Marketing Is All About Values

In 1997 Steve Jobs was unhappy about how much Apple was spending on marketing and about the message the company was communicating. He realised that in an increasingly noisy world the chances for any company to be remembered were diminishing and that Apple needed to get really clear about what it was they wanted people…

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Apple’s Not-So-Secret Marketing Secret

Why would anyone buy a 13 inch MacBook Air? Why not buy the Pro? It’s faster, has more memory, it’s actually only 700 grams heavier and .7cm thicker (or 2.4cm ‘thin’ in Applespeak) and it costs exactly the same. Why pay a chunk of cash for less of something? When I asked my Twitter friends…

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Being The Most

In the 80’s Starbucks set out to be the most inspiring coffee brand on the planet. When they forgot this in the 90’s and tried becoming the most ubiquitous, they lost their way. If you could be ‘the most’ to people what ‘most’ would you be? Most reliable. Most irresistible. Most ubiquitous. Most loved. Most…

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The Apple Store, Belonging And Love

What’s the one thing you never find at an Apple Store? That thing you probably found in your hotel room when you checked in. The poorly expressed intention to customers, that guarantees they will never come back. Oh, and it’s most likely laminated and taped up in several places. Ah yes….. a list of rules.…

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Brands Are Shaped By The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Coffee chic is not merely a creation of Starbucks, no more than flawless design is the singular domain of Apple. What these companies do with a clever brand story, is make it easier for us to buy into the wants that we associate as being part of our story. What we actually believe to be…

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Love Is A Marketing Metric

Put your products, service, website, signage, business cards, every touch point to a simple test. Stand in your customer’s shoes and answer one question: what are three things that compel you to say, I love this? ~ Kevin Roberts You can’t go wrong with your brand story and marketing, if you truly are putting your…

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20 Ways To Tell A Better Brand Story

Customers don’t buy your results, they buy the story about the difference those results will make. So have amazing ideas, make great things but remember to tell unforgettable true stories. 1. Name and claim a new category. 2. Clearly articulate what you do, without being boring. 3. Give people a great back story that explains…

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The iPhone Doesn’t Matter To Everyone

“Ideas that spread win.” Seth Godin Seth is one of my heros, he’s probably one of yours too. But I’ve been itching to qualify this quote for some time now. Here’s what I believe. Ideas that matter spread. If you want anything you conceive, launch, or care about to ‘win’ then you’ve got to make…

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How Apple Succeeds By ‘Thinking Different’

“We’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know.” Steve Jobs. Lots of people can do what you do as well as you can do it. If that’s not the case and you’re lucky enough…

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