Astana, Kazakhstan.
My new book “Gamechangers” came out recently, and has already sold out of its first edition. It’s about the new breed of brands across the world who are shaking up markets, redefining them in their own vision, fusing digital and physical, and embracing new business models, for more profitable and positive impact. It includes a whopping 100 case studies, with new insights and ideas from every sector and region. The Dutch marketing association recently called it “the best strategic marketing book of our time” … that was very kind!
The best part of launching a new book, is getting out there, inspiring people with its messages, but also finding their own examples, and helping them to become “Gamechangers” too. Last year we discovered Aeromobil’s flying car in sleeping Slovakia, which quickly became a global media story, and will soon be production ready. This year in Buenos Aires, we held a Gamechangers competition to find the best local innovators, won by Taragüi, which took the traditional drink mate, and gave it a modern day twist, now available in flavoured powders plus a range of merchandise. In Istanbul, another competition threw up 30 fantastic examples of local innovation, from Brisa’s incredible car and tyre services to LC Waikiki’s local twist on fast fashion.
Truly impressive was Kazakhstan’s new capital city Astana, which emerged 10 years ago out of the inhospitable central Asian steppe. This is a nation that is larger in size than Europe, a tradition of fearless horsemen, and a bridge between Russia and China. It’s also a country of great ambition. Kazakhtelecom is building one of the largest fast broadband networks in the world, so with the prime minister we explored how could the government use this infrastructure to become a game-changing nation. From distributed e-learning to e-healthcare, leapfrogging old models to create new services. With Astana’s World Expo in 2017, watch out for the rise again of the Kazakhs.
Download my keynote “Big Data + Big Ideas = Big Impact” at www.slideshare.net/geniusworks
Istanbul, Turkey
This week I have been working with Yildiz Holding, which is a Turkish market leader with wide range of chocolate and snacks, imitating the concepts of global players then delivering them cheaper. How things change. Now Yildiz is devouring global brands itself, from Belgium’s Godiva Chocolatier for $1.3bn to Britain’s United Biscuits for $3.2bn. Now with 53 plants in 10 countries, and a portfolio of billion-dollar brands like McVities and its Jaffa Cakes, Yildiz is ready to take on the world.
However success requires change. In Yildiz’s case they want to double their revenue in four years. But securing a significant return on acquisitions requires more than just operating the existing businesses. It’s all about “fusion” … mixing up the new portfolio across markets, to combine brands and products, capabilities and channels. Kraft’s acquisition of Cadbury quickly gave us Philadelphia cheese with a twist of Dairy Milk, Ritz sandwiches and KitKat ice creams … Fun products, but the real money is in simplifying the complex product ranges through the lens of a small number of more powerful consumer-centric brands, then taking them as innovative ranges in new and relevant ways to the world’s fast growth markets.
Another example of this shift in power, and power of fusion comes from India … Tata Group have done a fabulous job in reenergizing the Jaguar and Range Rover brands, encouraging new concepts and editions to reach out to new audiences, from the female-friendly Evoque, to the streets of Shanghai. Whilst Tata has stayed loyal to the origins of the brand, giving new life to British carmakers, it has added the vision, networks and drive to win in new markets such as Brazil, China and India. Tata doesn’t just look west, having this month made a huge investment in Xiaomi, the Chinese tech superbrand that is outthinking Apple in emerging markets, and has created $45bn value in just 5 years.
Download my keynote “Building the DNA of Global Brands” at www.slideshare.net/geniusworks
How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know is one of those business books that has fast become an must-read for marketers. It is provocative and interesting.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of “just get it out there to as many people as possible”.
In global markets of incredibly diverse individuals, diverse both in their needs and profitability, it seems strange to go for mass coverage. In a world where most brands are digital, where marketers have incredible amounts of data, though which they can target and engage people in relevant and personal ways, where product and message “push” are increasingly rejected, and test and learn is regarded as a much better way to engage and adapt, then Sharp’s theory is certainly controversial. What I do agree with, is seeking to build deeper engagement with customers, to add more relevance and meaning, and to win through deeper not just more relationships with and between consumers.
