The Step Change Blog

We have recently seen an interplay between design and business strategy in the digital landscape. With key players setting the pace for how we can tailor design towards the user experience, we then ask, does it really make a difference?

The Practice of Powerful Presence is a series of concepts and exercises that let you consistently bring out the best in you so you can be the best leader for others.

The next Powerful Presence is in Adelaide on 24th - 26th August. Register Here. 

This is not another leadership tool or app you can simply download — it’s the complete operating system you need if you want to think clearly, think creatively, be powerfully present, and have an edge in your communications.

Today, the emergence of new digital trends has virtually transformed digital marketing overnight, and CMOs need to pay attention.

Planning a digital marketing strategy for businesses in 2018 has never been a more exciting time. With technological trends that have emerged, marketers are left with great opportunities to connect with their brand’s target audience.

In this blog post, we share digital marketing trends that leaders of challenger brands should know to plan their strategy for 2018.

At the Chief Strategy Officer Summit’s Stump the Strategist session, a key question raised was, “How do I develop an effective strategic plan in a VUCA world in the absence of a business model?”

This week’s insider bits: An invite to reimagine marketing, plus a glimpse of the complete Step Change Service Menu (in case you’re mighty curious how else we can help your business grow).

Do you know when and how disruption is coming to you?

On the Admatic stage delivering his recent keynote titled “Disruption³”, Jeff Cooper, shares the top disruptive trends that may be affecting businesses and the strategies to deal with disruption. 

Join us in congratulating Mercer’s Chief Customer Officer, Cambell Holt, who now joins the top ranks of the most innovative CMOs in Australia!

In other news, we had Stump the Strategist during last Friday’s Open Haus!

The agency of the future is all about artificial intelligence, Suzuki boat dealers are getting predatory, and the much-awaited Step Change Open Haus is coming — all in this week’s Step Change News.

With over 800 companies in Australia appointing Chief Digital Officers, it is undeniable that digital has found its way to be part of the strategic core of many businesses.

Determination is one thing, but more often than not, achieving success takes more than just sheer willpower. You can be determined yet still be on the wrong path. Going full throttle with no steering wheel may just lead you to a crippling accident. It is essential to recognise the changes needed in your lifestyle and implement them so that you can start driving on the right road.

Happiness is such an abstract concept, yet when we experience it, it feels like an emotion that’s actually tangible. Whether through enjoying simple pleasures, connecting with other people, or achieving a life-long goal, there are different factors that contribute to one’s happiness. But even with all these ways to be happy, it can sometimes still be fleeting.

To most people, success is seen as a destination — a permanent position that can finally be reached through the culmination of the right actions. In a way, it is; and in a way, it isn’t. The right actions are definitely needed, but success isn’t a fixed state that requires a specific number of actions. It’s fluid and ever-changing, and it’s a series of choices that you have to make every single day.

If motivation were a fire, your goals would be the kindling and your driving factor would be the fuelwood that keeps it burning. Too often, people let fear be the driver to their success. Too often, the flame dwindles and exhausts itself. Fear is unsustainable as it is unreliable. In this video, Ashton Bishop, our CEO, shares how detrimental fear can be when using it as a source of motivation to succeed.

If there’s one thing that’s constant in our lives, it’s change. Some people welcome it, some people flee from it, and some people ignore it. In this insightful five-part series, Ashton Bishop, our CEO, shares how you can deal with change to lead you to success.

As you’re reading this post, there’s an overabundance of content screaming to get noticed online. In fact, every minute, people publish 1,400 new blog posts, send 150,000 emails, share 3.3 million pieces of content on Facebook, and upload a total of 500 hours of video to YouTube. Every minute.

So you’ve been telling your audience lots of things about your business. But the thing is, is what you’re saying valuable to your customers? Does your message resonate with them? And does your message differentiate you from the other brands?

This week’s Step Change News: Introducing Step Change’s Art Director, and an open invitation to our beloved blog readers.

In the fifth and final part of the interview, the managing director of the HR and recruitment consultancy, Checkside, reveals the top mistakes employers make in their hiring process.

What should you strive to work on in the first 12 months to successfully connect your team with your business strategy?

Here are the 10 widely read articles from the Step Change Blog.

This blog post features the 12th brand archetype in the series, which explores how brands use literary archetypes to stand out and be remembered.

Slowing down the sale isn’t right for every product, every consumer, every category, or every business model, and it’s certainly not right for every situation. But time and time again, there’s value left on the table on both sides — the buyer and the seller.

In two minutes, I’ll answer the question, “When is the right time to slow down a sale?”

Calling all startup supporters, startup founders, future founders — Startup Muster has opened its annual survey.

If you’re doing online marketing, there’s no doubt that you are interested in maximising the rate of conversion when potential and returning customers visit your page.

This week’s Step Change News: Join us in congratulating Happy Chicken Eggs and Baptist Care Australia.

Offering a product or service with utility or merit is no longer enough. It’s now necessary to create a value proposition to get people to notice and convert them to loyal customers.

One of the most important things to understand about marketing is that at the heart of every business, there is a brand story waiting to be told to the world.

The retail giant is making its long-awaited move into Australia, bringing its new brand of instant retail distribution to Down Under. While previously only available with expensive shipping and sales in USD, the average Australian consumer will now have easy access to products from around the world in local currency and a higher level of convenience.

Does your arsenal contain great, effective tools to help you boost sales in your business?

This is the second part of the 2 Minutes On series called Amplifying the Sale, and here I’m giving away four of the seven tools and foundations as a checklist so you can work out where your next opportunity is.