How To Avoid Getting Lost In The Crowd

It’s natural to want to create something for the most people we think we can reach. The runaway successes we aspire to emulate seem like they succeeded by appealing to everyone. But if you look a little closer you’ll find that even the big hits started at the edges. Soul Cycle, Starbucks and Secret Garden…

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The Best Brand Stories

The best brand stories…. Are experienced and felt. Create affinity, not simply awareness. Are perceived in micro-moments that are remembered, long after what’s pitched is forgotten. Give people ways to belong, not just reasons to choose. Are less about what the brand says and more about how the customer wants to feel. In a digital…

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Five Brand Storytelling Lessons From Jamie Oliver

Who could forget how Jamie Oliver burst onto our screens in the UK almost twenty years ago? While most celebrity chefs of the day adopted the posture of the hero, showing us how to follow their rules to the letter, Jamie made aspirational cooks around the world the hero of the story by making cooking…

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The Most Important Lens We Have

As business owners and team leaders we view our businesses through various lenses. We have a financial lens, a success lens, a marketing lens, a service lens and on and on depending on how complex our organisation is. We measure our performance in a hundred different ways, often neglecting the most significant metric of all—customer…

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Amplify The Good

As soon as she handed the keycard for the upgraded room to the formerly disgruntled (now beaming) guest, the receptionist smiled and handed her a second card. Her eyes held those of the woman who had been complaining loudly only five minutes before. “Would you please consider giving us a review on Trip Advisor, the…

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What Does This Advertising Do?

It’s easy to erect a billboard that broadcasts to everyone—far harder to build a bridge to meaningful engagement with the people who matter. If it’s not helping you to get closer to your customers then it’s not worth doing. Image by Daniel.

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The Secrets To Consistent Marketing

Consistent marketing… Demonstrates a clear understanding about who the product (and thus the marketing) is for. Focuses on the change being created for the customer rather than on what is being sold. Aligns with and reinforces the company’s purpose beyond a single bottom line. Communicates love for and to the customer. Doesn’t feel like marketing.…

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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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The Spotlight

I went to see Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan perform on Broadway last week. What was interesting to observe was how little most people in the audience were enjoying the act of ‘going to see Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan perform on Broadway’. There were complaints about the fact that they doors didn’t open early…

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The Easy Way To Create A Mission And Vision Statement

There’s something beyond skill, talent, investment and resources that powers the most successful companies, and that’s a clear sense of where they are going and why. When you have a compass it’s not only easier to get to where you want to go, it’s also possible to take people with you. I’ve written previously about…

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