marketing
1,028 posts
What Does Success Look Like?
Back in the ’90s, when I was pregnant for the second time, our local health authority announced new measures to cut waiting times at hospital outpatient clinics. This was great news for me and other pregnant women who were often juggling appointments with work or childcare arrangements. Late on in m
The Convenience Trap
The homeless man sitting at the Brunswick Street junction doesn’t look up as people walk past. He doesn’t try to catch the eyes he knows are trying to avoid his. He lets the cardboard sign at his feet do the talking. The headline in red crayon tells us that he’s genuinely homeless. There isn’t enoug
The Power Of Actionable Feedback
How many times do you politely leave a restaurant after a bad experience, vowing never to return, without letting the manager know what you think? How often have you stopped buying from a brand you once trusted without telling them why? How valuable would your feedback be, if only these companies we
Two Ways To Think About Selling
Are you selling or are you showing up in the best light for the people who need you? Sales can be a service. And vice versa. Image by Garry Knight
The Shorthand Trap
Everywhere we look in our digital world we increasingly see options to choose digital shorthand over a handcrafted, personal response. Gmail’s Smart Reply and Smart Compose features for responding to emails, and LinkedIn’s convenient Quick Replies will save us time today, but what might they cost us
A Deliberate Advantage
Voting is compulsory here in Australia. To make it easier for people polling places now open the weekend before election day. Early voting in our state and local council elections opened last weekend. As we lined up at the entrance to the polling place we were met by representatives of all candidate
How We Do Matters
One of the owners of Melbourne’s most iconic café died tragically a week ago. Sisto Malaspina had been serving espresso to Melburnians at Pellegrini’s since 1974. Tributes poured in from across the community about the impact he and his café had on people and the city. The one that struck me was the
This IS Marketing
As I boarded the long-haul flight, I kept my fingers crossed that I’d get some sleep before we landed. So it was a relief when my fellow passenger, Don, declared his intention to do the same. We agreed that we weren’t anti-social, just two pragmatists trying to come away from the journey in the best
The Right Customer
A lot has changed in the six months since I last walked through the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. New cafes have opened. Others have closed their doors. Some established cafes have queues of people waiting for tables, while several, just a few hundred metres down the street, are empty. There’s no
The Power Of Because
Over several decades our traditional, mass marketing culture taught us that marketing and sales were about finding the angle. Marketing became about getting creative with the truth and being a master of spin. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose to do the kind of marketing we’re proud of. W
The Feeling Customer
One of the mistakes we make when we’re building a business and communicating our value is to only create for the thinking customer and his rational mind. Messages that resonate deeply connect with people’s feelings. Beloved brands and successful businesses appeal to their customers’ hearts, not just
One Of The Few
Few organisations look past the data to see the humanity of the client behind the numbers. Few companies act as if it’s a privilege to serve their customers. Few people take time to listen twice as much as they speak. Few products are made with love. In a world where we are doing our best…
The Stages Of Change
If you’ve ever tried to quit a bad habit or establish a new one, you know that change takes time. When it comes to creating change in our own lives, we cut ourselves some slack because we know that change is a process. And yet when it comes to our customers, we impatiently hurry them…
Leaving A Trail
The contractors who mow the lawn in the public spaces where my parents live whizz around on ride on lawnmowers. They don’t get off to move obstacles, trim edges or collect the grass. The job is done in no time. But for the next few days, cut grass blows around the suburb and is trailed…
What Outcome Are You Designing For?
If we want to eat healthy food we know we need to get into the habit of buying more vegetables. We also know resisting the temptation to put the sugary snacks we love into the shopping cart is how to avoid eating them. Once the fudge is in the kitchen cupboard, it’s too late. We…
Good Feedback
The south Dublin café owner is proud of the business he’s growing, and rightly so. In just twelve months he’s built a thriving small business that’s become a meeting place for locals. The kind of place people recommend to their friends. A café people want to return to and talk about. If you spend an
Hearts Before Minds
People are creatures of habit. You only have to look at the rituals in your day-to-day to see how patterns permeate life. Think about the things you do on rinse and repeat. The brands you always buy. The supermarket aisles you choose to walk down. The ones you avoid. We have come to believe the…
What Are You Promising?
Products and services are promises. A promise from the brand to the customer. The word of the maker given to the user. A commitment from the seller to the buyer. Sellers promise that things are fresh and safe, worthy and working—that they will meet spec and sometimes even delight. Whenever we make o
The Imperfect Plan
In our imaginations, we plan for perfect. Perfect products bought and loved by perfect customers—who only show up on our best days. The days when we are perfect. Of course, the reality can’t always live up to the imagination. So we need to have a plan for when we’re far from perfect. The companies t
What Could You Leave Unsaid?
When I was in high school, the geography syllabus required us to study South America for a whole year. One of our teachers who had a special interest in South America decided to make it her business to teach us everything she knew about the continent. Everything. No stone was left unturned, no river