Whatever you think, having an opinion on Sharp’s book (which essentially comes down to whether you believe marketing is an art or science) is almost a prerequisite to credibility in marketing today.
Sharp comes from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, University of South Australia. The book builds on the seminal marketing research by Ehrenberg and Goodhart, and is a manifesto for evidence-based marketing, building brands based on what works in scientific practice rather than what should work in marketing theory. In addition to outlining “7 evidence-led rules for unlocking growth through brand marketing”, the book challenges a number of pernicious and costly marketing myths that are sometimes still peddled today; “esoteric quackery concerned with segmentation, differentiation and how buyers perceive brands (take, for example, brand personality)”.
Bin the Brand Onion
For Sharp and his co-authors, marketers have made their lives unnecessarily difficult, handicapping themselves with unfounded theories of branding based on anecdotes and bad metaphors.
For example, there is little evidence to suggest that consumers want ‘relationships’ with brands, or that brands should seek to create ‘meaning’ in consumers’ lives, or that brand commitment and brand loyalty are anything more than just wishful thinking, or that brand positioning (in terms of creating a differentiated ‘brand personality’) is a productive endeavour. When you look at the data, what works in branding is surprisingly simple – making the brand easy to buy – by maximising it’s physically availability and creating an attractive and memorable set of distinctive brand assets; sensory and semantic cues such as colours, packaging, logo, design, taglines and celebrity endorsements that make the brand easy to like, memorise and recall.
Mass Marketing Works
Moreover, when you look at the evidence, there is no reason to complicate your marketing lives with targeting and segmenting customers, whether based on lifestyle, category usage or brand loyalty. Positioning brands for particular target segments is as futile as brand positioning by creating a differentiated brand ‘personality’. Successful growth brands have universal appeal, and mass marketing with a reach-optimised single simple message, rather than being a mass mistake, is still the most effective way to drive sales.
Want Loyalty? Get a Dog
And there’s one more lesson from scientific analysis of marketing data – you don’t need to complicate your lives with a costly customer retention/loyalty program – because they don’t work and have no impact on growth. Customer loyalty is largely a myth (customers are at best ‘promiscuous loyals’ – flitting fickle-like between alternative rival brands based on availability – 72% of Coke drinkers also buy Pepsi (UK)). Likewise for brand commitment – people buy brands out of habit, not commitment. The evidence-led path to growth is simple; market penetration by recruiting ever more new brand users in habitual purchase. And forget marketing designed to increase purchase frequency, it doesn’t work (difference in market share can nearly always be explained in terms of differences in market penetration, not purchase frequency) – focus instead the light and occasional users that account for much of your sales and growth (the typical Coca-Cola buyer in the UK buys Coke just once a month).
How Brands Grow
If there is one top insight in the book, then it’s this … the secret to growing your brand is to build ‘market-based assets’ and these come in two flavours – maximised distribution (physical availability) – and clear and distinctive branding using sensory cues (colours, logo, design…) that are easy to remember (“distinctive memory structures”) and recall.
The real challenge of marketing is all about availability – available in the mind and in the store.
Seven Rules for Brand Growth
After several bruising rounds of marketing myth-busting, HBG outlines 7 scientifically derived rules for brand growth.
- Continuously reach all buyers of the category (communication and distribution) – avoid being silent
- Ensure the brand is easy to buy (communicate how the brand fits with the users life)
- Get noticed (grab attention and focus on brand salience to prime the users mind)
- Refresh and build memory structures (respect existing associations that make the brand easy to notice and easy to buy)
- Create and use distinctive brand assets (use sensory cues to get noticed and stay top of mind)
- Be consistent (avoid unnecessary changes, whilst keeping the brands fresh and interesting)
- Stay competitive (keep the brand easy to buy and avoid giving excuses not to buy (i.e. by targeting a particular group)
Implications for Innovation
The implications of the book for innovation are clear – once you’ve spotted a market opportunity, and a product solution, innovation should continue with building a set of distinctive brand assets; the sensory and semantic cues such as colours, logo, packaging, design, tag-lines and celebrity endorsements that will make the brand easy to memorise and recall. The key to brand innovation is to achieve brand distinctiveness with sensory brand assets (and not conceptual brand differentiation).
