
The Day 1 mentality has had a major impact on Amazon’s success and proves itself as an excellent business practice for all who can commit and stick to it.
Discover more about Amazon in our Explained series:
September 12, 2023
September 12, 2023
August 5, 2022
Emily…
James comes to Podean with a wealth of marketplace knowledge having worked at Amazon Corporate for 5+ years. He worked in many different roles and groups during his time there from Seller Support to Vendor Management. From recruiting and onboarding 3P sellers to new categories, handling highly escalated executive level contacts, and managing vendor relationships he brings an inside understanding of how Amazon works. James is passionate about online retail and brings a client and customer centered approach as the Head of US Retail Operations. Before his e-commerce focused life, James worked across industries that have always focused and delivered results in customer service, account management, and inventory management.
With more than 15 years of experience Alejandro has led some of the most edgy projects in the LATAM region and has built-up high-performance teams from both agency and brand sides. Working with Havas he put together a Consumer Engagement unit for Pepsi. He led a WPP digital solution for L’Oréal and while working with Mediacom he redesigned Coca-Cola’s media team. Most recently he was a fundamental part of Danone’s media transformation into a brand salience unit. He was born and raised in Mexico City, loves being outdoors, listening to music and spending time with his 7-year-old daughter.
Danielle leads media globally for Podean. She previously led the Amazon and e-commerce division at performance marketing agency, Merkle (part of Dentsu). Danielle has deep expertise across all facets of Amazon advertising – DSP, sponsored ads, audio, out of home and beyond. She has delivered significant growth for some of the world’s largest brands including Nestle, managing tens of millions of advertising spend on their behalf.
Before Podean, Travis Johnson was Founder and President of Dentsu’s Amazon-focused consultancy, Sellwin. Prior joining Dentsu he was Global CEO of Ansible Mobile in New York, and also held CEO positions in Australia for media agencies UM, Initiative and Cadreon. He was an Adweek Media Allstar in 2017 and has won over 50 International Awards across his career.
Maddie leads our client management team and also marketing for Podean. Maddie’s team operates as an extension of our client’s teams – anticipating their needs, thinking proactively, and always delivering on time. Maddie is also responsible for all aspects of Podean marketing, from blogs and email newsletters to PR, content, and advertising.
Lizzy manages the Podean media team across any, and every, media solution offered by Amazon and other marketplaces. Whether it’s search/sponsored ads, DSP display and video, Twitch, audio or activations we have the experts to deliver. Every client that her team has worked on has seen a step-change in media effectiveness and sales versus their previous operations.
Jonathan Hawkins leads Podean’s European operations, working with clients spanning all categories. His team assists brands with every aspect of setup and optimization across the region including supply chain advice, logistics, retail operations, analytics and media management. P Before joining Podean, Hawkins was Commercial Director of Square Up media, owners of media properties including Escapism, Foodism and Square Mile. During his decade at Square Up he led editorial, content and most recently commercialisation and sales with a focus on digital products and ecommerce growth.
We have hand-picked the best and brightest Amazon talent from around the USA and the world. Our delivery team of 6 New York based, and 17 Amazon and marketplace marketing specialists ensure our clients receive the best campaign performance. They are experts in retail management, performance media optimization, but also video, analytics, AMC, voice, creative and higher impact executions.
Ashley has covered all aspects of digital marketing in his career, having led digital media for Initiative Media Australia, then managed a team of cross-functional digital salespeople at Mi9 (MSN) and was most recently the Managing Director of ecommerce conversion optimization software company, Ve. Ashley’s leadership, collaboration skills and entrepreneurial spirit drive the Australian business.
Mark is a 20+ year digital leader and before Podean was EVP at Reprise where he successfully launched IPG’s Amazon Center Of Excellence. Prior to this, Mark led mobile and innovation agency Ansible. Earlier in his career he was the Founder and CEO of Concep, an email and performance marketing agency with offices in the UK, USA and Australia.