How Apple Succeeded, While Others Failed

When Apple designed their first store, they made sure that over half of it was dedicated to what they called, ‘solutions’. The store wasn’t stacked ceiling to floor with inventory, instead it was a wall-to-wall space of discovery. While most retailers were showing people what they had in stock, Apple was showing people what their…

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The Real Reason The Microsoft Store Is Empty

Clues about what matters to people and how their emotions drive their choices are all around us and there’s no better time to see evidence of this in action than during the festive season. Slate recently posted two images that tell two very different brand stories. Both photos were taken on what should have been…

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What Customers Believe Is Your Competitive Advantage

Ask any business owner about how they stand apart from the competition and they’ll probably begin with the tangible, the things they can easily explain. “We offer a more competitive interest rate.” “Our products have more features. “We have better distribution.” In 2008 Windows accounted for 84% of personal computing devices shipped. Today that number…

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The Elephant In The Marketing Room

“Although many of us may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, biologically we are feeling creatures that think” —Jill Bolte Taylor I was raised in Dublin, the storytelling capital of the world. There is no place on earth that is more hardwired for story than Ireland, home of Guinness and oversize teapots. Wikipedia…

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Emotional Points Of Difference

Singapore’s Changi Airport doesn’t have the most runways (in fact it only has two), but it does have nature trail complete with sunflowers and butterflies. It’s also known as one of the best airports in the world. The tiny bakery in Hastings on Hudson has a rolling pin for a door handle. Even before you…

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3 Questions Every Innovator Needs To Ask

Microsoft is discounting it’s ‘Surface’ tablet just to get traction in the market. Even with all their innovation and marketing firepower Microsoft can’t make people care enough to switch, or belong. Innovation isn’t just about making something that works well, (I’ve never used a Surface, but I’m guessing it does). And marketing isn’t about tempting…

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The Most Powerful Person In The World

During the summer of 1994 while on a lunch break at his new company NeXT, Steve Jobs struck up a conversation with some of his team in the lunch room about power. Here’s what he told them. “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda…

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Narrow And Deep Vs. The Market Of Everyone

When you were ten years old all any marketer needed to know about you, or the people in your street was that you owned a TV. In a world of limited choices big companies could afford to cast the net wide across the masses. No depth required. This tactic doesn’t work so well now that…

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The Real Job Of The Genius

On a recent trip to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store I discovered the real job of the Genius. While you might think that the role of the Genius is to fix things, it’s not. The first job of the Genius is to acknowledge your problem and to change how you feel. Chad told…

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