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…

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Acts Of Marketing

The tight-lipped cabin crew wearing crumpled uniforms pass out miniature bags of pretzels to the passengers—the only snack included in the ticket price of the five-hour flight. On the world’s largest airline everything that would make the journey more pleasant is extra. Profit margins trump empathy and generosity at every turn, and it shows—even in…

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It’s Not B2B, It’s Personal

One of the most confusing distinctions we’ve created in the business world is that between the business to customer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) consumer. It’s argued that because these two groups of customers are working towards different outcomes—efficiency vs. entertainment, expertise vs. enjoyment, that they also have different motivations. The B2B consumer is…

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Quiet Success

Success for my parents, was having a fair day’s work to do, for a fair day’s pay. Success was having money left in your pay packet at the end of the week after the bills were paid. Success was having the wherewithal to take care of your family and contribute to your community—often in ways…

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The Power Of Posture

How is it that we can go into the same cafe two days running, order the same drink, pay the same price and yet leave feeling entirely different about the experience depending on the interaction we have with the person who is serving? Just as it’s possible for one yogi to hold a more graceful…

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Want To Vs. Have To

The famous fashion designer doesn’t have to pay a fair wage to the workers in the Indian village, who hand bead the $600 dresses she sells to affluent Melburnians. Her customers would never know—and yet she does. The busy graphic designer doesn’t have to make suggested improvements to the slide deck he’s working on. His…

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The Generous Marketer

Implements long-term strategies, rather than relying on short-term tactics. Puts the desires of the customer before the urgency of his business goals. Knows that mattering to his customers is the key to success. Cares about affinity, more than awareness. Notices, before asking to be noticed. Listens twice as much as he talks. Does not interrupt…

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The Business You Want

If I asked you to describe the business you really want you’d probably find it hard. Here’s why. We have conditioned ourselves to pay attention to popular metrics of success and we often don’t want to make the sacrifices or the compromises it takes to achieve them. It’s akin to wanting Jennifer Aniston’s body, without…

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The Characteristics Of Beloved Brands

Earlier this week Bob Lefsetz wrote the following line in a post about Elon Musk; “We know greatness when we see it, we clamor for it. We want to get closer to it.” We also want to emulate it—to understand the qualities and characteristics that elevate certain leaders, businesses and brands above the rest. Analyse…

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