Unlock the Magic in Your Story Now
Get the Free 20 questions to Ask Before Launching Your Idea workbook when you sign up for occasional updates.
Get the Free 20 questions to Ask Before Launching Your Idea workbook when you sign up for occasional updates.
Articles filed in: Marketing
You Don’t Need To Compete When You Know Who You Are
filed in Marketing, Strategy, Success
Before globalisation, marketing, hair straighteners and the bullworker, our tribal ancestors and village businesses stood out by excelling at their craft. They became known for doing the thing other people in the village couldn’t or wouldn’t do. They were beloved for the way they went about their work. Not much has changed about how loyalty is earned, and a brand is built—except for our ideas about how to get noticed and gain traction. Now we look for the magic formula. We try to stand out by doing a little of what everyone else is doing.
The irony is, the people we admire and the brands we aspire to emulate, gain our respect because they are original. Mimicry is futile. You stand out by understanding what makes you unique—not what gets you noticed. Taking a stand that only you can take is underrated.
You don’t need to compete when you know who you are.
Image by Scooter Loweriemore
Choose Delight Over Satisfaction
When a flight is delayed why are the passengers who quietly accept their fate and meal vouchers never the ones who get priority on the next available flight? Our instinct is to acknowledge and take care of the customer who complains the loudest. We work hardest to get the dissatisfied, those unlikely to become raving fans, to the point of satisfaction. This strategy leaves fewer resources to delight our satisfied customers. It’s easy to take the contented regular for granted.
It’s hard to ignore the noisy bell. But focusing on the people who don’t feel they have a voice is the most important work we can do. Who are you taking for granted and how can you make them happier?
Image by Scott Ableman
The Rise Of The Interested
filed in Marketing, Strategy, Success
It doesn’t seem that long ago since a customer would get personal service at a drapery shop even if she was only buying four buttons for the baby cardigan she’d made. A real conversation ensued and colours were carefully matched. By the time money changed hands the assistant knew who the cardigan was for, when the baby was due and how many grandchildren the customer had. In the past, most companies gathered information because they were interested in helping, so they could serve us better. Now we immediately ask for the customer’s email address, we collect data, not out of interest, but often just to leverage it. We’ve allowed efficiency to suck the joy from our work.
Our obsession with optimisation and squeezing the most out of every interaction has led us down the path of knowing the facts, without caring about the stories and the people behind them. I think we’re beginning to realise our mistake. We’re often surprised by what we learn when we express a genuine interest in people. No work was ever worsened because it was carried out with empathy.
Image by Andrew
More And Less
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
We sometimes trick ourselves into believing we can have the best of both worlds. A foot in both camps. Full belly and cake on the plate. Working towards a goal means abandoning an alternative worldview. Brands like Mecca Cosmetica, Lululemon and Blue Bottle Coffee thrive because they are crystal clear about their identity. Like them, we have to choose what we will be more of and less of to create a successful business.
More about service, less about volume.
Less about scale, more about significance.
More about affinity, less about awareness.
Less about tomorrow’s results, more about lasting impact.
More about the right customers, less about the most customers.
Less about reach, more about resonance.
More about the long game, less about near-term gains.
Less about competing, more about mattering.
Being all things to everyone is never a sustainable option. The good news is you decide what stance to take.
Image by Sonny Abesamis
Questions Worth Asking
The progress we make in business and in life hinges on our ability to ask the right questions at the right time. What we need to discern and prioritise are the questions it’s most important to address.
The questions we don’t know the answers to can be divided into three categories:
1. Questions that can’t be answered yet.
2. Questions that aren’t worth asking.
3. Questions we should be answering, but haven’t had the courage or thought to ask.
We spend the majority of our time going around in circles addressing one and two. But it’s three—the questions we haven’t considered that get us to where we want to go. It’s always harder to determine if this is the right path than to inquire, which way next.
What are the questions you’ve been afraid to or have forgotten to ask? These are ones worth answering.
Image by Alexis Mialaret
Copy And Paste
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
If you can copy and paste the same rejection and send it to every candidate is it worth responding?
If you can replicate your competitor’s innovations why bother to invest in your own ideas?
If you can multitask while you’re on a call to a customer was the call worth making?
If you can ignore the email for a week is that a relationship you value?
If you can pay for attention why worry about investing time to earn loyalty.
The point of the work isn’t simply to get it done. It’s to be proud of the way you’ve done it.
Image by Jacob Botter
Unlikely
When you’re shopping at Uniqlo, it’s unlikely a sales assistant will ignore you. When you’re a visitor lost in Melbourne, it’s unlikely someone won’t stop to give you directions and a friendly smile. When you take a sip of Tea & Glory tea, it’s unlikely you’ll confuse it with a cup of Tetley.
The best brands are unmistakable, not only because of what the do and the way they do it but also because of the things they don’t and will never do. What are your customers unlikely to experience?
Image by Patrick Vierthaler
By How Much?
Our financial advisor, who lives in another state, almost 3,000km away, stayed for dinner after our annual appointment last night. Sarah spent time catching up with our boys, chatting to them about their plans for summer and beyond. We exchanged dessert recipes and movie recommendations. Of course, Sarah could have spent those three hours on more measurable or scalable business building tactics. The things that provide her with an immediate metric or result—proof that she’s making progress or doing a good job.
Every new client Sarah chooses to work with comes to her by word of mouth. She’s recommended because of her warmth and humanity, not just because of the measurable outcomes she delivers for clients.
Our best work is often the thing that’s not replicable, scalable or measurable. That’s why it’s our best work.
Image by Sebastian Sikora
A List Of Alternatives To Winning
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
Alternatives To Winning
- Caring
- Helping
- Being human
- Growing wiser
- Inspiring others
- Righting wrongs
- Upholding values
- Giving generously
- Learning patience
- Prioritising values
- Practicing empathy
- Building community
- Leading thoughtfully
- Acting with integrity
- Exploring possibilities
- Encouraging progress
- Making a contribution
- Teaching perseverance
- Fostering collaboration
- Experiencing fulfilment
- Working towards mastery
- Changing how people feel
- Questioning the status quo
- Putting people before profits
- Creating the future you want to see
- Doing work you’re proud to have done
It turns out there are more ways to matter than just winning. We get to choose which boxes to tick.
Image by Odwalker
One Or All?
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
The blackboard on the pavement outside the florist reads; ‘Flowers for ALL.’
It’s a busy spot with plenty of foot traffic, behind a tram stop, a few doors down from the hospital. Maybe that’s why they’re marketing to everyone, instead of trying to resonate with someone. The marketing speaks to passers-by. But it doesn’t consider why they’re passing by, where they’re going, at what time, on which day. The message doesn’t invite the prospective customer to see how the act of buying flowers could change their day or even their week.
What would happen if the florist altered the message on the blackboard every day or even three times a day? There’s no doubt Monday morning’s marketing would be different from Friday afternoon’s. Perhaps, inspiring the office worker to brighten her desk for the week, or inviting the tired junior doctor to get his weekend off to a good start by surprising his partner.
As marketers, we have two choices, we can say something for the sake of saying something, or we can say the thing that will change something.
What would you write on your blackboard?
Image by Florian Lehmuth