The Step Change Blog

Customer-centricity used to be something that the marketing department was responsible for. But in the Age of the Customer, it needs to be at the heart of the business, which then ripples right through every department — from operations to marketing, sales, management, legal, and compliance.

UPDATED: As of 30 March 2023

How do you prepare for the unpredictable?

While some businesses have managed to leverage disruption to their advantage — many companies are falling behind.

Where others have emerged with better workforces, efficient operations, and improved customer experiences, some continue to struggle at the back foot of change.

The difference? Strategy. Most organisations don’t have a game plan to navigate the evolving business landscape. So how do you prepare your business for disruption?

The latest economic figures released by the Bureau of Statistics show that the Australian economy is slowing down. What can businesses do to thrive in a recession? We turn to one of history’s greatest strategists and a ruthless warrior, Genghis Khan.

Many Australian companies are complacent about the effect of disruption in their industries. But disruption today can displace market leaders, their products, and their services. Responding to disruption means businesses need to think fast and act fast.

There’s a need for strategy because time, dollars, and focus are scarce and limited resources. A strong business strategy is the application of these resources for maximum leverage.

There’s no getting around it. Today’s consumers hold the power to dictate business outcomes. But with more businesses struggling with their digital transformation initiatives, how can taking a customer-led approach to transformation lead to better results? 

Even with the best ideas to market, many challenger businesses are struggling to get their business from the ground up. But if you’re lucky enough to be one of the very few startups that receive Venture Capital funding, the next step is knowing how to maintain your competitive edge for the next funding round.

Retailers are killing value. With consumers having more choices than ever before, mistakes that retailers make can be costly.

UPDATED as of 03 July 2020.

Boards are essential for strategic success, but for them to add greater value into your strategy, they need to be involved. That means going beyond the yearly off-site strategic planning.

UPDATED: As of 25 August 2022

Should brands aim to be different or distinctive? What is the difference between the two, and how do these strategies add value to the branding equation? We take a closer look at shared evidence and form our own conclusions on why distinctiveness stumps differentiation.

Australian banks and financial institutions are losing the faith of the consumer. It isn’t a problem of regulation or profit alone. It’s a problem of public perception.

UPDATED as of 03 July 2020.

Whether it’s launching a new product line, executing a brand awareness or implementing your internal comms strategy, there is one thing we know that’s certain: collaboration and integration across multiple teams are keys to get the job done and get results. But this is not always easy.

Customer lifetime value is a critical factor in business success, but not all companies are tracking it. Many companies do not measure it, do not know what it is, or choose to completely ignore it.

How do you describe “insurance” or  “healthcare” or “software” so your potential clients can grasp the value of something they can’t see?

The business landscape is constantly evolving. With the speed of digital innovation increasing constantly, what impact will disruption have on your business in 2019?

Building an innovation pipeline means curating inspiration as a renewable resource. To accomplish this, you need to develop a system that both drives and supports an innovative culture.

If marketing automation is a great tool for businesses, how do we build an airtight business case for it? And how can we get our stakeholders and the sales team on board?

There have been a number of significant changes over the recent years along with a new set of challenges that the aged care sector is facing — from deregulation, the Royal Commission, and shifts in customer preferences. As a result, aged care providers need to find new ways to stand out and gain the trust of their potential customers.   

To wrap up a productive 2018, we’re rounding up our best articles that have hit a spot with many C-suites, Senior Executives, and Marketing professionals.

The best solutions arise at the intersection of strategy and creativity.

No matter where you look, industry giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon are dominating the disruptive space and taking the lead in the use of emerging technologies. But for small and mid-sized business challengers, does taking on today’s new technologies actually make a difference?

Many nonprofits today run their organisations just like any other business. Although many may not be in it for the money but solely to advance their humanitarian goal and mission, there are essential points they need to keep in mind to acquire confidence and gain trust among donors and investors, respect in the market, and support from the public.

Earlier this year, CB Insights analysed 101 startups post-mortem to know why startups fail, and the number 1 reason has nothing to do with technology.

We’ve just come out of Roy Morgan’s State of the Nation, focusing on consumer financial behaviour in Australia, and we wanted to bash out our very own ‘quick and dirty’ update on the key insights as we saw them.

Being a Lean organisation means being able to maximise the value customers are willing to pay for while eliminating waste. Leaders are finding more value in it as it’s all about doing more with less, focusing on continuous improvement, minimising waste, and training your staff to improve the work through problem-solving.

So if you aim to create more value for your customers with your limited resources, read on.

Our CEO, Ashton Bishop, reveals what businesses can do to find their next step change, and how to implement the Big 6 Challenges for business growth in this 7-minute Marketing the Invisible podcast with Tom Poland.

In the age of disruption, businesses may find themselves questioning whether strategy matters in a world of constant change. But in a time where silos are crumbling to disruptive trends and industries are shifting to accommodate new technologies, strategy matters now more than ever.

We see this happen in businesses: The senior team would go away for a two-day offsite retreat to develop a strategic plan. And when all is said and done, they would come back with a plan or a goal devoid of strategy.

A four-billion dollar merger is underway between two of the country’s media player giants, Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media. The new company name after the merger is Nine, and it is set to become Australia’s formidable integrated media player.

With two giants combining forces to create one formidable integrated media player, there is one worthy question that begs an answer.

In the language of strategy, we often say, “There’s a need for strategy because time, dollars, and focus are scarce and limited resources.” A strong business strategy is the application of these resources for maximum leverage.

But in developing a solid business strategy, you first need to check that you’re actually doing strategy and not something else entirely — like business planning.