Creating a winning message starts with understanding your target audience

We are far beyond using the big guns of mass media to tell our stories. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for the old school stuff but in this day and age when we know so much more about our customers, why not get them when they’re looking. Let’s be clear every communication […]

Hundreds of ways to diminish your brand position

Recently I bought a new washing machine. I was disappointed that the ridiculous cost of repairing my, relatively new might I add, machine meant that the best option was to replace it. So, right from the beginning I was a reluctant buyer. Having trawled through the mass of customer and pricing reviews, I knew exactly […]

Can you survive on word-of-mouth alone?

The short answer is no. What!? A blog that answers the initial question in the first line and doesn’t make you read all the way through to the call to action at the end? Crazy right!? Make sure you tell all of your friends how crazy we are. WHY IS THE SHORT ANSWER NO THOUGH? […]

Who says conservative brands can’t have a bit of fun?

“If people aren’t talking about you, they’re not talking about you for a reason. And the reason isn’t that they dislike you. They’re not talking about you because you’re boring.” ~ Seth Godin Conservative brands get a raw deal. While their more youthful, sexy and luxurious cousins have a wonderful time being implemented in all […]

3 simple ways to start having more conversations with your customers

Do we ever really know what our customers are thinking? If your answer is yes, my guess is you invest a tonne of money in ongoing market research – both online and offline to stay on top of changing customer behaviours, expectations and perceptions. Or, you have a dedicated contact centre with customer service representatives […]

Content Marketing – what it is and why you need it

Content marketing is pretty much what it sounds like right? Using content to market your business. But isn’t that what we’ve been doing? But what is content exactly? And where do you ‘market’ it? Answering these questions depends on a couple of things – who your market is (customer personas unique to your business) and […]

If x then y, the automation of everything

The other day as I wandered around Melbourne International airport I felt a little uneasy by just how many apps and other online platforms served up content relevant to my upcoming trip. My banking application popped up with a notification asking me if I wanted to register my overseas travel, opening Google on my phone […]

Crisis communication: Owning it.

2016 has given us a couple of shining examples of what to do and what not to do when it comes to companies owning a crisis. Telstra – how to own an outage crisis I take my hat off to Telstra for their handling of a recent mass network outage that impacted 8 million customers. […]

Six steps to a killer e-newsletter strategy

The boss calls you into her office one morning. She’s concerned about the fragmented and random way that the business is communicating with customers. With all best intents, the sales guys are doing their own thing, operations are sending a few emails en-masse to fix common issues, and senior management are giving heads-ups to big […]