Posts Tagged ‘brand differentiation’
Clever Marketing
Do you remember those TV ads that succeeded in interrupting or engaging us for sixty seconds? That’s what we used to call clever marketing. Today, clever marketing is no longer about creating the best advertising campaign, it’s about understanding your customer’s worldview and how they want to feel—then delivering on that. Clever marketing creates value…
Read MoreThe Story Behind Your Metrics
Lines out the door. An email list that is growing at breakneck speed. Dozens of five star reviews on Yelp. More users, subscribers or members all adding to the value of your platform. These are the stuff entrepreneurial dreams are made of. Measuring growth and how it happens feels important. But ‘more’ isn’t the only…
Read More6 Brand Storytelling Lessons From Santa Claus
I will never forget the day that the illusion of Santa was destroyed for my children. We were at a local tourist attraction in the UK during school holidays, a visit to Santa was included in the ticket. We joined the queue just after 1pm to discover that Santa had gone to lunch and would…
Read MoreWho Will This Matter To?
Conventional innovation and marketing wisdom reminds us not to come up with good ideas for products or services to sell, but to solve problems instead. People need to eat, but don’t have time to cook, so open a cafe or design a new food processor with an extra chopping function. The result is six ‘me…
Read MoreWanted And Welcomed
We still have a landline phone at home to make it easy and more economical for elderly relatives overseas to get in touch. It rings at lunchtime and at around 6pm every day. We don’t pick up, because we know these particular calls are not ones we want or welcome. I often wonder what the…
Read MoreSorry: Easy To Say, Not So Easy To Do
The assistant serving at the counter apologised for the long wait, then for not having received the order and finally for having no change. The cycle continued with every customer she served. There was a sorry for the wrong order given and one for the fact that the croissants hadn’t arrived that morning. And with…
Read MoreSatisfaction Vs. Sentiment
Have you ever filled in one of those, ‘we value your feedback’ customer satisfaction surveys at the end of a meal or a service call? Perhaps you have used them to ask customers to rate your service? The theory being that satisfied customers are the end game. Deliver on expectations and people will surely come…
Read MoreTwo Important Characteristics Of Successful Innovations, Products And Services
Successful innovations always start with the customer’s story. The products and services people use AND keep coming back to, create a change in that story. There is life before the product or service existed and a different life after. And so if follows then, that we succeed by thinking less about what we’re creating, and…
Read MoreHow To Find Tomorrow’s Customers
Most businesses, whatever their size are focused on growth. We want more leads, more fans, readers or subscribers, who will become more customers, resulting in more sales and more profits. We usually have a plan to get them, which involves cultivating the people we hope will be tomorrow’s customers. And all the while we are…
Read MorePersuasion, Proof And The Place You Want To Be
As marketers we have historically relied on material advantages to differentiate our products and services, then used them to persuade customers to buy them. If your product is lighter or more energy efficient, the thinking goes, then you’re giving customers a logical reason to choose your brand over your competitor’s. In an age of product…
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