brand values
582 posts
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
The Best Brand Stories Are True
As I was overtaken by the van of a solar panel company on the freeway today, I noticed that they weren’t telling the whole truth. If this is the story you’re telling on your website then your company had better be living it too. “It only takes one person to make an eco-conscious difference in…
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…
Why Startups Stall
It’s easy to start something today. Now that the gatekeepers are leaving their gates and the barrier to entry is lower than ever, anyone with an idea and an Internet connection can start a business. You don’t need a big staff on payroll or a factory to get the work done. So more people are…
10 Things To Do With Happy Customers
1. Treasure and thank them. Then work really hard to keep them. 2. Connect them to each other. 3. Reward their loyalty. 4. Give them platforms and places to engage with your brand. 5. Listen to their ideas. 6. Watch how they interact with your product. 7. Ask them what you could be doing better.…
Marketing Is All About Values
In 1997 Steve Jobs was unhappy about how much Apple was spending on marketing and about the message the company was communicating. He realised that in an increasingly noisy world the chances for any company to be remembered were diminishing and that Apple needed to get really clear about what it was
Don’t Worry So Much About Awareness
Just the thought of the kind of marketing dollars the big brands will have invested in advertising for the Olympics is enough to make my eyes water. The result, millions of dollars worth of beautifully shot, feel good commercials that probably won’t sell many more phone plans or gold cards. Awarenes
20 Questions To Answer Before Asking How Much Money Can I Make?
1. Why do I want to do this? 2. What do I care about? 3. What brings me joy? 4. What am I good at? 5. What’s scarce? 6. What problem can I solve? 7. Who needs me? 8. How can I make a difference? 9. How can I deliver value? 10.What can I change?…
How Dollar Shave Club Succeeds With A Better Brand Story
How does a startup come on to the scene, take on giant global brands like Gillette, and win? That’s what Dollar Shave Club did, by harnessing the power of great brand storytelling. This is how they did it. By telling the truth, and keeping it simple. With an easy to remember brand name and tagline,…
What Does The Competition Do?
I was consulting with two financial planners this week. We were discussing what made them different, when they told me this story about working with one of their clients. Jonathan was offered $9 million for his house, which had amazing, never to be replaced views out over the river. He was in a quan
Why Are People Ignoring You?
It’s been a while since I bought a nice glossy magazine. I usually enjoy flicking through one at my favourite cafe. I’m not sure why I was so surprised to get 32 pages into the latest edition of Vogue and still be on the adverts. The entire magazine was 208 pages, 100 of those pages…
Being The Most
In the 80’s Starbucks set out to be the most inspiring coffee brand on the planet. When they forgot this in the 90’s and tried becoming the most ubiquitous, they lost their way. If you could be ‘the most’ to people what ‘most’ would you be? Most reliable. Most irresistible. Most ubiquitous. Most lov
Attention Is Not The Problem
You’ve may have access to a hundred and one new channels that allow you to broadcast a message, but there are only a handful of ways to get attention for your idea. 1. Advertising The old and expensive way to buy attention. You might be able to buy eyeballs, but you can’t guarantee you’re changing…
Signal Versus Noise. You Get To Choose.
I’ve always loved the name of the blog at 37Signals… Signal vs Noise. They chose well. They write well too. Signal versus noise perfectly describes how we are living and working right now. We want to be connected, both as business entities and as human beings. But we’re sacrificing hearing the signa
Are You Measuring What Matters?
The cafe owner thinks that what’s most important is getting customers seated and served quickly. Because she believes her customers simply value tidy lines and orders pushed through, she creates standards and KPIs. She measures things that enable her staff to tick boxes and make them look hunted. Th
The Difference Between Traffic And Visitors
When you optimise your website for “traffic” are you doing your best work? Working out how to get “traffic” to find you is a tactic, that anyone with better technical support than you can win at. Giving “visitors” a reason to stay, means having a strategy for creating great content that can’t be eas
The Internet Is Not A Shortcut
Here is the cold hard truth about the Internet, viral marketing and the way to make your ideas matter. The Internet gives you a million and one chances to amplify what’s great about what you do. It doesn’t actually make your idea better. 70,000 people found Philippa on Instagram. She was an amazing
The Art Of Giving People What They Really Want
The group fitness instructor at our local gym is exceptionally good at giving people what they really want. During a tough early morning Pump® session he doesn’t talk about resting heart rate or thermogenisis. Duane punctuates those last thirty seconds of effort by telling us that this is how we’ll
How Coffee Became As Seductive As Diamonds
I have no idea how this happened, but twenty five years ago when my husband and I were choosing my engagement ring on student budgets, I found myself inside a tiny strategically lit room with a £20,000 ring on my finger. £20,000 was enough to buy a house in Dublin in those days. Fast forward…
