The marketing job to be done in 2015.
It's been the Christmas and new year period, and over the break some introspection occurred, along with the pud, family connections and some nice wine. One of the insights that emerged was the application of Clayton Christianson's "job to be done" idea to marketing,...
2014 prediction scorecard.
It is new years eve 2015, and being an advocate of accountability, it is only right that I submit myself to scrutiny over the predictions made in January for 2014. Below is a reproduction of the post from January 2014, with a few comments...
Want to survive 2015? Here is a Marketing inventory audit template for you
Taking inventory is one of the most boring things, but necessary things we all need to do. Understanding what you have in stock is fundamental to determining the operational priorities for the future. Taking physical inventory is familiar to everyone, it is an...
Do what is wrong for your competitor, and win.
We spend heaps of time setting out to satisfy customers, do what is right for them, to ensure our success, no argument, but is it enough? To add another dimension to your competitive efforts, ask yourself the simple question "what would really hurt the...
15 ways to ensure strategy fails.
Strategy is one of those alters of organisation to which almost everyone offers lip service, and once a year in the planning cycle, receives mass genuflection. That does not mean we believe, just that it is a part of the duty of organisations, and as such, fails to...
6 Category Management ideas for small business at Christmas
The third in the series outlining the 10 ways small businesses can beat the supermarket gorillas at their own game, by aggressively executing on category management. Read the first here, the second here. What better time is there for small businesses trying to...
4 quadrants for comprehensive customer definition
One of the absolute foundations of successful commercial activity is to be able to define your primary "customer" in considerable detail. The more the better. Years ago I watched as market researcher asked a group to define the brand we were researching as if it was a...
Quantifying “Value”
I bang on about "Value" a lot, in all sorts of contexts, and using all sorts of examples and metaphors. Defining the components of value is challenging, as value to every individual is different in differing contexts. Value can be described as the difference between...
5 ideas for SME’s to compete using data.
The second of 10 ways to beat the supermarket gorillas at their own game, after understanding the way the supermarket business model works, is to be savvy with data. Supermarket retailing is heavily data intensive. These days, any retailing beyond the archetypical...
Our most valuable personal resource.
Time, as is often pointed out, is our most valuable and non renewable resource. Using what we have productively is a challenge we all undertake in our own way. We all have exactly the same amount of it available to us, the differences emerge when we examine what we do...