Most founders ignore their most powerful marketing asset.
Back when I was working in agency-land, I had an original thought I was rather proud of. I called it “the portable idea”, and the gist was that for a piece of marketing to be effective, it needed to communicate the brand’s message not only if you saw it, but also if somebody told you […]
The true purpose of strategy.
Next Sunday, I’m turning 40. And it feels like a pretty significant one, to tell the truth. Not just because it’s a landmark birthday, but because for many people it marks an inflection point: Is this when life ends? Or is this when life starts? Both of these probably sound pretty hyperbolic, but hear me […]
Why most vision statements suck – and how to make one that doesn’t.
There aren’t many things more vapid than “strategy” out there in the corporate world. But this is one of them. Vision. The idea of the “vision statement” actually makes a lot of sense on paper. You spell out some fabulous future state you’re trying to achieve, then use it to give everyone a sense of […]
Niches are overrated – here’s how to make something with mass appeal.
I’m going to keep this one relatively brief. I see a lot of advice out there celebrating the idea of narrowing down your business to a very specific customer, with a very specific problem. “Riches in the niches” and all that. I call this “Linear Strategy”, because intuitively it makes sense: Step 1: Identify customer […]
This is what a founder’s calendar should look like – does yours?
I can tell how successful your business will be by looking at one thing: How you spend your time. This sounds like a big claim, but it actually isn’t. Truth is, it’s very obvious – because the difference between the founders of great businesses and mediocre ones is so glaring that you can’t miss it. […]
This article will give you a strategy in under 6 minutes.
I don’t really know if what I’m about to write here is true. I haven’t fully thought it through, and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have the data to prove it either way. But true or not, it’s elegant. And as Paul Dirac said, “A theory of beauty is more likely to be […]
If you can only track ONE metric, make it this…
How do most people feel on their birthday? It’s not great… They feel like time is slipping away. Like the end is creeping closer. Like they’re running out of everything – youth, vigour, and opportunities to build the life they dream of. And then one day, it gets even worse. One day, you feel like […]
You have an unfair advantage – but you don’t know it
Whenever a new brand breaks out, I’m always curious about the strategy that made it happen. But frankly, the truth is often disappointing. Case in point, a few years back I was interested to learn more about the story of Beavertown Brewery, a phenomenally successful new beer brand in the UK. I know a thing […]
Yes, service businesses can be strategic too – here’s how
These days the most common question I get asked is something along these lines: “Hey, I like your stuff, but you’re always talking about product businesses – what about people like me with service businesses, how do we do it?”. Typically these are people with businesses like: Law firms Accountancy practices Advertising agencies …anything where […]
There are 9 types of innovation – how many have you tried?
It was Peter Drucker who famously said: “A business only has two functions: marketing and innovation. The rest are just costs”. And truth be told, since great marketing is simply a form of introducing something new to the market we could probably say that there is only one central function: Innovation. That is what your […]