brand framing
442 posts
The Power Of Story To Find Value
As business leaders, entrepreneurs and marketers we’re used to leveraging the power of story to describe value. We mostly use stories as a tool for telling. Because we believe the way to succeed is to be more vocal and visible, we create campaigns, sales letters, videos and press releases. We craft
Buzzworthy
On my recent travels in country Victoria, I came across an incredible artisan gluten free bakery miles from nowhere. The owners baked only three types of bread. The bakery sold fresh salad rolls and quality coffee on the premises. As we got chatting about how well they had nailed their story, the ow
What Are Your Words Designed To Do?
How often have you read website or marketing copy that uses words we’d rarely use in conversation? The real estate agent’s copy describing homes as abodes or residences. The jargon in the consultant’s brochure. The officious tone of the notices in the dentist’s waiting room. We’re often left wonderi
Change Making
The story changes the value. The value changes the perception. The perception changes the experience. The experience changes the outcome. The outcome changes the customer. The customer changes the story. Image by Matthias Ripp.
The Power Of Perspective
The brilliant science graduate had a decade of first class education behind her. But the industry she thought she’d been equipping herself to excel in was experiencing a sudden downturn and her hope of finding the work she had trained to do. Her excellent academic record and transferable skills were
How Our Actions And Results Align
If we want attention, we must deliver value. If we want to be innovative, we must practice empathy. If we want loyalty, we must give respect. If we want to be believed, we must earn trust. If we want rewards, we must embrace risks. If we want to matter, we must create meaning. We not…
The Potential Downside Of Maximizing
There’s a great cafe in East Melbourne where you can order half a sandwich. This addition to the menu seems trivial, but it tells us a lot about the values of the cafe owner. He knows that a peckish diner will order the whole sandwich and leave what she doesn’t want. Of course, this would…
How To Learn From The Customer Journey
Many of the businesses you will frequent today have no idea how you became a customer. What’s worse than not knowing what brought you there is either making an incorrect assumption or not having an interest in your journey at all. It’s easier than ever in an online world to understand where customer
Understanding The Value Gap
You may have noticed how commonplace complimentary gift wrapping has become this festive season. In years gone by this service was offered by bigger department stores or as a fundraiser for charities in local shopping centres. This year though it seems that every retailer from the bookstore to the p
The Characteristics Of Successful Ideas
In an era when we have self-driving cars and delivery drones it’s still possible to encounter: Underwear with five uncomfortable care labels sewn into the seams. A beautiful teapot that becomes too heavy to lift when it’s full. Inconspicuous assembly instructions that confuse rather than clarify. Sp
The Path To Business Growth
Sal was already sweating as she blustered into the gym on Monday morning. She sat down heavily on the bench in the changing room. The things she had hastily stuffed into her gym bag tumbled out as soon as she unzipped it. Sal stopped for a second, realising she hadn’t replaced the three-day-old swea
What Are Your Marketing Goals?
We devote a lot of time to growing our businesses—often around the loose metric of ‘more’. It’s worth defining what ‘more’ looks like for your business. You get closer to your goals when you match effort to desired outcomes, and you can’t do that without understanding which numbers you’re trying to
Metrics For A Job Well Done
Every business has metrics for a job well done. We know when our sales are up and complaints are down. We can measure our organisation’s performance and success in a myriad of ways. For many businesses, success is measured in efficiencies and financial targets. Others choose to pay attention to cust
Acts Of Differentiation
One reason we market to customers, beyond our desire to create brand awareness, is to communicate how and why our products are different and better than those of the competition. Of course, how products are created and experiences are designed can be differentiators. But we sometimes overlook opport
How To Tell A Brand Story Customers Believe In
It was a slow Wednesday morning, and the smell of freshly baked croissants wafted from the new French bakery. The store was almost empty, as were the display cabinets that should have been teeming with tempting pastries at this hour. The rock music blared. The bakery assistant who wore yesterday’s a
The Forgotten Power And Purpose Of Story
As business leaders and entrepreneurs, our motivations for understanding the power of story are clear—we want to create compelling narratives so more people will hear, believe and buy into our stories. We know we can use story to inform, educate, entertain, inspire and importantly, persuade people.
The Power Of A Value Strategy
The city centre 7-Eleven fulfils the need of a particular customer. It’s a place for the every day, unplanned or forgotten last-minute purchases, where the worker returning home from late shift might grab headache tablets or a pint of milk. Convenience stores are not trying to deliver a premium cust
Why You?
Marketing exists because we have more choices than we need and less trust than we want. We tend to think of marketing as the thing we do last when we’re ready to close the sale—the tactics we employ and activities we undertake to convince the customer, tell our story or describe our value. It turns…
The Upside Of Ignoring Your Competition
In his memoir Bryan Cranston (the actor who plays Walter White in the cult drama series Breaking Bad), describes a mental shift he made about auditions twenty years ago. He and the other actors would smile politely at each other while they sweated it out waiting for their turn to audition. Every per
The Five-Step Brand Story Framework
Most people say the hardest part of telling their brand story is knowing where to begin. That’s because we start in the wrong place, with the wrong question—at the ‘how to’. Instead of wondering what we should say, we need to start our storytelling by asking who the story is for, and then by asking…
