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Invest in Second Contact
Both businesses and the customers win when we prioritise affinity over attention.
Begin With Wants and Needs
All successful businesses do two things. They fulfil the unmet needs and unspoken desires of their ideal customer.
What’s Your Promise To Your Customers?
There are a thousand ways to stand out with a better story. And you get to pick one.
When Subjectivity Wins
Successful brands craft and tell stories for their ideal customers—the people who are ready to hear and believe them.The more subjective we can be in our sales and marketing, the better.
Get Specific To Get More Customers
The more specific you can be about who your work is for and who it’s not for, the better your chances of gaining traction with more people.
Persuade On Purpose, With Purpose
If we’re in the business of making things that change people’s lives for the better, we must master the art of persuasion and help people to make decisions they’re glad about.
The Myth Of Significance
Lately, we have come to believe in the myth of significance. Put our faith in being chosen, becoming ‘the one’. Striving to be bigger, noticed or more than, while simultaneously recounting a narrative of never enough. In our minds, significance boasts a title, resides in a corner office, speaks from
Do The Unnecessary
A great deal of our work is about doing the necessary, meeting spec and making sure the client got what they paid for. But much of the skill and all of the joy in our work comes from doing the unnecessary.
Say It With Intention
Communication is not just an exchange of information, it’s also an exchange of intention. We’re never just speaking or writing the words to be heard, we’re always trying to make ourselves understood.
Reverse Marketing
Who is the antithesis of your ideal customer? What’s the message you’d share to convince that person never to buy from you? When you can tell that story well, you’ll be something to someone.
More Vs. Enough
Our culture has taught us that we should multiply our effort to maximise our reward. But a sustainable business—one that is both viable and brings us joy, doesn’t always necessitate exponential growth.
Everything Speaks
The fundamentals don’t garner loyalty. Customers want an experience. People don’t just buy what we serve—they buy how it makes them feel.
On The Face Of It
Our neighbours are selling their house. The selling agent said if they want to get the best price, they should give it a lick of paint. And so the decorators are outside today painting the railings. There’s no doubt that a fresh coat of paint will brighten the place up ready for auction day. But…
Marketing Advice
We’re on our way to buy that forgotten pint of milk late one weekday evening when we spot a brand new restaurant. So, we stop to take a look at the menu in the window. Inside the place is deserted, apart from two smiling waitresses, stationed behind the double glass doors and one anxious owner…
Words And Deeds
When we moved to our neighbourhood, the independent organic grocer was a community hub. The sales staff knew locals by name. The fruit and vegetables were plentiful and fresh. And customers were offered food tastings every day. And then bit by bit things started to change. The owner opened a store i
If You Want To Be Noticed, Start Noticing
We’re always looking for ways to get our customers to notice us. We spend time thinking about what new marketing channels we could explore. We work on strategies to get us more exposure. We test tactics that might improve our reach. What would happen if we shifted some of our energy to noticing our
The Power Of A Shared Narrative
Many shoppers wandering the department store on Saturday are browsing. Some are buying. Most people the menswear assistant offers to help, decline. But one or two ask if a particular shirt or jumper is available in their size. The response depends. It depends on three things—the stock levels, the tr
What Can You Learn From Your Competitors?
What’s the story your competitor doesn’t want to tell?
Thank You For Your Work
We can be more grateful customers and build the kind of organisations that create them on purpose.
Your Company Needs A Strong Strategic Narrative
A strong strategic narrative enables us to prioritise the opportunities, plans and behaviours that align our vision and values with our customer’s unmet needs.
