ARISE SIR GORDON

What’s in a job title?

Nothing.

Entrepreneurs just starting out award themselves the title CEO.

What do they know about leading a company – not a lot!

Newly promoted marketing managers are rewarded with the title marketing director.

What do they know about directing a marketing campaign – not much perhaps?

Scan an individual’s CV if you really want to know how much substance lies behind a title.

GET REAL

Does your brand hold people to ransom before you’ll let them see your best content?

Do you demand they watch a promotional video or complete a questionnaire before you’ll give them access to your “priceless” white paper or “commanding” PowerPoint?

If that’s how you operate, you’re not only turning potential customers away, you’re putting them off your brand forever.

If your info’s not freely available, they’ll find what they’re looking for elsewhere.

Realise this – you don’t have the monopoly on knowledge, wisdom or news.

THE POWER OF THE BRAND

They are becoming rarer, but I still come across people who proudly claim they shun brands.

I would never buy a branded product, they pompously proclaim.

Hypocrites.

Whoever they are, they will be wearing a logo somewhere on their body and their refrigerator will be groaning with branded food items.

Brand power is everywhere and labels matter to us all – even inverted snobs.  

KEEP IT SIMPLE

What’s in a name?

Everything.

Years ago Marks & Spencer introduced Vichyssoise Soup.

It was delicious but no one bought it.

They changed the name to Leek & Potato Soup and it flew off the shelves.

Just shows – in marketing you can’t be too fancy.

SPECIALISTS VS GENERALISTS

Distinguishing one perfume from another can be difficult.

A sniff of coffee clears the confusion and allows perfumers to separate one scent from another.

Nibbling on a cracker clears the palate and enables sommeliers to tell the difference between wines of different years from the same terroir.

Knowing the tricks of the trade allows specialists to out-perform generalists each and every time. 

THE STAMP OF STAR PERFORMERS

Studies suggest that 80% of a company’s critical outputs are likely to come from 20% of the workforce.

These star performers are ambitious, resilient, creative, trustworthy, adaptive and speedy learners. 

They motivate those around them to emulate their performance while encouraging collaboration and team work.

Super successful companies aim to recruit only stars but the secret is putting them in the right positions so that everyone plays to their strengths while working towards common goals and a shared vision.

KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS

A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.

These are the immortal words of motoring legend Henry Ford who understood the value of advertising.

He spent big to sell his affordable cars and didn’t cut back when times got tough.

He continued to invest, knowing full well that he would take market share from timid rivals.   

Follow his lead if you want to see your competitors in your rear view mirror.

IN PRAISE OF ANONYMITY

It’s OK for a CEO to be invisible.

It’s OK for a CEO to shun the limelight.

It’s OK for a CEO to turn down media interviews and speaker platforms.

Some of the most successful companies in the world are led by self-effacing bosses.

They prove you don’t have to be a corporate peacock to be a winner.

THE AGE OF INFORMATION IS DEAD – LONG LIVE INSPIRATION

They say we live in the information age but, for marketers, that was yesterday.

There’s so much information out there that we’re drowning in the stuff.

Marketers need to go beyond information and focus on inspiration.

We should not be boring consumers to death by drenching them with information.

We should be persuading them to buy with inspiration.

The information age is dead. This is the age of inspiration.