How We Drive Change

When we want to improve our diet we monitor what we eat and how much we exercise. When we want to change a toddler’s behaviour we look for opportunities to praise the good, instead of constantly shouting down the bad. We measure and reward the behaviour we want. In organisations, the things we measure and…

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A Reason To Come

“Hey! Are you after some lunch?” asked the young woman on the pavement waving flyers during the 1 pm rush. She gestured to a place on the side street as she tried to lure people down it with the promise of a discount. Most diners who eat at a restaurant down a side street go…

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The Value Story

During Tulip Mania, the new merchant class who wanted their gardens to reflect their newfound success, is said to have traded acres of land for a single flower bulb. The scarcer the bulbs became, the more valuable they were perceived to be. As a commodity, the tulip’s inherent value was derived from the fact that…

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The 4 New Stages Of Customer Engagement

The commercial reality for any business is that sales keep the lights on. We’re still following rules that were proposed in the late 1800s by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in order to do that. “The mission of an advertisement is to sell goods. To do this, it must attract attention, of course; but attracting attention…

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Who First?

The realisation of an opportunity to solve a problem for a specific group of people is at the heart of every business success story. Sometimes the potential customer already knows their problem or need exists, but often they are not actively looking for a solution. It’s hard to give answers to people who are not…

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The 12-Word Business Plan

Have you ever struggled to illustrate or articulate how your business or idea creates value? This 12-word framework is the simplest way to do it. Take a look at how we could map Blue Apron’s business plan using the 12-word framework. Blue Apron’s 12-Word Business Plan OPPORTUNITY People want to eat healthy, home cooked meals,…

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A Question Of Tactics

When marketers had no choice but to pay thousands of dollars each year for print, TV or other forms of conventional advertising they had to discern which media to invest in and why. The good ones had a strategy. The rest dabbled. In a digital world though, it seems like every day there’s another opportunity…

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Why How Matters

How you design the product changes how it feels to use it. How you train your staff changes how the customer is treated. How you answer an email changes how the recipient responds. How much of yourself you bring to work changes how you perform. In a world where more people understand the impact of…

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Trust Vs. Hype

Malcolm Gladwell announced his new podcast last week. Before the first episode even aired it had jumped to #2 in the iTunes charts, topping long established shows like This American Life. It’s not just Gladwell’s record for writing bestsellers that’s driving people to the podcast. It’s that we trust him to produce nothing but great…

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Getting On Your Customer’s Radar

Many brands believe the biggest challenge they have is creating more brand awareness. If they could only get on the radar of potential customers then many of their problems would disappear. And yet brands like Macy’s and Ralph Lauren that have built awareness for decades are struggling to remain viable. Their biggest problem isn’t getting…

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