Last week I published a bit about what I think made the first five on my “Brands that I like list” work. The second five from my original post being deconstructed today are: Cochlear, Hub Melbourne, Hepburn Wind, Deck of Secrets, and Broadsheet. Cochlear Because they continue to be trailblazers for Australian innovation. What started in...
From the moment his fateful words were captured on video and shared around there has been no shortage of commentary and hand-wringing about the Alan Jones thing. To date I have resisted entering the fray save a few tweets here and there, mostly because I wasn’t sure what I wanted...
A couple of weeks ago I published a list of brands that I like with the promise that I would expand on what I think makes them work. So over the next two weeks (unless some major brand calamity claims my blog space) I will spend a little time with each...
Choice published their annual customer service survey findings and the wooden spoon for customer service goes to (drum roll) Harvey Norman. Never one to be backwards in coming forwards Gerry Harvey was quick to respond, saying: “Well it’s not a proper survey… our service is fantastic.” Customers were also quick to...
A friend took their life in their hands at the weekend and bravely forwarded me an article on “rebranding” (or, as I call it, the word that should never be used) from Fast Company. Anyone who regularly reads this blog will know my dislike of that particular word, but my friend is a smart...
I was at the Smart Company Smart 50 Awards last week, chatting to those who had made the list and enjoying hearing their stories about how they keep their promises. Just before the official announcements got underway, I was asked the following question to think about while gongs were handed out: “How do you...
Saw a tweet from @trevoryoung about some problems he was having getting @Avis Car Rental to respond to his problem. Well, no wonder, I thought, they don’t “try harder” anymore. They obviously barely need to try at all because now “It’s your space” and, it would seem, that includes solving problems. This one goes into...
Customer loyalty is top on the list of strategic goals of many companies, and to my thinking that is very last place it should be. Loyalty isn’t a “goal” to be reached. It is the result of doing the right things for your customers (and, yes, we can expand that to...
It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that the constant discussion of brand from a marketing-centric standpoint drives me around the twist. So in a small attempt to provide some balance, and show how brand can be a central operating principle, here are some questions you may not be...
In the run up to the Olympics there has been a spate of billboards from a group of artists working under the title “Brandalism”. The billboards are designed to be subversive, with various anti-corporate messages. In the long line of “brand” inspired lingo this one resonates with me on a...