The Step Change Blog

With only the final few seats available, we want to give you the opportunity to tackle disruption head on by assembling your ultimate advisory board.

If you had to make a list of some of the most powerful brands in history, online retail giant Amazon would undoubtedly be right at the top. According to one recent study, the company saw $2.371 billion in net income in 2016 on the back of $136 billion in net sales — and that’s just in the United States. The company is also growing at a rate of about 27% year-over-year and currently employs more than 341,000 people. All of this is to say that the fact that Amazon has decided to make its long-awaited move into Australia should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. 

Your brand is anything that comes from your company as a specific source. To the consumer, it symbolises what they can expect when they do business with you. And in today’s crowded marketplace, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your brand stands out from the crowd. 

Why does your business exist? What are you out to do?

These questions seem easy to answer. But working with different businesses all over Australia for almost a decade now, we’ve observed that not all businesses are aligned with their organisation’s purpose.

Are you selling a product or a service? If you are, then you know that having a selling proposition will make an impact and ultimately make the sale. However, it is not enough to just have a selling proposition. It needs to be enticing. It needs to be original and clever. And most importantly, the message needs to make customers buy.

Every cent your company leaves on the table is a missed opportunity, allowing your competitors to gain resources and customers that could have been yours. If you work with a vendor or manufacturer, there is a good change that you are not using potential marketing funds that are available to you.

When a country’s central bank increases interest rates, it creates a ripple effect that impacts the entire economy. Even with a 0.25% increase, you have to adjust your marketing strategy to respond to the drop in discretionary income as well as the currency’s relative increased strength. 

Invisible Marketing is the messaging customers don’t see. And this is the key to a step change for the Financial Services industry.

At Step Change, we deliver it through a workshop on behavioural economics, and it’s one of our most intellectual perspectives on marketing. Our clients usually ask us, “How do I apply invisible marketing to our brand, products, and our marketing?” Well, if you have a product that isn’t tangible, or if you need to elevate your brand to number one, this is a critical thought process for you.

Recall the last time you had your strategic planning with your team. Did your plans turn out to be successful? Or were you frustrated that last year’s SWOT analysis proved to be lacking?

The number one fear leaders have is being ‘found out’ and having their incompetence uncovered. It’s called the impostor syndrome. If you are experiencing this, you are not alone.

As key decision makers in your business, you are expected to make rational, sound decisions every day. However, that is not always the case. You encounter several blind spots, or decision biases, that hinder you from making optimum decisions.

Most people measure loyalty by how many clients leave. But it’s unfortunate to be measuring loyalty once it’s too late to keep a client.

IMPORTANT!!!

1. Watch my video first until I tell you to pause 

2. Then click: Lockitron 

3. Followed by: August 

4. Then return to my video. 

The average Australian sees 3,000 branded messages a day. Effective marketing is no longer in your face. Instead, the subtler, the better.

The age of disruption is here. How do you manage it? Find out as our CEO Ashton Bishop tells all you need to know about disruption.

Find out what we've learned from working with over 100 businesses every year to create a better world for better business.

Want to know how to win more tenders? Watch our strategists to find out.

Personal expression and personal enrichment are two proven and powerful ways to position your brand. See how other brands have done it here:

The more specific we can be about our category, the better chance we have to be remembered and related to by our customers. Are you in the right category?

Niche market and geographical territories are two proven and powerful ways to position your brand. See how major brands have done it here:

Here are two proven and powerful ways to position your brand. Read about the positioning territories of speed and reliability here:

Brand positioning is about defining an idea and then owning it. How could being the originator or owning simplicity benefit your business?

The positioning territory of size focuses on the large range of products or services your brand offers. If size is your brand's aim, what is your target?

There are four main ways you can grow your business but which is the best strategy for you? This is determined when you identify who's really got your money.