The second major implication for brand innovation is that brands should focus as much on innovative distribution solutions as product innovation – the secret to innovation success is to get your distinctive innovation in front of as many eyes as possible. So how can you innovate to maximise distribution (think Nespresso, Apple Retail, American Apparel). So we should be focused on innovating availability – mental availability in terms of creating brand assets that can become memory structures based and physical availability, maximising distribution or owing a distribution channel. In contrast, any time spent on market segmentation or targeting on anything other than needs is time wasted, and efforts to construct a brand ‘personality’ or attempts to make meaning with customers is futile (most memorable quote in the book “Rather than striving for meaningful, perceived differentiation, marketers should seek meaningless distinctiveness”).
The gift of failure is a riddle: it will always be both the void and the start of infinite possibility. The Rise—part investigation into a psychological mystery, part an argument about creativity and art, and part a soulful celebration of the determination and courage of the human spirit—makes the case that many of the world’s greatest achievements have come from understanding the central importance of failure.
Written over the course of four years, The Rise is Sarah Lewis’s exquisite biography of an idea is about the improbable foundations of a creative human endeavor. Each chapter focuses on the inestimable value of often ignored ideas—the power of surrender, how play is essential for innovation, the “near win” can help propel you on the road to mastery, the importance of grit and creative practice.
The Rise shares narratives about figures past and present that range from choreographers, writers, painters, inventors, and entrepreneurs; Frederick Douglass, Samuel F.B. Morse, Diane Arbus, and J.K. Rowling, for example, feature alongside choreographer Paul Taylor, Nobel Prize–winning physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, and Arctic explorer Ben Saunders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5aQJek8Z70
Sarah Lewis is a curator and art historian on faculty at the Yale University School of Art. She has served on President Obama’s Art Policy Committee and appeared on Oprah’s Power List.
London, UK
Exciting day … My new book has finally arrived. After 18 months of writing, 80,000 words on 300 pages, 100 case studies from around the world, 10 themes to rethink your business, and also 16 practical canvases to make it happen … it’s here … and it looks amazing too!
Global and local markets are changing so incredibly fast, that companies need to do something more radical to get ahead. Improvement, evolution, incrementalism is not enough. Leadership requires disruption, imagination, and the boldness to embrace new technologies for more radical innovation. Or you could say – “don’t play the game” (live by the old market models, the rules defined by somebody else) – “change the game”
So I set out on a personal journey around the world … I wanted to find 100 examples of companies who really are “changing the world” – embracing new technologies, breaking the old rules, finding ways to make life better. I asked business leaders from Asia to Africa to Americas which companies they thought were “shaking things up” … and therefore found 10 great examples, from 10 sectors.
You can see all the 100 Gamechangers at the book’s website www.Gamechangers.pro
Every business can learn something from their “secrets” … sometimes it was because they found new markets, new customer segments and needs, or new business models, or new technologies and capabilities, created new propositions with realtime engagement and storytelling, or new channels and network partnerships, or new customer experiences, or new frameworks to deliver more profitable growth and sustainable impact. The book gives you a structured process to “change your game” in a relevant, practical, disruptive and inspiring way.
You can get your copy of the book … currently with 30% discount … from Amazon
Istanbul, Turkey
This week, I’m hosting a 4-day festival of “Gamechangers” in Istanbul. From Monday to Thursday 1-4 December, we’ll be celebrating the launch of my new book, exploring the big themes, and finding Turkey’s most disruptive companies.
I’ve been working with Turkish companies for the last 10 years. Over the last decade I have chaired the MCT Marketing and HR Summits with around 2500 people almost every year, and have worked as an expert consultant to the business leaders of many Turkish companies including Arcelik, Eczacibasi, Pinar, Turkcell and Yapi Kredi Bankasi. Projects have included new business strategies, portfolio analysis, marketing programs, innovation processes, retail design and new product development – as well as executive development and CEO coaching.
