Tag Archives: stories



Harvard Business Review: On innovative business models…

August 4th, 2010

A great quote on the first couple of pages:

“business models are, at heart, stories that explain how enterprises work”

And isn’t that so true? Business models: a (hopefully) compelling & engaging story of how your business functions.

[They go on to say, strategy, is how you deal with competition].

Great book – pick it up if you can.


Intellectual Narrative Non-Fiction (aka stories with lessons)

July 12th, 2010

Very technical, but essentially this is what Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell all do.

They share business stories that teach lessons.

Just the same way legends have been passed down, engaging stories with lessons behind them.

And guess what? It works, presenting the knowledge in that fashion gets cut through and if the objective is message absorption is the objective they (and you) win.

Stories that get through matter, speaking above or beyond peoples capabilities just alienates them.  This is the exact reason why these authors do so well.


Catering an experience for your customers

June 29th, 2010

For a recent interview we were talking about the swing (and if there was any) that has occurred during the recession.

The biggest thing I see, is that, consumers are more assertive with their spending, before they would let minor things slide.  Now though they demand more (perceived) value for their dollar, and that value isn’t always a ‘functional’ benefit, it might be the ease of use an iPhone provides rather than an Android, or the time saving of a personal finance application or the status they get from using the service (or upgrade).

It’s all about catering an experience for each of your customers, it was beforehand, but now when people are assertive spenders even moreso.

Gourmet Supermarkets did will during the recession, as people would rather indulge on an afternoon experience with friends, whereas in the past they might have eaten out.  It’s not that they’re not spending, it’s that they are rewarding those companies which cater experiences that create stories.  These stories create status, memories and most of all a good time.


The Listening Assumption

July 28th, 2009

Just because you’re talking doesn’t mean I’m listening.

It’s easy to make the assumption that people are.

Question it.

Go back and check, is your market really listening? Or just brushing you aside?



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