According to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, companies, government and society as a whole are suffering from “excessive short-termism”. One driver of this is visibility. As the AICD notes, “In a world where information is ubiquitous and everyone is digitally connected, the short-term impact of decisions can become widely known within a matter of … Continue reading
Recently a growing number of voices have been questioning the logic and value of social media marketing. But in the main these views are overwhelmed by the ubiquitous support for all things social. This post summarises a range of these dissenting arguments to help invite greater debate about why and how brands should use social … Continue reading
A new, ‘unconventional’ framework for business strategy is emerging. One that various high-performance companies have used to succeed at a time when most businesses have struggled to find growth. This post outlines a tested approach for strategy development aligned to this framework that can be adapted by any organisation with relative ease. Business strategy has … Continue reading
Consumers may now shape and define brands. But it’s still the marketing team behind a brand that builds it. This post outlines four key team principles for outperformance brand building. The Challenge of Synchronising Mid to Large Brands To direct their team’s brand management efforts, a CMO typically employ a variety of tools and resources, … Continue reading
Is marketing strategy dying? The default analogy for strategy used to be chess. Now it increasingly seems more like Pick a Box or Join the Dots. Here’s a quick look at this shift and why marketers need to brush up on their chess games. Continue reading
Over the past few years it’s been in vogue for brands to do what not long ago would have been unthinkable. To point out their flaws, openly admit their mistakes and offer products that are deliberately less than ‘perfect’. More often than not, proudly so. Imperfections are the latest phase in the brand authenticity movement. … Continue reading
There are two paradigm challenging forces at play in marketing today. One is obvious – the shift to digital and social media. The other is somewhat less widely known but no less significant, being the new understanding of consumer psychology offered by behavioural science and neuroscience. What isn’t recognised is that the frameworks they suggest … Continue reading
The advent of digital media and changes in consumer expectations mean that brands now have to think in terms of the story they want to tell rather than just positioning themselves. This post examines the shift from positioning to story, provides an overview of brand storytelling, and exemplifies this through looking at how the Scotch … Continue reading
You would be hard pressed to find a mid to senior marketer that isn’t an advocate of the customer-centric view of marketing. It has after all been the dominant marketing paradigm of the past 30 plus years, ingrained in every marketing text and preached by industry leaders. With the identification and fulfilment of category specific … Continue reading
Over the past decade businesses that compete in the mass middle market of their industries have seen increasing pressure on sales and margins. ‘Death in the middle’ as it has been called has been caused by competitors taking either value positions or premium positions. This has shrunk the space in the middle and made the … Continue reading
Brand Truth - Brand Strategy Consulting, Melbourne 