Storytelling
613 posts
What Do Your Customers Really Want?
There’s an Italian Cafe in our neighbourhood serving good coffee and speciality cakes. It’s jam-packed every single evening—not because people are hungry for cake, but because they are hungry for the feeling of being connected. They seek out the place that makes them feel that way. Howard Schultz re
The Importance Of Customer Cues
Ira’s cafe is tucked away at the bottom of a narrow city centre laneway. Without regulars who live close by Ira’s place is dependent on converting tourists and weekend shoppers into diners. Every neighbouring cafe stations a host in the small doorway waiting for passers-by to make a decision. Ira ta
Most Brand Stories
Most brand stories… Start with what the marketer needs to say, not with what the customer wants to hear. Describe product features and benefits, instead of customer problems and desired outcomes. Prioritise conversion above emotional connection. Seek to build brand awareness rather than create brand
The Sustainable Marketing Strategy
The fast food restaurant’s latest advertising campaign announces the return of it’s famous $1 chips. Of course, the lure of the bargain will bring back people who have forgotten that this brand exists. Foot traffic will increase and revenue along with it—for a little while. The local organic store p
When Rational Sales Strategies Don’t Work
A couple of years ago Mrs Jones spent $12,000 to install a hydronic heating system. She hasn’t had the boiler serviced since. She politely refuses when the guy from the service department calls her to arrange an annual service for just $164. He pushes back a little, explaining about voiding the warr
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
The Essence Of Meaningful Ideas
Victoria Parade is the road that separates north Melbourne’s suburbs from the city. It’s a busy spot. The road is dotted at intervals with pedestrian crossings and used by cars, commuters and pedestrians alike. But the widest pedestrian path across the dual carriageway isn’t a planned pavement. It’s
The Value Of Customer Questions
Every day our customers give us clues about what’s important to them and what they really want. Often we ignore them. Questions like the one asked of a running shoe manufacturer, which was followed up with this response: “Thank you for your email regarding shoes for a mud run. Unfortunately, we don’
Who Is The Story For?
Jane runs an upmarket souvenir shop in the heart of the city. It’s in the perfect spot, close to the four and five-star hotels, and full of tasteful gifts—reminders of good times had, and a little something that says ‘we were thinking of you’. In a digital world, her biggest problem is finding inter
The Key To A Great Product Story
As an entrepreneur or business leader, you will inevitably be asked how your product or service is different from your competitor’s. Often this question comes from someone who isn’t even a potential customer (but that’s another story). Our fallback position is to lead with features and benefits. We
The Forgotten Purpose Of Brand Stories
Most of what we describe as marketing and brand storytelling—what we do in order to grow our businesses, is designed to help us to find more customers. What if we flipped that thinking on its head and thought about our stories as the way we help people to find us? There’s a subtle difference. When…
Average Marketing
Average marketing….. Starts with the business’s emergency, not with the customer’s wants and needs. Focuses on short-term tactics, rather than on long-term business goals. Is designed to persuade not to connect, inspire or delight. Invites the customer to buy, instead of to belong. Speaks to everyon
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
What Are You Here To Do?
When Deborah Thomas, newly minted CEO of Ardent Leisure, was asked if she knew how to operate a roller coaster, she probably gave an inward sigh along with her considered response. “I’m not here to operate the roller coaster; I’m here to make sure that people queue up and want to spend their money t
The Shortcut To More
It’s probably safe to assume that at some point in the past few months you’ve wondered how to get more traffic, customers, subscribers, Facebook likes, retweets, awareness, sales, exposure and on and on. Because the job of traditional marketing is to convince and convert, we are used to beginning ou
Company Culture And The Ripple Effect
By the age of six months, a baby begins to understand that his actions can affect his environment. It’s amazing how as adults we quickly unlearn this. As business leaders when we talk about shaping or changing company culture we sometimes forget to own the fact that we are the culture. Culture is no
Why We Need To Think About Value Before Ideas
The cafe was tiny and packed. “What’s your revenue plan?” guy one asked. “To get more eyeballs to my site and then bring in the advertisers.” replied guy two. “Oh right.” said guy one, as he awkwardly looked away. 8 Questions to help you to focus on creating value 1. Who needs your product? 2.…
Shortcuts Are Overrated
A map works even though the cartographer hasn’t described how every step should be taken. We get to where we want to go when we have a good reason for going there. Tactics are useless without a strategy. Shortcuts are overrated. Results take time. Why hurry? Image by Franco Folini.
The Purpose Of Clever Packaging
If you love chocolate as much as I do you’ve probably heard about the Mast Brothers scandal. The artisan chocolate makers are accused of not being completely transparent about their process when they launched in 2007 and of pulling the wool over customers eyes with “clever packaging”. Transparency a
3 Things Your Product Story Must Do
When we market our products to customers we often use a persuasive tone designed to convince. We describe by leading with features and benefits. We try hard to give customers reasons to choose, forgetting that most purchasing decisions are not rational, but emotional. In short we forget why people b
