brand strategy
1,082 posts
Depth Over Reach
It’s pouring rain on the morning the free weekly lifestyle magazine is stuck through the railings of every home on every street in our neighbourhood. So the 20% of people who would normally flick through it over morning coffee won’t bother to open the magazine today. The soggy newsprint goes straigh
What Are You In A Hurry To Do?
In our world of infinite information and seemingly endless opportunities there’s a temptation to fill every moment—to make every available second a productive one. So we multitask. We eat at our desks instead of taking a break. We always listen to podcasts on our commute, neglecting to pay attention
Don’t Be Afraid To Start Small
On a rainy Monday early in December 1955, 40,000 African-Americans boycotted the public bus services in the town of Montgomery to protest the arrest of 42-year-old Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Their boycott lasted 381 days until the city repealed its law requiring
Why The Realistic Marketer Wins
Marketing shoulders heavy burden in any business regardless of size. We expect our marketing efforts to make more customers aware of our brand and to grab their attention. Not only that, we want our marketing to create trust, differentiate our products, communicate value and change people’s minds. M
The Two Questions Behind Every Successful Product And Service
There’s a subtle difference between a product or service that stems from an idea and one that’s born from recognising an opportunity. Ideas are solutions in search of problems. Opportunities are problems begging for a solution. The magic of solving problems for a specific customer is that the market
The Number One Way To Create Brand Awareness
There was something peculiar about the SoHo hotel where I stayed on my recent overseas trip. I didn’t see a single child for the length of my stay. Nowhere in their marketing does the management specify their property is unsuitable for children and yet because they are uncompromising about going all
What Successful Marketers Do
The restauranteur wants people to feel at home when they dine at his cafe. He furnishes it with a communal table filled with jars of decadent preserves. Diners help themselves to as much as they want without having to ask the wait staff for more. The technology company wants to make women feel more
You Know More Than You Think
We could be forgiven for thinking that facts and figures communicate the whole truth and hold the keys to unlocking the value in every future opportunity. New digital tools and technologies not only give us more information about the world around us and the people in it but also help us to know more
Bridging The Scarcity Gap
The man riding in the lift with me hit the button for the highest, and arguably the best floor in the hotel. I remarked that he must have great views from there. He shrugged his shoulders, then started to complain about his inability to open the windows to let the fresh air in. The scarcity…
Where Will Your Next Big Idea Come From?
A few weeks before Hillary Clinton was defeated in the US presidental election I met a guy selling hats emblazoned with both candidates’ names outside the Rockerfeller Center in New York. ‘There will be a big upset in this election. Trump hats are selling like hotcakes,’ he said. It was hard to beli
Ten Things Your Competitors Don’t Do
YOUR COMPETITORS DON’T… 1. Obsess about how their products and services make customers feel. 2. Help people to ‘buy in’ and belong (not just to buy). 3. Make something that’s not for everyone. 4. Question how they could do it better. 5. Listen twice as much as they talk. 6. Do what they say they…
Why How We Buy Matters
Forty years ago when Mr Ryan the greengrocer was thinking about his marketing strategy he didn’t have as much to consider as we do today. His customers were locals. They arrived on foot, only bought what they could carry and shopped every day. It was important to have fresh produce, a ready smile an
What Are Your Customers Looking For?
We are sometimes in the dark about what our customers want, so we make assumptions or ask them in the hope of happening upon the truth. There is a third way to get closer to our customers—one we regularly overlook. People’s actions and reactions can reveal more about their internal dialogue than the
What Standout Brands Do
Have you ever noticed how a crowd exits a packed venue? Even when there are three exits most people take the middle one. You see this play out in business too. Take a walk through the running shoe department in any sports store, and you’ll find little to differentiate one shoe from another. When one
The Listening Marketer
When I was young, Maeve Binchy was one of my favourite writers. She had this knack of creating characters who came alive. You somehow felt the people who owned the shops and arrived late for mass were real, and you knew them. I learned later from listening to interviews with Binchy that they were—at
Where Does Your Story Start?
The easiest part of telling your story is writing it down. The hardest part is knowing what to say and why it’s important for your audience to hear. You must begin by wondering why someone (not everyone), will care about what you’re creating. That very act of questioning forces you to dig deeper and
The Power Of The Constant In A Changing World
In a commercial world, we’re always trying to predict and keep pace with the future. A bit like a toddler failing to outrun his shadow. It’s a race none of us will ever quite know enough to win. Because we’re focused on the future, naturally we worry about change and disruption, often overlooking wh
Who Do Good Ideas Come From?
Everyone knows a good idea is a shortcut to success, profits and growth. Bad ideas lose. Good ideas win. This is why we are obsessed as a culture about where good ideas come from and how to have more of them. As we go in pursuit of a breakthrough idea we turn our gaze outward…
The Value Question
What’s the one unanswered question you believe would unlock the most value in your business? Why does it matter? How would knowing the answer change your strategy? Where can you find the information you need? What’s stopping you? Image by Derrick Story.
The Benefits Of Adopting An Ostrich Mindset
Think about how many hours you’ve wasted this year worrying about how well your competitors are doing. The meetings where you focused on how to get ahead. The private angst when your numbers wobbled and theirs stayed steady. Can you name one time when your business gained an advantage by obsessing a
