customer engagement
847 posts
The Elephant In The Marketing Room
“Although many of us may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, biologically we are feeling creatures that think” —Jill Bolte Taylor I was raised in Dublin, the storytelling capital of the world. There is no place on earth that is more hardwired for story than Ireland, home of Guinness
Value And The Macaron Effect
Let’s face it, a macaron isn’t even a bite. It’s gone before you know it and although your brain knows you’ve had one, your stomach could beg to differ. Macarons have been around for centuries, but I don’t remember seeing the dainty, coloured, every flavoured, sandwiched confections that are ubiquit
A Better Business In 5 Minutes And 3 Easy Steps
I promised three steps and here they are: 1. Grab a drink, a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Switch off your phone and shut your laptop. 2. Now answer this question. “What will your customer say to her friend tomorrow to recommend you, or your products and services?” Don’t respond to anyone else’s…
People Don’t Buy Features, They Buy Promises
Every day another product, tool or app comes to market. One more shortcut to this or that. Want to save lists, share something, buy, sell, store, capture, talk, listen, watch, wake up or waste time? There’s definitely a feature filled app that can help you do that. As marketers we often get bogged d
What Story Are You Selling?
It feels risky to put the words story and selling side by side in the same sentence. ‘Selling’ someone on something has had a bad rap since the days of snake oil salesmen with their bogus claims, snappy taglines and half truths designed to make people buy more of the average this or that. Although…
No Second Chances
The beautiful city were I live is not known for startling customer service. Sad, but true. I think it might be the side effect of a combination of distance and isolation creating monopolies that have endured, making people complacent. When you were four hours on a plane from anywhere before the Inte
Tiny Markets Of Someone
Mr Ryan owned a corner shop in the tiny Dublin suburb where I grew up. It supported his family and employed his children while they studied for over 20 years. He didn’t seem to worry when yet another big supermarket opened close by. Sure, he knew some of his customers would go there for special…
The Best Brands Are Mirrors
The genius of the ‘Dove Sketches’ campaign wasn’t that it highlighted the issues women have around body image and beauty, it was that it held a mirror up to every one of us. It tapped into our collective vulnerability on a visceral level. Brands like Dove, Instagram, Harley-Davidson, Virgin, Nike, M
Want To Make And Impact? Just Add Context
The path to success is littered with great ideas that don’t fly. Even a good idea won’t catch on if people don’t see the value in it. It’s not enough to have an idea that might change everything, you have to find a way to help people buy into it. The truth is it doesn’t…
Rethinking The Great Email Smash And Grab
The world has conditioned us from toddlerhood to understand that ‘most’ is what matters. Even a two year old instinctively knows that having just one more chocolate chip cookie than his sister is a good thing. Life teaches you that the people with the most win and so the quest for more begins pretty
What If You’re Neither Closer, Faster Or Cheaper?
There was no size 12 in stock, but there were two identical black dresses showing on ‘the system’, one in the City store the other equally far away (but not there in reality as it turned out). In a world of infinite choices where faster and cheaper is two clicks away, and free overnight shipping…
The Future Of Branding And Marketing
The great brands of the future, will be built by those who have worked hard to gain the insight that enables them to whisper “we see you” to their customers. Shouting “notice us” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Image by Palo.
Intangibles Have A Real World Value
Once upon a time earphones were ‘functional black’, until Apple changed everything by adding a layer of meaning to what was once a commodity worth nothing more than a few dollars. By making earphones ‘accessory white’ Apple gave iPod owners a way to be noticed and to belong. The most famous roof lin
Thinking Beyond Customer Needs
The couple at the cafe order two teas and one cake with two forks. The story the woman has told herself is that they are sharing the cake she ordered. Halving the damage. The guy quietly sips his tea as she slices the cake into squares and begins eating the smaller pieces, picking around the…
Emotional Points Of Difference
Singapore’s Changi Airport doesn’t have the most runways (in fact it only has two), but it does have nature trail complete with sunflowers and butterflies. It’s also known as one of the best airports in the world. The tiny bakery in Hastings on Hudson has a rolling pin for a door handle. Even before
The New Marketing Mix : 4 Different Ps
The original Marketing Mix was introduced sixty five years ago. It was a framework for considering how to grow a business and gain market share. The mix consisted of four Ps, price, product, promotion, and place, a list of ingredients that every marketer must pay attention to in order to ensure that
What Are Your Metrics?
It’s easy to count Facebook likes and numbers of Twitter followers. And we’ve found ways to justify the ‘return on investment’ of a billboard that’s passed by 20,000 people every day. It’s easy to advocate for doing things that we can measure. A metric of any kind feels safe, and it’s got deniabilit
Great Marketing: Begin With The End In Mind
The owner of my local beauty salon works really hard to make people feel special once they are through the door. She’s made improvements to the business in all sorts of ways since she took it over a year ago. This week I got an email from her, along with all the other people on…
The Attention Of Everyone And The Audience Of No One
It’s very tempting to create catch all messages, delivered in a way that will reach the most people. Logic says that if you have the attention of everyone, then you’ve got to reach someone. The problem with aiming for an audience of everyone is that while your message might be seen and heard, it doe
Offers Vs. Offerings
Every July, (winter here in Australia, maybe summer where you are) and six months out from Christmas the big chain stores have an all caps ‘TOY SALE’. The toys are unremarkable, and they are marketed in an unremarkable, 20% off, when they’re gone they’re gone kind of way. The lesson is don’t miss ou