During that time I have seen huge change in the Turkish consumer, and economy, but also the ambition and mindset of business people. In the past Turkish companies only saw the home market as their ambition, to be slightly different or better. They lacked creative skills such as design and innovation, and so licensed products from international brands. Now these brands are here competing against them. But Turkish business has acquired the skills to compete on a global stage. What they need now is the ambition to think globally. Look at the recent acquisitions by Yildiz Group of Godiva and United Biscuits for example. This gives Turkey a new platform to think bigger, think smarter, and to accelerate growth.
Examples of Turkish companies who are “changing the game” include
– ISKO, the Sanko company has become the world’s largest denim manufacturer – but its focus is on innovative, technology-enabled fabrics that add value to the world’s premium brands. As a result ISKO wants to become a leading “ingredient brand” like Intel or Lycra. Shopping in Santa Monica I found ISKO brand tags on some of the coolest jeans in the world!
– Ininal, the pre-payment credit card addresses the huge market of people who don’t have bank accounts or payment cards, but want to transact in a digital world. In many aspects of digital technologies, mobile phones and banking tech, Turkey has become a creative lab to experiment and develop new ideas because of its youthful and highly techno-literate market.
– Trendyol, the fashion retail that delivers to your home, going beyond the typical e-tailer to really understand the needs of local and individual consumers, and to tailor a premium service to people locally. Trendyol recognises that it has global competitors – people can buy anything from anywhere, and so have to make their local presence more meaningful in a digital world
– Vodafone, the Turkish Farmers Club was admired worldwide, as a fantastic way in which a large brand could create a relevant, local community, that really helped farmers to live better lives, and Vodafone to be more successful. The Turkish team was seen by Vodafone globally as the team to learn from
– Yeni Raki, even classic “old” brands can change the game. When Mey took Yeni Raki to international audiences, they recognised that there was a whole Turkish culture around drinking raki, and that this could be a truly distinctive experience on which to build the brand, rather than just placing it as a funky bottle next to every other brand of alcohol
There are potentially many more. That’s why I have created a national competition “Gamechangers Turkey” which seeks to find the most disruptively innovative companies. There will be winners in each of 10 categories, an “Oscars-style” awards ceremony, and a global showcase to show the world what Turkey can do!
Lisbon, Portugal
Portugal’s Carlos Lopes is one of my heroes. He was a runner’s runner. For years he was almost successful, usually outkicked by the likes of seventies icons Lasse Viren or Brendan Foster. But as he approached his 40th birthday, the years of training, steely ambition and finely-tuned racing brain paid off. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Marathon he struck gold. The world record followed a year later. So it was great to be back in Lisbon, and sharing my admiration.
SAS Institute is a leader in data analytics, so it was impressive that they had attracted around 1500 people to a seminar on what might seem a slightly boring subject. But every strategist, innovator, marketer, customer service and salesperson today cannot ignore the power of analytics to focus their effort, find new insights, and personalise their solutions. It’s all in our heads. Out left and right brains that is. Analysis needs intuition to focus and interpret. Big picture and small detail. Intelligence is matched by imagination. We need our left and right brains to win in this new world. Just like Einstein and Picasso.
Big Data + Big Ideas = Left brain + Right brain = Intelligence + Imagination = Big Impact
Anthony Perez then gave an insight into how big data is transforming the world of sports and entertainment at Orlando Magic, the NBA basketball team. As VP of Business Strategy (including data analytics, digital marketing, but not the rest of marketing!) he is responsible for making money out of focused intelligence. But it takes insight and intuition too. What is the most effective way to get people to renew their season ticket? How to ensure full stadia when many ticket holders don’t show? What would people pay to high five their heroes? Find out here.
Email peterfisk@peterfisk.com to get my keynote “Big Data + Big Ideas = Big Impact”
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This autumn’s world tour kicked off in South America, now fully into the “Gamechangers” theme … The book is written, edited, and waiting to be printed (somehow it still takes publishers 9 months to turnaround a manuscript, I have no idea what they spend the time doing!). Actually its appropriate to start down here, because there’s a great number of Latin American case studies in the book. Brands you might not have heard of, but could learn a lot from – like Beauty’in that combines cosmetics in food and drink; like Graal Bio that turns urban waste into useful energy; like Juan Valdez that moved from commodity to brand experience; like Chile AIC that does some of the most amazing innovation.
