I’ve lost count of the number of times value propositions, positioning, and unique selling propositions have come up in my conversations with organisations. And at the centre is usually this question: How can we make sure we’re different to everyone else? Very few businesses are unique on any meaningful scale. The idea...
Continuing my series of answering questions sent in by you, this week’s question asks about brand management. How can a small company manage a brand effectively and economically given the shortage of manpower in lean-running SMEs like mine? It seems a huge task. (Brand management as I see it is maintaining...
I’m going to make it short and sweet this week. I’ve recently had a number of conversations with people where my brand advice to them ended with the following statement: Everyone is not your customer. It should be obvious and some companies do get it. Too many don’t. There are plenty of...
I’m often accused of not liking marketing and advertising, and while nothing could be further from the truth, I do have a particular dislike for bad marketing and lazy advertising. Good marketing broadly and advertising more specifically connect with what I care about in a way that gets me to take...
It’s a common tale. I have a set of things I believe and care about but feel like that isn’t enough to get attention in the marketplace. I need to differentiate. I need to stand out more. I need people to notice me. It’s subtle at first. I can’t just be good,...
In the sometimes befuddling and jargon-filled world of marketing it seems a new buzz phrase pops up weekly. In the last year the term “content marketing” has been all over the place and seems to be gathering steam. I have to admit, I’m pretty jaded about these things and have been known...
Commonwealth Bank first said “can” back in 2012 via a Dr Seussian screed read whimsically by Toni Collette. And now, in what feels like the marketing campaign equivalent of hoisting the white flag, their latest effort effectively admits they can’t after all. Sounding more like a self-help book than a bank, their new billboard...
The question for this week is one that many business leaders have faced at some point in their history – should we change our name? And the answer is usually that that is the wrong question. The better and more important question is why do you think you want or need to...
Among what is sure to be a plethora of April Fools’ Day blogs I thought I’d resist temptation and instead deal with growth. How to get it. How to sustain it. How to manage it. And more specifically, how to “grow brand”. It’s a subject that I’ve been thinking more...
Attaching words and ideas around brand to everything that moves is somewhat old hat. But just when you didn’t think it could get any more confusing along comes – branded! Branded assets (the mind boggles). Branded products (don’t they all have names). Branded experience (Disney must be so proud). To name...