Your advertising message could be misinterpreted in the other countries, cultures and languages. An advertisement for washing powder simply had three images: dirty washing, a washing machine using the detergent advertised, and then clean washing. It was a very simple and effective concept. The only problem was that this was published in a Middle Eastern …
Category: General
Don’t do Market Research!
Marketing is all about looking at things from the customer’s point of view. That requires understanding customers and, indeed, listening to customers. Don’t do market research! Listening to customers is the term I tend to use, instead of the phrase ‘market research’. That’s because ‘market research’ tends to conjure up the idea in people’s minds …
Don’t Raise Your Profile – Be Focused Instead
Don’t try to raise your profile. Here’s why ‘raising your profile’ is a waste of time For goodness sake don’t let me hear you talk about ‘profile raising’, because in my view this means scattering around information, willy-nilly, in a clueless way. It also indicates to me that you don’t have a marketing strategy. It …
Marketing Strategy is ‘Invisible’
One of the reasons that strategic marketing is overlooked is because it’s not obvious; it’s not ‘in our faces’. Strategy is practically invisible to outsiders, because it is the thinking behind the scenes within businesses that we never get to see. Marketing strategy is invisible. What we do see, as consumers and observers of businesses, …
Strategic Marketing avoids Bad Customers
Not all customers are good customers! Strategic Marketing will avoid and deter bad customers. Customers can be bad customers for all sorts of reasons. They can be unprofitable or troublesome. They can waste your time or cause stress. Some interfere too much. Some aren’t worthy of including in your portfolio. Others pay late, or never. …
Exponential Growth Business Model in the creative sector
Most businesses in the creative and digital industries want to grow and I advise them on growth strategies based on their ambitions and their own definition of success. Business growth in the creative and digital industries requires a combination of creative passion and smart business thinking. Plus hard work and a fair amount of luck. …
Ansoff’s Matrix for Creative Business Development
Strategies for creative business development and growth using Ansoff’s Matrix (or Ansoff Matrix). [Note: this article was updated in a response to the COVID-19 Crisis. See updated article which includes a new ‘COVID-19 Diversification Matrix’, adapted from the Ansoff Matrix, to devise strategic responses to COVID-19.) When advising creative and digital businesses about strategic marketing …
Devise a REAL Business Strategy
Most so-called “business strategies” are in reality just audacious goals and ambitious growth targets, bundled with a ‘vision of the future’, then packaged as a ‘business strategy’. Sadly, this is true for many design, media and technology companies. A REAL business strategy is different. A real business strategy is a clever solution to a particular …
Five Forces of Competition
When I advise clients and ask about competition, their first answers are about immediate competitors in their industry; other companies offering broadly similar products or services in the same market place. This is valid of course, and we need to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of such competitors using techniques such as Charting the …
Create Your Own Business Formula
Don’t write a business plan until you have read this article! The article in English is reproduced in full below. It can also be downloaded as a PDF document in English and ten other languages. Creativity and Business Some people regard creativity and business as being like oil and water – they just don’t mix. …