Acquire, Synergize, Dominate

Works for B-to-C, B-to-B
This particular merger offers several contemporary lessons, not the least of which is that it pays to cross B-to-C and B-to-B. Although the catalog doesn’t use Covey’s messages in the actual catalog, it has helped Franklin Covey become a leader in paper-based planning calendars.

Even by not incorporating Stephen Covey’s material, this growth has occurred. Why? The combined companies produce books, audio products, classroom and on-site instruction on productivity, “what matters most,” how to live a better life and related topics.

Franklin Covey also offers leadership and organizational alignment consulting services for B-to-B customers. On the B-to-C side, there were Franklin Covey stores in malls around the country, until recently. But overall, the company’s approach was to provide many ways to maximize the value of the planner product, and Franklin became pervasive in its niche.

Niche Powerhouse
The merged Franklin Planner and Covey Leadership became and remains a niche powerhouse. The synergies between these companies was good to begin with and has only gotten better with time. It didn’t hurt that Day-Timers underwent an ownership change and some other shifts during that same period.

But the result wouldn’t have changed if Day-Timers hadn’t been sold to ACCO Brands Corp. The momentum had already swung to Franklin Covey and remains that way due to the constant adding of pertinent content and services.

Franklin Covey’s success illustrates the need for extensive content. Becoming and remaining a leader in a niche always means added value via content. Look at American Girl. Pleasant Rowland (certainly a visionary) did a whole lot more than create dolls from various periods in American history. She commissioned writers to develop stories for each girl and published historically accurate books to go along with the dolls, creating an experience rather than simply a toy.