Today its Buenos Aires … As I fly in over Montevideo, the huge city glints white in the sunshine. The classic buildings and wide streets seem more like a mix of European capitals, rather than Latin American. I stand in the main square, the cathedral where Pope Francis preached just months ago, and where Eva Peron, and more recently Madonna stood on the balcony of the rose palace, imploring the people to follow her. Today, Argentina lives through turbulent times. Inflation is high, growth is low, life is clearly not easy. Yet the natural wealth, through minerals and farming is there, if only they could sort out their politics.
Part of the ongoing “Gamechangers” project involves running competitions in each different region of the world … Local people voting to find the most disruptive innovations in their local markets … In this way we keep discovering new brands to learn from, and to take to showcase around the world. So the top three in the Gamechangers Argentina awards were:
- Taragui Mate Listo … “mate” is Argentina’s favourite non-alcoholic drink, so the leading drinks brand has given it a twist, easy to make and take anywhere
- Maracado Libre … an online marketplace, similar to eBay, but localized to Argentina, and also became the leading retailer and outlet store
- Globant … is South America’s leading software business, and one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2014
Download my Gamechangers keynote plus FutureBank workshop for Banco Supervielle
This is the largest gathering of UK estate agents, thinking about the future of selling property. Of course it’s a very digital business today, and the sponsors Zoopla have created an Amazon-like platform of properties for sale. But the “elephant in the room” is that all these estate agents have very physical businesses, where their individuality is commoditized by the online portal.
Time for estate agents to wake up to their advantages! Just like small corner shops felt threatened and dominated by large supermarkets, there is actually room for both. Corner shopsbegan to specialize – as Organic Butchers, Local boutiques, or Polish stores – leaving the price-driven weekly shoppers to fill their baskets elsewhere. Similarly estate agents need to focus on the physicality and locality. Becoming boutique advisory services. Buying and selling property is just a transaction, easily commoditized. Designing a home of my dreams, with the right décor and furnishings, with local plumbers or decorators when I need them, or renting out my spare bedroom, or finding the right school, or helping extend my loft. These are the things I need help with. Maybe my local property concierge could help me?
In a digital world, the best solutions are physical and digital. Adding value in new ways to make people’s lives better. In the music industry, people pay 99 cents for an iTunes download, but $99 (or a lot more) for a rock concert ticket. Beyonce, JayZ and U2 all sign up to the world’s largest concert organiser Live Nation, rather than a record company, to manage their careers most profitably. Zoopla can far more effectively give people choice and facilitate transactions. Local experts can add much more value, and make much more money, in other ways.
Email peterfisk@peterfisk.com to get my keynote “The Future of Estate Agents”
Martha’s Vineyard, USA
Cape Cod is a wonderful place for a summer holiday. A fantastic shoreline, miles of sandy beaches, sharks even whales swimming offshore, classic wooden beach houses, great seafood, and not too many people. And not one high rise building or chain hotel. Morning run along the sea road to Hyannisport, a lazy breakfast on the deck, shell collecting, lobster roll for lunch, afternoon on the beach, Scrod and chips for dinner, and a browse around an artist gallery. Fantastic.
Two brands caught my eye as we explored the colourful streets of Martha’s Vineyard, the small island that has become Obama’s favourite holiday spot too. The Black Dog is a small inn on the island that started printing t-shirts of the black dog logo that hangs above its door. Soon it became more popular for its merchandise, rather than its food and drink, having limit purchases to clientele. But then it got the message, and extended its range of clothing. And outlets. Now Black Dog clothing defines the Cape tourist. Power of an icon.
Another MV brand is Slip 77. With a youthful, nautical style, the two young designers search out the best fabrics and styles to create their collections. The people who love Slip 77 become advocates. What’s great is that nobody else has it. Great brands define who you are, your values and style. The power of a niche.