Your Best Offer Advantage

While working on my next book I was considering commissioning some independent research. Following a Skype conversation with a representative from a global research firm, where the investment seemed way outside my budget I received “some great news for in the form of a quote!” The consultant had spoken to a colleague and had called…

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The Win Loss Mindset

Trade shows are interesting. You pay for the opportunity to set out your stall and market your wares to a generic, gender or interest demographic. It’s a game of hope and pitch, with a lot of waiting and rejection in between. For every person who buys something another ten walk past—unmoved and uncaring. Clearly not…

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Where Big Ideas Begin

Big ideas never start with a big idea—they start with a small problem, impacting a lot of people, that no one has worked out how (or cared enough) to solve. Slack, Powerwall, Instacart, iTunes, GoPro, Simple and on and on, fall into this category. You have to name the problem before you can begin to…

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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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Marketing Is How It Feels

In a recent article I read that “….aside from a few television spots and billboards here and there, Apple pretty much ignores marketing and advertising.” This is simply not true. EVERYTHING Apple does, from the massive investment in package design that creates scissorless, video-worthy unboxing experiences, to product names, Genius training, years spent obsessing over…

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Awareness Is Overrated

Every entrance and exit to the market was in lock down on Saturday. The footpaths, walkways and zebra crossings we each covered by teams of two volunteers shaking collection tins and asking for donations. Several over-enthusiastic volunteers stepped out into the path of oncoming pedestrians to make saying ‘no’ was a physical act. Back home…

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The Business Of Enough

There’s a tiny cafe in Midtown with room for exactly three people to stand up inside. They open from 7 until 5 on weekdays and close at 3 on weekends. The two staff working behind the counter are always smiling and engaged. They clearly love what they do. Lucid doesn’t have a website or another…

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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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The Power Of What We Measure

It’s easier than ever before to create a set of metrics by which to monitor our progress and measure our success. Click-through rates, subscriber numbers, impressions and customer lifetime value are useful data points. What if we measured our success by the results we delivered for our customers? Not what the customer did for us,…

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