spreading ideas
846 posts
Lucky To Have You
The customers at Estabar are lucky to have Bec and her team creating a welcoming space where they serve the best food, gelato and coffee in Newcastle with love and care. Why are your customers lucky to have you? You probably haven’t asked yourself this question in a while. This is your invitation to
Creating A Sustainable Advantage
The two bookstores on Bourke Street have very different layouts, but they mostly stock similar titles. The three nearby cafes all serve eggs, porridge or toast for breakfast. Both convenience stores along the street stock the same brands of chocolate, snacks and emergency litres of milk. And the web
How To Leverage Results Based Marketing
In sales and marketing and in life we devote an extraordinary amount of time to finding the words to describe the value we create. We labour over marketing copy, taglines and slogans that will attract, persuade and entice. We get so preoccupied with ‘the marketing’ that we forget the first step in t
Acts Of Marketing
The tight-lipped cabin crew wearing crumpled uniforms pass out miniature bags of pretzels to the passengers—the only snack included in the ticket price of the five-hour flight. On the world’s largest airline everything that would make the journey more pleasant is extra. Profit margins trump empathy
The Purpose Of Design Features
In business, we use design to differentiate ourselves in a number of ways. Design features are primarily seen as a way to attract customers and to help them decide if our product is for them. In a digital world, design is one of the best tools we have to build trust with customers we many…
The Power Of The Customer’s Story
Mike, the guy who sells bus tours in Times Square doesn’t do permission marketing. He has 60 seconds to find a way to engage his prospective customer—a wary visitor in a strange city who isn’t anticipating being interrupted. Mike is competing with dozens of other street vendors. He’s also got the gi
It’s Not B2B, It’s Personal
One of the most confusing distinctions we’ve created in the business world is that between the business to customer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) consumer. It’s argued that because these two groups of customers are working towards different outcomes—efficiency vs. entertainment, expertise vs.
Persuasion, Push And Pull
You’ve probably witnessed a mother trying to hurry her toddler along with a gentle sense of urgency. “Come on now Joe. Quickly.” she says. The toddler immediately senses what’s important to his mum, but not necessarily to him and begins to walk more slowly. Mum’s urgency escalates and eventually her
The Quiet Marketing Opportunity
It was 6am on a wet and windy Melbourne morning. The two tourists wandered out of their hotel on Exhibition Street, each armed with a giant red golf umbrella plastered with the hotel’s equally giant logo. At first glance, you might think how thoughtful it is that the hotel anticipates the traveller’
Changing People’s Minds
We spend a lot of time trying to convince people of our opinion at work, in business and in life. If only we could attract more customers. If only the customers we had could be persuaded to spend more. If only our colleagues could see the sense of doing it this way? If only the…
The Most Underrated Sales Tactic In The World
The woman who was shopping for a travel wallet asked the assistant if there was anything available in the sale. “Not in store, but you could try our website. There could be something there,” she said. The customer explained that she was travelling tomorrow, and left the store disappointed and empty-
No Success Without Fear
When Elon Musk unveiled his audacious vision to colonize Mars this week, commentators had as much to say about his hubris and lack or fear as they did about the plan itself. They remarked that Musk’s greatest strength is probably that he has never been afraid to fail. That’s just not true. Of course
Clever Vs. Consistent
The advert for cheap flights to L.A. simply read: Brad is single Los Angeles. From/one way, incl taxes. £169* It was clever of the marketing department to pick up on the news that’s top of mind and there’s no doubt the ad got plenty of attention in the moment. Maybe the airline even sold some…
Here Today, Here Tomorrow
In a digital business world where it’s believed everything can be measured there is an assumption that an action will result in a reaction. Much of our marketing is now created with the expectation that it will deliver an immediate (albeit short-term) reward. Of course, the best marketing doesn’t wo
The Feedback You Invite Vs. The Feedback You Need
The air stewardess in the business class cabin was busy, but not overrun. She spent the majority of her time with one executive passenger in her section throughout the flight. A friend who was returning from an overseas holiday asked for a cup of tea. Ninety disappointing minutes and four more reque
Marketing Constants
If you’re running a business, you’ll hear some version of the following every other day. Things have changed. And there’s no doubt that they have. Things have changed since the Internet became ubiquitous, since Facebook launched, since newspaper advertising died, since the iPhone, Amazon.com, ad blo
What’s Your Customer’s Value Story
You may have read some version of the recent Tech Crunch article by Tom Goodwin that began with this observation. “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And
The Three-Act Structure For Brand Stories
Every movie you’ve ever watched follows a three-act structure. The screenwriter sets the scene, introducing us to the hero and the main characters. We get a glimpse of his world, relationships and challenges. In the second act, we see the hero attempt to solve his problems or overcome obstacles. In
Why Do They Come?
There was a twenty-minute wait for croissants at Lune long before the New York Times announced that the best croissants in the world might just be made in Melbourne. Now you can wait for thirty, but people still get up early and hang in there just to try one. Why would they take a tram…
Common Ground
One blustery Saturday morning last month our entire neighbourhood woke to a marketing blitz. Every single home in every street had been targeted. The instructions to the leaflet dropper had been clear. Don’t post the flyer in the letterbox (where people won’t be looking for mail at the weekend). Pla
