Strategy
1,155 posts
Selling The Facts
Front row seats. That ring in a certain ‘blue box’. 70% dark chocolate. Business class flights. Pumpkins at Halloween. Botox. iPad mini. Frappuccino. 12 months gym membership in January. Free range chicken. The bestseller everyone is talking about. That black BMW. Vitamins. The honeymoon suite. Glut
What The Cold Caller Forgot
He forgot to think about you and not just him. He forgot you were busy. He forgot to work hard to add value and build an asset over time. He forgot to give before trying to take. He forgot that you don’t care about his emergency. He forgot that he can’t buy your permission. He…
Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should
The tiny suburban cafe is full to bursting every day. It’s become more than a cafe really. The early morning cyclists punctuate the end of their ride at the tables on the pavement outside. Their last stop before heading off to work for the day. It’s the place where young mothers grab a takeaway coff
The Bottom Line
There’s an irony about entrepreneurship or starting a business and it’s this. When you begin you’re obsessed with the starting part. Just starting it seems is enough. You may have a vision for what could be, but there is not so much pressure to get there in the beginning. Once you’ve succeeded a lit
Great Marketing Is Baked In Not Sprinkled On
The most common misconception in business is that you should work on your idea now, and add marketing later…. when you’re done. Marketing is not just the icing on the cake, or the sprinkles on the top. Marketing is the whole cake. The quality of flour you use. The lightness of touch of the baker.…
Adapting Or Shaping
Are you adapting to the current environment, or shaping what’s to come? The most successful people, businesses and brands don’t jump on today’s bandwagon they design the future. How are you doing that? Image by Mark JP.
Stand Out By Telling A Better Brand Story
The summer of 1980 was a terrible time to own a hair salon on Sydney’s Queen Street. The mile long suburban street had over twenty salons to choose from, and haircuts that were once $20, had been steadily knocked down a dollar at a time by each salon in turn. The first salon to discount…
Give Them A Reason
Half of the products in your pantry now have a ‘like us on Facebook’ icon on the label. Why should you like a brand of mass produced honey on Facebook? Why does the brand manager think you should care? Marketing is about doing great work that gets noticed. It’s about giving people a reason to…
Make Your Idea Matter
Make Your Idea Matter is finally available to buy on Amazon. Thanks to the people who bought the book yesterday it bagged a Top 3 spot on the Amazon Bestsellers list overnight! It’s taken most of our Australian winter (or your summer), to simply get the book edited, formatted, designed and ready for
Thinking About How People Feel Vs Making People Do
Every one of us is a marketer. We spend our days persuading people to do what we want them to do. “Buy now.” “Click here.” “Please retweet.” “Only 5 4 left.” “Don’t drink and drive.” “Eat your greens and you’ll grow big and strong.” My friend Mark and his wife Cindy own and run a…
Hiding Behind The Truth
I walked into the empty store clutching my receipt and the faulty garment. After one wear and one delicate wash several holes had appeared out of nowhere in the fabric. My ten-day-since-purchase window had expired so I couldn’t get a refund but I was happy to take store credit. The manager examined
How To Start Something
1. Make a plan. A physical plan. Get the ideas out of your head and onto paper. 2. Create a deadline and stick to it. Add the action steps that take you from where you are now to where you want to be. 3. Share your goal, or don’t. Being accountable to someone other than…
Listen To Your Outliers
Not all women love to shop. I am one such woman. So when I fall in love with a product, they’ve got me for life. That’s just one more decision I don’t have to make in the store. Glasshouse is a product I fell in love with years ago. Their fragrances are amazing, an indulgence.…
How To Scratch Your Customer’s Itch
Speak to the few, the ones who really ‘get it’. Empower them to do what they want to do. Find ways to help them do the things they don’t even know they want to do yet. Tell them the reason you exist. Remember what problem you are solving and spell out how you solve it.…
How Low Can You Go?
There are over fifty yoga studios within striking distance of the affluent Eastern suburbs of Sydney and they’ve discovered a tactic to get bums on mats. Many of them now offer two weeks of unlimited Yoga for just $25, which works well…… for a little while anyway. A savvy Yogi can take them up on…
No Substitute
Late yesterday evening I jumped in my car and did a 35 minute round trip to buy a British made food product that isn’t stocked in most Australian supermarkets. We’ve tried the Aussie versions but there are no substitutes. This is the reason shops selling imported food and drink (at premium prices) e
Go All The Way
A local cafe is trying to tap into the ‘ladies who lunch’ market with a three course ‘ladies lunch special’ on Thursdays. Recently I noticed they’d stuck a handwritten note over the top of their sign which read, “men welcome”. Halfway to the edge is just average poorly disguised. Neither this nor th
What Does It Take To Be In The 1%?
”99% of ”brands” are about as inspiring, interesting, and enlightening as a cup of lukewarm tea. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be.” -Umair Haque So the good news then is that it’s not that hard to be the 1%! I asked Umair what he thought it took to be in the 1 %. He…
How Do Your Customers Feel?
When was the last time you stepped into your customers shoes? Sat in your packed restaurant, queued at check in, ordered from your website, read your label, stopped to digest an email you sent, analysed your design brief, slept in your rooms and really experienced what it feels like to do business w
Go Where The Others Won’t Go
Have you ever watched someone learning to ice skate? Perhaps you’ve been there too? When people are starting out, hopelessly uncoordinated and a bit scared they do what all the other fearful learners do, they cling to the sides for dear life. It feels a little safer there in amongst the pack. Not st
