Don’t Confuse Shoppers With Consumers

Consumers and shoppers are not the same thing.

Consumers are not necessarily shoppers and shoppers are not necessarily consumers.

Alas, many marketers make the mistake of treating them as the same.

A consumer may love steak and kidney pie. His wife, the shopper, may hate it.

Who should a brand speak to – the consumer who yearns for it or the shopper who makes the buying decision?

Smart brands speak to both.

Avoid Negative People

I hate negative people.

They see a problem in every solution.

I avoid them like the plague.

Having said that, I love people who can spot issues where I can see none.

They keep me out of trouble and keep me on the road to success.

Do You Talk More Than You Listen?

Most marketers talk a lot more than they listen.

I know that I do.

We’ve got two ears but only one mouth.

As my mother often lectured – we should use them in that proportion.

If we listened more, we’d sell more.

Practice Makes Perfect

You didn’t learn to walk by reading a book.

You learned by trying to walk, falling over, picking yourself up and trying again.

Similarly, you don’t learn creativity from a book or by working to a magic formula.

You learn creativity by coming up with lots of ideas, discarding most of them and developing the ones that stand out.

Practice makes perfect and the more ideas you come up with, the more creative you’ll become.

Artistic Inspiration

Elizabeth Taylor was famous for three things – acting, marriages and diamonds.

She was also a shrewd art collector.

When she died, some of her collection was put up for sale. It included works by Van Gogh, Pissarro and Degas.

I loved the Edgar Degas self-portrait but bidding went sky-high and eventually all three paintings were sold for a total of £14m.

I coveted the Degas because he once said – art is not what you see but what you make others see.

It ties in with my marketing philosophy – it’s not what we see but what we make others see.

Beware Of Business Coaches

It seems that everyone wants to become a business coach these days.

From where I stand, most of them have little to offer.

Most are frauds and charlatans.

You don’t become a mentor by reading lots of books.

Real coaches have years of experience behind them and they’ve achieved something great.

Why would you accept advice from someone who has achieved nothing?

I wouldn’t. You shouldn’t!

The Formula For A Luxury Brand

If you’re into luxury brands, you’re not going to like what I’m about to say.

Luxury brands, like most things in life, are built to a formula – albeit a magic formula.

It contains six essential ingredients.

First and foremost luxury products must display exceptional craftsmanship.

They usually have a visionary founder who understands the essence of a great brand.

Luxury brands are never cheap. They always sell for a ridiculous premium.

Sales outlets are built to a rigid criteria and strictly controlled.

Luxury brands can start local but they have to become global.

Finally, they’ve got to make the purchaser feel special – not just special but really special.

Big Businesses Can Be Beautiful

It’s a misconception that big companies are not entrepreneurial.

Some of the biggest brands on the planet are both entrepreneurial and innovative.

They are able to outpace their smaller rivals because they have capital and impressive people.

Brands don’t grow by luck or by accident.

They grow, first and foremost, because they have great leaders who inspire talented people to be all they can be.

Time For A Cuppa

Marketers sometimes live in La La Land – especially when it comes to brand purpose.

We can go off on a magic carpet ride instead of keeping our feet firmly on the ground.

Take Starbucks for instance. You would think their mission statement would have something to do with selling more coffee.

You’d be wrong.

Here’s the purpose of Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.

Need I say more!