success
1,070 posts
Why Starbucks Wins
You could have made a cup of instant coffee at home for a few cents this morning. Or you could even have splashed out on a flavoured Nespresso, brewed in your kitchen at 60 cents a shot. So why did you go to Starbucks and pay eight times that price for a commodity? A marketer…
Return On Relevance
Have you noticed how you react lately to unsolicited email or a cold call? Our interruption tolerance threshold is decreasing at a rapid rate and businesses and advertisers know it. In Australia we even have a do not knock register. Are people demanding one where you live? The people you want to spe
Closing The Sale
It was a mid-week afternoon and the jewellery store was empty. Three assistants, and one customer shopping for a ring. A selection of diamonds was presented. The assistant talked about size and shape, colour and clarity, and a twelve week wait when she couldn’t find a ring to fit. The customer made
The Fortune Cookie Principle. The Keys To Telling Your Brand Story
I’ve been working to get my new book into your hands for the past nine months, so I’m thrilled to let you know that The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One is now available on Amazon. The Kindle edition is on sale at the…
The Opportunity Of The Disconnection Economy
If there’s one thing I really hate it’s queuing. You too? And we’re not alone. Innovators are spending their time working on projects to make frustrated one-click, 21st century humans worry less about the time they might be wasting, just waiting. There are red traffic lights with countdowns that enc
You Don’t Need A Marketing Plan
Every business has a plan. Even if it’s written on the back of a Post-it note. The plan talks about the idea. Who it’s for. How to bring it to market, at what cost and how to get the word out. That final piece of the puzzle is your marketing plan, and yes it’s usually…
What’s The Story They’ll Tell About You Tomorrow?
Don’t let anyone kid you. Telling your story, or the story of your business is hard and most people struggle with it on some level (how to write an about page is one of the most visited posts on my blog). But there’s a trick to tapping into the heart of your story. Start where…
Why More Is The Wrong Place To Start
The end goal of all marketing is more. More customers or subscribers. More sales and increased profits. This is the reason business strategy questions and answers often begin, (and end) with the ‘how to’ of getting more. But more is the wrong place to start for two reasons. When you begin by asking,
7 Marketing Strategies That Work Better Than Advertising
Marketing used to mean advertising. If you wanted to sell something awareness on a mass scale was the shortcut. Remarkability or transparency didn’t have to be baked into your product. But we’ve come a long way from the days of Mad Men and the blurred line between getting noticed and being believed.
The Purpose Of Data
You know things about how people interact with your business or brand that you couldn’t possibly have known just a decade ago. You know how many people visited your website, from what country last night (or even right this second!). You know who sent them, how long they stayed and what held their at
Is It Time To Stop Advertising?
Last week I passed a moving kid at the side of the road, where cars sped by at 80km per hour. He was wearing a red sandwich board that screamed, “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE,” and had clearly been given instructions to dance about to attract more attention. I was 200 metres past him when…
What Kills Big Companies?
For over a century Kodak knew that what was important to its customers was “Kodak moments” not their innovation and patents, (well their marketers did anyway). And yet they failed to translate that knowing into staying relevant to their customers. “Sales + Customers = Nothing Broken is the formula f
Why Your Brand Doesn’t Need A Unique Selling Proposition
In the 90s Pampers’ ‘unique selling proposition’ (USP) claimed it was driest nappy on the market. Procter & Gamble prided itself on this benefit, investing heavily in research and development to maintain its USP. In the end that singular focus blinkered the company’s understanding about what mothers
Narrow And Deep Vs. The Market Of Everyone
When you were ten years old all any marketer needed to know about you, or the people in your street was that you owned a TV. In a world of limited choices big companies could afford to cast the net wide across the masses. No depth required. This tactic doesn’t work so well now that…
Why I’m Doing This. Questioning What’s Important
It’s rumoured that Tumblr founder David Karp will get $250 million from the deal his company signed with Yahoo earlier this week. Do you think that’s what really matters to him? Was this the prize he had his eye on six years ago when he started? Could money have been the answer that was top…
The Secret Of Disruptive Innovations
When the online eyewear retailer Warby Parker began selling boutique-quality glasses at a $95 price point they weren’t just trying to undercut the bigger players in the industry. Of course they did that and more, growing the company by 500% in just a year and mostly by word of mouth. The average cus
What Does Disney Do?
Only one thing. They set out to make people happy. The Mickey Mouse balloon sales are a pleasant side effect of that. A souvenir of that time when the visitor felt the way she wanted to feel. In business we often set out to sell the cause, forgetting that what’s really valuable is the effect.…
5 Ways To Tell A Better Brand Story Today
It turns out telling your brand story is more about doing than telling. Here are five things you can do today to begin telling a better brand story. 1. Review and rewrite your about page. A great about page isn’t all about you. It should communicate how you can help or delight the reader. That’s…
What’s Your Plan For The Other 364 Days?
It’s interesting to watch businesses of all stripes trying to attach a layer of Mother’s Day meaning to their brands. I’m not sure how you surprise your Mum with running shoes from the “40% off women’s sports shoe sale”. Finding a way to jump on the bandwagon of the day doesn’t take a lot of…
The Real Job Of A Marketer
When a mother of two stands browsing the birthday cake supplies at the local Cook & Dine store she’s not imagining how well the piping bags will work. She’s imagining how she will feel when her little girl’s face lights up at the party on Sunday afternoon. We think our job is to change how…
