Distinctiveness vs. Differentiation vs. Bonding
Branding aims at de-commodification: getting the customer to see you as the better, worthier option. And there are three ways of pursuing this goal.
Secrets of a genius storyteller
Learn from the great Ronnie Van Zant from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Appeal to your audience by speaking to them in their language.
Should an Upwardly Mobile Zebra Shed Its Stripes?
Successful marketing, getting your company noticed, requires behavior that's not only risky, it runs counter to instinct.
Advertising is like cooking an egg
In an environment where results are needed immediately, microwaving your marketing might be the option. But it’s not the most ideal.
Zen and the Art of Persuasion. Part 3 of 3
People avoid risk on three levels. The biggest risk is that they’ll purchase the wrong solution – that they’ll have spent the money and still have the problem.
Winning the War for Talent – An Advertising Strategy for Service Companies
This is why character and story-driven advertising not only accelerates branding success, but recruiting success as well.
Putting Funny Ads To Work For Your Boring-Ass Business – Ordinary to Extraordinary
None of these products were inherently interesting, yet their ads have been enjoyed hundreds of millions of times.
Regrettably, I didn’t wear the kilt.
Celebrate your difference in the world. Stand out. Get talked about. You will be rewarded for your courage when you are true to yourself.
How to Steal Your Competitor’s Customers. Part 2 of 3
Is this a good ad? Does it make you want to buy a can of John’s Tomato Juice? A good ad would.
Eyeballs, hope and steaming piles of crap
I get asked a lot about the effectiveness of advertising and which ones are the most effective. The buzz for entrepreneurs these days is social media.
7 Modern Marketing Myths & Why They’re Dangerous Even When You’re Not Falling for Them
Following the zeitgeist is easy. Good branding is hard.
Vulnerability is the power tool for storytelling
If you can’t make the audience feel, it’s documenting. No 5-year-old ever asked their mom to read them a documentary before bedtime. Storytelling pulls out an emotion in the audience or customer.
How Does One Educate a Customer? Part 1 of 3
“Everyone needs our product,” said Bob. “All we need to do is to tell them about it.” He thinks advertising problems in the water supply is an excellent way to attract potential customers to his business.
The Most Bizarre Brand Mascot (That Worked) In the Last Twenty Years — And Why You Should Care!
It permanently impressed itself on the tender psyches of millennials and they still whine about it decades later.
Learning From the Legends: The Ronseal Phrase
Don’t be deceived by the apparently artless, “just tell it like it is” nature of the ad. The slogan even made it into the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms and was repeatedly used by then-Prime Minister David Cameron.