Storytelling
613 posts
The 5 Building Blocks Of A Brand
A brand used to be an identifier, over the past seventy years it’s become so much more. Seth’s 2009 definition says it best. “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
The New Rules Of Winning
Just three months ago Volkswagen surpassed Toyota to become the world’s largest automaker. It’s clear that selling more cars in order to beat that competition had been the company’s goal for some time. As we’ve seen in the past week biggest doesn’t necessarily mean best. When we use shallow metrics
How To Make People Care About Your Product
The maître d’ had worked at the same restaurant for thirteen years and was ready for a change. He wanted to do work he was passionate about and decided to start a dog walking business—knowing that in order to succeed he needed to send a signal to prospective customers about how much their pets matte
The Generous Marketer
Implements long-term strategies, rather than relying on short-term tactics. Puts the desires of the customer before the urgency of his business goals. Knows that mattering to his customers is the key to success. Cares about affinity, more than awareness. Notices, before asking to be noticed. Listens
The Question To Ask Before Doing What You’re Planning To Do Next
Before you schedule that meeting. Before you contact that supplier. Before you attend that conference. Before you pay for that marketing. Before you hire that guy. Ask yourself this simple question: What’s the number one outcome I want to achieve by doing this? When you get clear (and honest with yo
A Brand Of Magic
The chairs were out of stock. A delivery was expected some time in December, it might clear customs by January. The sales assistant described the import logistics and company policy. She detailed the 55% deposit terms on all orders placed and made sure to add her name to the written quotation the cu
The Business You Want
If I asked you to describe the business you really want you’d probably find it hard. Here’s why. We have conditioned ourselves to pay attention to popular metrics of success and we often don’t want to make the sacrifices or the compromises it takes to achieve them. It’s akin to wanting Jennifer Anis
In Praise Of Intangible Value
What did they do to create value? Design a new portable music player or give you 1,000 songs in your pocket? Serve coffee at $4 a cup or become ‘the third place’? Create a platform where people can rent a room or make them feel like they belong anywhere? Start a photo printing service or…
What Change Are You Making?
The sales assistant at the pop up boutique glowed. She enthusiastically pulled things one at a time from the rails to show to the customer. “These pants will change your life,” she said. I thought that was a huge claim to make about what seemed like an unremarkable pair of trousers, but when the wom
Problem/Product Fit
Before you write the code, buy the domain name, design the logo, rent the office space or print the business cards ask yourself these questions. 5 questions for every entrepreneur to answer 1. Who is your customer? 2. What does she want to do, but can’t? 3. How exactly does your product or service h
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
3 Things Your About Page Should Do
Writing an about page for your website is hard. The reason we get stuck is because we worry about what we need to write, instead of focusing on why we need to write it in the first place. Remember it’s less about blowing your trumpet or filling whitespace with information and more about helping your
The Marketing Paradox
The goal of most marketing is to get people through the door, bums on seats and products sold. Because much of our marketing effort is front-loaded it’s easy to believe that once we’ve closed the sale, we’re done. And so we latch on to stories of six-figure product launches and multi-million dollar
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 cust
How All Marketing Should Be
This is the story of two homes that are for sale. “Elegantly renovated, exclusive address. This gracious residence set amid professionally landscaped gardens (approx 600sqm), close to schools and parks, offers formal sitting room, expansive living dining, flowing onto the verandah……” You get the ide
What Are Your Competitors Failing To Do?
Like many new mothers Jessica Alba wanted to buy non-toxic baby products, they were incredibly difficult to find information about and source, this inspired her to found The Honest Company. Dave Gilboa lost a $700 pair of glasses and couldn’t afford to replace them, his experience was the seed of an
What Marketing Is Not: 5 Common Misconceptions
When we think and talk about, teach and practice marketing we are often working on the assumption that marketing is one or all of the following: 1. How we make people want things. 2. Tactics, communications or activities designed to get people do what we want them to do. 3. The way we sell something
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 cookin
The First Rule For Making A Better Product
Do you remember a time when you went to dinner at that restaurant everyone was talking about? You probably booked the table days, if not weeks in advance and told friends how excited you were about going. When you arrived the staff were polite, you got a good table and the meal was well cooked.…
The Reasons People Buy From You
“People tell us who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be.” —Donald Draper, ‘The Summer Man,’ Mad Men, season 4 Our customer’s motivations have two things in common—they are surprisingly few and they are also universal. What’s driving your customer to buy your
