focus Archives

January 23, 2018March 9, 2024

Here’s How One Business Quadrupled Its Sales in a Flat Market

(Reading Time: 6 minutes)

For many leaders of smaller businesses, sustainable growth can be difficult to conjure up. If that sounds like you, I’d like to introduce you to a company that should give you hope.

Consider these results:

This company has averaged 19% compounded annual growth over the last 8 years.
This company doubled sales in one five-year period, and nearly quadrupled sales in eight years.
Notably, this growth was earned in a mature segment, not an emerging or high-growth segment.

And they did it without relying on any “secrets,” gimmicks or silver bullets.

Intrigued? Let’s get to know them a little better.

November 27, 2017March 9, 2024

Be Selective (To Do More With Less)

(Reading Time: 2 minutes)Be selective.

This is not a suggestion or an empty mantra. It’s one of the very few brand-building imperatives I’ll propose to you.

As a leader of a challenger brand, you’re starting from behind, and with fewer resources than your competitors. And limited resources must be focused if they are to have maximum impact.

Here are five important ways you can be selective: Continue reading “Be Selective (To Do More With Less)”

January 28, 2016March 27, 2019

There Are No Magic Potions

(Reading Time: < 1 minute)I’m now in my 26^th year in branding, marketing and strategy.

I’ve yet to come across a single “silver bullet” – a tactic that works perfectly in all situations. Not one.

Of course, that doesn’t stop certain charlatans from peddling their magic potions. My spam folder is littered with them. Continue reading “There Are No Magic Potions”

April 16, 2015February 8, 2018

Two Rules for Winning for Challenger Brands

(Reading Time: 4 minutes)Most brands are challenger brands. Probably yours.

It’s not just a matter of share. If you have fewer resources than your competitors, you’re a challenger brand. You might have a smaller budget. Lower awareness. A short-handed sales team. Or all of these, plus a few things I haven’t listed, you lucky devil.

I’ve been fortunate to work on challenger brands for my entire career, in both brand management and consulting. I say “fortunate” because victory is sweeter when you come from behind, or when you achieve more with less.

Around 20 years ago, I was the brand manager of Airheads candy. At the time, our two largest competitors, Skittles and Starburst, outspent us by about 20 to 1. Despite this, we tripled our sales in less than five years. And we launched what became the fastest-selling non-chocolate single in the country. (The Airheads 6-bar package can still be found near cash registers today.)

The lesson I learned early: Continue reading “Two Rules for Winning for Challenger Brands”

August 13, 2013March 25, 2019

What’s the Best Move in Chess?

(Reading Time: 2 minutes)If you were to meet a chess Grandmaster, would you ever consider asking him or her, “What is the best move in chess you can make?”

If the question seems inherently ludicrous, it should. There’s no such thing as the best move – or even a good move – apart from the situation in which it takes place.

Continue reading “What’s the Best Move in Chess?”

July 3, 2013March 27, 2019

No, Nokia! Market Share Doesn’t Determine Mindset.

(Reading Time: 2 minutes)In an AdAge article released this morning, Nokia CMO Tuula Rytila discusses the new spirit of marketing that apparently exists inside the mobile giant’s hallways.

Connecting fewer people, lately.

According to the article, Nokia’s sales plunged by 22% in 2012. To hear Ms. Rytila tell it, that’s a fabulous thing, because now everyone’s head is right. She says:

Continue reading “No, Nokia! Market Share Doesn’t Determine Mindset.”