It looks like it is going to be a big year. This year I will be back at University Of Wollongong teaching in the Arts Faculty – the same subject as last semester, ARTS301. I had tremendous feedback last semester from students. The subject is really about helping those about to graduate to understand how [...]
Last Thursday I went our for my morning walk with my wife, Robyn. She told me that we had a problem with our washing machine. She thought that the motor had given up the ghost. We have had it for some time so we decided not to bother with calling a repair man and to [...]
We all exist in networks of people. Before the industrial revolution they were close knit and very local. Fast forward through the industrial revolution and the ability to travel far and fast and into the digital era and we all have complex and vast networks of connections. All of those connections have influence on our [...]
Everyone wants more sales. They want more revenue. And they want more margin. And they want it now. They think that this involves strategy. Actually what they are looking for is tactics, and when they adopt tactics without a strategy it will almost invariably fail. Tactics is selling canned tomatoes at retail in the supermarket. [...]
Adam Mansbach is a marketing genius. Actually Adam Mansbach is an author – and an extremely successful author as of a couple of weeks ago. He writes novels, but has not been the huge success that every author yearns for. At least until now. He recently wrote a children’s bed time story book. It is [...]
Every day there is more competition for share of mind. More billboards, more radio ads, more TV ads, more blogs, better search capabilities… on and on it goes. In this chaos of brand noise how do you get your own personal brand noticed? There are some very simple steps that can be taken. Its amazing [...]
People invariably don't understand how marketing works. Even marketers don't understand. They think that if they buy more spots on TV, make a harder hitting ad, they will sell more product. They think that if they shout louder, they will get their ideas across more effectively. The reality is that they marketers are generally like [...]
I have had a number of branding jobs over the last few months. What is interesting about developing brands is that every job is totally different. Developing a brand architecture for an enterprise requires for there to be a real insight into how the model works, what the underlying brand promise is, and most of [...]
George Zieman has undertaken a long term analysis of music sales and shipments in the US. He sent me a link to a report that he has just posted which you can read the detail of here. George is not just a recent observer of reporting trends on music sales – he has been doing [...]
Pretty much everyone that I meet has a pet project that they want to take to market, or knows someone who has one. But almost invariably when the discussion turns to what needs to be done, the person at the center of the play – the entrepreneur if you will – has a misconception about [...]