Aligning Your Ducks

The manager at the burger bar works hard to manage his costs. Part of his strategy is to pay his teen workers below minimum wage. He realises he can save on salaries by cancelling their shifts within an hour’s notice on a slow day. The thing that frustrates him the most is his high staff…

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The Best Opportunity

One of the best things about our family’s move to Melbourne two years ago has been the rediscovery of local shopping strips. In beautiful Perth, where we lived for ten years, our grocery shopping involved a car trip to one of the dominant, big chain supermarkets. In Melbourne, we live a two-minute stroll from a…

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Being Found Vs. Standing Apart

Jim is a painter and decorator. He’s been in business for twenty-five years, long enough to see the world of marketing turned upside down. Fifteen years ago Jim took out a three line advert in the local newspaper every week. He finally cancelled that three years ago when it was yielding two calls a month…

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Uncommon And Unmistakable

A colleague in the university sector was attending a marketing event. The presenter’s first slide showed a university’s promotional materials—complete with the typical ‘DREAM LARGE’ and ‘DESIGN THE FUTURE’ type tagline. He then polled the audience, asking if they knew which university it was. A ten minute debate ensued. Many delegates thought it was definitely…

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Your Brand Story Is More Than What You Say

It’s a chilly autumn morning and the waitress in the cafe down the street is folding blankets to put over the chairs outside just in case customers are feeling the cold. The local doctor who is half way through her busy surgery, comes out to the waiting room and invites Adam into her consulting room…

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What Don’t You Do?

You are challenged at least ten times every day to explain to people what you do and why you do it. This happens on your about page, at networking events and even as you sit next to someone ten thousand feet up on a transatlantic flight. A great place to start is by unapologetically telling…

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The Trouble With Positioning

Do you remember when President Obama came to office first time round and negotiated with the secret service to keep his BlackBerry—Bush and Clinton didn’t even use email. In 2004, three years before the launch of the first iPhone, BlackBerry, who pioneered the smartphone had a market share of 47%. Four years ago Blackberry was…

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The New Marketing Mix : 4 Different Ps

The original Marketing Mix was introduced sixty five years ago. It was a framework for considering how to grow a business and gain market share. The mix consisted of four Ps, price, product, promotion, and place, a list of ingredients that every marketer must pay attention to in order to ensure that their product succeeded…

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