Not “If” but “When”
The phenomena of social media is one that businesses need to understand, and be ready to respond when, rather than if, it gets difficult. The Nestle Facebook page has been overrun by new "fans" after the publicity surrounding their practices of using palm oil sourced...
Where next for wool?
Australia rode on the sheeps back in the 50's, but in the 70's & 80's the sheep turned nasty, and we mostly got off, having lost our pricing power through the competitive growth of synthetics, and strategic stupidity. When we dismounted, looking for an easier...
Forensic marketing
Yarning to an old mate last week, the usual wide ranging stuff you examine with someone you know well, he said "you know, what you do is forensic marketing, exhuming the deeply held assumptions that distort the outcomes, simplifying the jargon, identifying the...
Canute sees the light.
Guvera, an Australian start-up, has evolved a business model that is a bold but necessary experiment for the music industry. Music downloads from the site will be free, paid for by advertisers who get the opportunity to connect with consumers of particular songs, or...
Common sense, not so common.
Sometimes academic research evolves to support what common sense has told us for years. A standard phrase in the marketing lexicon is "look at it from the customers perspective" an obvious and logical strategy, not often used for a range of reasons, largely...
Fail to succeed.
It is often said, in one way or another, that the key to success is a willingness to fail, because only by taking risks, not accepting the common wisdom or status quo can you be sufficiently different to be have the chance tosucceed. J.K.Rowling is possibly the most...
Marketing punishment
For fifty years, good marketing meant efficient use of advertising funds, driving distribution, segmenting markets, usually on socio-economic status and usage patterns, development of brand awareness and purchase intention, a flow of range extensions, and staying out...
Where do we find the time?
From time to time we stumble across something that offers a "Eureka moment" an opportunity for insight that clears the haze, explains something in a way that makes such obvious sense, we wonder why it took so long. Clay Shirky's notion of "Cognitive surplus" is such a...
Unders & Overs of a great site.
One of the huge advantages of the web is that the small can look big, and professional, and able to tackle any challenge, and most important, confident of success. In order to achieve this on your site, you need to spend a little, perhaps a little more than you would...
Reward, actual and desired.
I often see businesses rewarding one behavior, whilst seeking an entirely different one. A Managing Director I worked for many years ago used to bang on about the long term the strategy, and values of the organisation, whilst beating (metaphorically) the daylights out...