Have you heard about Domino’s Pizza? What about FedEx? And how about the uniqueness of Volvo? So yeah, these companies found their uniqueness. But what about you? Why can’t you find or create your own uniqueness? Why does the uniqueness of your products and services play hide and seek with you? And is there a […]
The Importance of the Mona Lisa Concept
There are 380,000 pieces of art in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Of these, well over 35,000 pieces of art are for display at any given point in the gallery complex. Yet, most of the tourists rush past 34,999 pieces of art to see a singular piece of art. A painting that has a dimension […]
Does Snob Appeal Sell More Products and Services?
Would a customer buy a product just to brag? Would they pay more just to say: “I paid more?” What if you sold something that wasn’t something spiffy like a diamond? What if you sold a bed, or teacups, or tiles? What if you sold a training course instead? In any business the price can […]
Is Brand Extension Possible? The Concept of the Umbrella Brand
Imagine you had five kids. Imagine they were all boys (oh, perish the thought!) Imagine you called them John. As in John, John 2, John 3, John 4, John 5. We’re bordering on the ridiculous here, aren’t we? I mean this naming convention you’d never consider in a squillion years. But what if you do […]
How To Choose The Right Colour For Your Brand
Here’s a simple exercise. Go to the mall. Pick up a box of Pringle’s potato chips for me, will ya? But when you get back to your home, you find something strange. The pack doesn’t say Pringle’s. It says Jingles. And someone has misspelled the word ‘chips’ and spelt it as ‘chops’. So instead of […]
The Fundamental Flaw in Creating Your Uniqueness (USP)
Say cheese,” says the person behind the camera. And you say cheese. Your facial muscles are frozen. You have a dumb, goofy look. And under your breath you’re muttering, “C’mon Take the picture, take the picture, c’monnnn!” Click! You blink. The picture’s been taken. And then the photographer runs across to you, all excited to […]
Can Harley Davidson’s Secret Weapon Revitalise Your Marketing?
Imagine yourself in a helicopter over Milwaukee, USA, on the shiny morning of June 13, 1998. You look down casually on the criscrossing tangle of roads on Interstate 94, and then do a doubletake. You can’t believe your eyes. It seems like there are hundreds of moving objects on the highway below. Maybe even thousands. […]
How To Create The Accidental Evangelist
Phil doesn’t really care about American Express. Why should he care? I mean it’s just a credit card after all. Sure it’s got a few benefits and features and stuff that other credit cards don’t have, but that’s not enough to make Phil yodel about American Express. Yet recently, Phil’s been yodelling Suddenly, Phil’s become […]
How To Duplicate Ebay’s Stickiness Factor In Your Small Business
It must have been 6:58 pm on Thursday, June 10, 1999. Without warning, Ebay’s site went down. But no one at Ebay broke into a sweat. Back in 1999, Ebay had been down on May 5 (for five hours), on May 20 (for seven hours). And on June 9, after Ebay’s site redesign, the server […]
An Exercise in Branding: Santa’s Website
Been to Santa’s website recently? Before you decide to go clickety, click — Santa doesn’t have a website. You knew that didn’t you? But what if Santa came to you and said, “Hey, I’d like to create a website. Can you help me? So let’s go about creating a brand for ol’ chubster You’d have […]