The Step Change Blog

Big data has been described as the “new oil” as far as business assets go. However, a better analogy might be the Wild West. It is fairly easy for any business to now leverage BI and data to make decisions; however, the “how” still isn’t clear, and neither is the application. 

According to KPMG, when the strategy is data-driven, it helps to make sense of structured and unstructured data and applies that knowledge to a wide range of business functions. The result is that there is no more guess work, and results can become more predictable. Far more predictable than conventional forecasting techniques based on static historical financial reports.

Today’s dynamic global economy has us facing a challenging task of steering our organisations towards success.

The stress from rising competition and regulation, resource management, revenue generation, and customer retention only shows that we have the toughest jobs in the market.

Webinars deliver tremendous value both to the business and the audience. It’s a great and cut-through way to share, engage, connect, and educate your audience wherever they are in the world. That’s why we’ve always been fans of webinars.

Recently, Step Change had the privilege of leveraging the power of webinars.

Our CEO, Ashton Bishop, presented “Predatory Marketing: Repositioning the Competition to Build Business” to 76 CEOs, CMOs, and Marketing Directors for a series powered by GoToWebinar.

As the holiday rush pours in, you need to do more than the usual to make an impact in your holiday marketing.

To make a lasting impression that leads to conversion for the holidays, you have to be able to capture interest and emotionally connect with your audience to elicit a response and get them to engage.

The most effective way to do that is through emotive storytelling.  

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

A month ago, we had the pleasure of hosting Business Technology Futurist and Innovation Expert Craig Rispin, who gave us a glimpse of what the future holds. For instance, did you know that in 2028…

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.

Negotiation is part and parcel of life and particularly in business. No matter which stage you are at in any business deal, you are bound to meet different stakeholders who will challenge your negotiation skills.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. To be effective, you need to think about how best to approach your business deals.

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. 

Trends are emerging on our horizon, and they’re impacting businesses. In fact, some of them could be under your radar — and you just didn’t know it.

Technological advancements and societal shifts are influencing people’s buying behaviours, and ignoring this fact only means you’re giving your competitor the upper hand.

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!

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.