The Step Change Blog

The latest thinking on business, strategy, marketing and sales

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August 24, 2023

Marketing Budget: How Much Should You Spend on Marketing?

Predatory Marketing, Business Strategy, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Business Growth, Challenger Brands, Alignment, Brand Building, Strategy Frameworks, Brand Positioning, Measures That Matter, Strategic Planning, Brand Saliency

Finalising your budget? 

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February 23, 2023

What ChatGPT Doesn’t Know About Brand Salience

Business Strategy, Sales, Ashton Bishop, Artificial Intelligence, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Creativity, Challenger Brands, Brand Building, Differentiation, Distinctive Brand, Brand Positioning, Brand Saliency

UPDATED: As of 23 February 2023

Are you even really running a business if you don’t know what it’s like to fight for recognition in today’s market? Getting attention is one thing. Being unforgettable is another. 

Pay attention to the first brand in your head in a particular situation. Chances are, it’s one with higher brand salience than the rest of its competitors. The good news is you can have that for your brand, too. 

A quick ChatGPT conversation will say brand salience is about awareness, consistency, repetition, relevance, differentiation, emotional connection, and user experience. If you’re a challenger business, AI will mainly tell you that you just have to strive for awareness and consistency. But what does that even mean? And how can you begin to incorporate those elements into your long-term and short-term goals? 

It’s no lie — AI does have a pretty good grasp on ‘what’ you need to be more brand salient. But if you’re looking to get your hands dirty with the ‘hows’ and more importantly, get results, you’ve come to the right place.

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January 31, 2023

3 Ways to Transform Board Meetings with Measures That Matter

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Business Growth, Board, Strategy Frameworks, Measures That Matter, Tracking, Strategic Planning, Reporting

UPDATED: As of 25th January 2023

 

Ever been to a board meeting that left you feeling unproductive and confused? 

In an increasingly data-led world and with the rise of artificial intelligence, businesses are able to track more than ever before. But it’s easy to get caught up in tracking and forget to drive results altogether.

As a board member, it’s critical that you’re able to look beyond the documentation and into the priceless insight that lies between the lines. Question is, how?

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January 16, 2023

Funnel Metrics: 5 Steps to Link Your Marketing and Sales

Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Business Growth, Alignment, Conversion, Sales Strategy, Marketing Funnel

It’s easy to think that marketing and sales are completely different functions of a business. But both share a common denominator of engaging customers and integrating the value you offer into their lives. 

That said, every business needs customers. Not just any customer, though — but ones you can serve and who can get behind your product or service offering. When done right, sales-informed marketing can be a catalyst in delivering more qualified customers and optimising a customer journey that makes them stay and buy more. But with the nuances of sales and marketing, how do you know which aspects are relevant to the other? This is where the Funnel Metrics tool comes in.


Insight: When marketing and sales come together, they deliver the right customers suitable for businesses to thrive.

Data: Organisations with a service level agreement (SLA) between marketing and sales are three times as likely to be effective. (Hubspot)

Key Action Point: Utilise the Funnel Metrics to master the key pieces of information needed to align marketing with sales efforts and deliver more qualified customers.

 


WATCH: Let Step Change CEO Ashton Bishop walk you through the Funnel Metrics tool.

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October 19, 2022

Insight Hunters: 6 Critical Questions Every CEO Must Answer

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Disruption, Culture & Leadership, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Thinking Routines, High Performing Teams, Agile

Massive change and disruption have transformed the way we work and live. The old ways are no longer working and innovative and more creative solutions are called for by the day.

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October 19, 2022

Insight Hunters EP3: What Are the Best Strategy Frameworks?

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Strategy Frameworks

Welcome to another episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?

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October 19, 2022

Knowledge Nuggets: How Minds Change

Better World, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Productivity, Knowledge Nuggets, Leadership, Team Efficiency

Have you ever tried to change someone’s mind? Have you ever found someone trying to change your mind? And how did these experiences go? Like it or not, many of life’s interactions are but replays of these two scenarios — only with different choices and characters.

Sure, influence and persuasion are must-haves in every leader’s toolbox. But have you ever looked beyond your agenda and asked yourself — wait, how do minds change? And how does this shape the world that we live in today?

That’s exactly what journalist and self-proclaimed psychology nerd David McRaney did in his book “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion”.

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March 18, 2022

3 Reasons Why the Future of Business Is Green

Marketing Strategy

The world has embraced the truth about how finite our natural resources are. In the real-estate world, professionals from architects to engineers to property managers know that there’s a huge opportunity for businesses to address this concern.

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December 8, 2021

The 3 Absolute Essentials of Good Strategy

Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Knowledge Nuggets

3 Essentials of Strategy

Strategy is often hard to define, which makes it all the more difficult to distinguish what actually constitutes a good strategy.

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July 2, 2021

Why Do Strategic Plans Fail? 5 Mistakes And How To Counter Them

Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy

UPDATED: As of 4 May 2022

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April 7, 2021

6 Things No One Has Told You about Culture

manifesto, Marketing Strategy, Culture & Leadership

Unless you’ve been running your business under a rock, you would know that businesses today are operating in a VUCA environment. In this context, it’s the quick-thinking, action-oriented, and strategic organisations that win. Those that produce strategic documents and leave them in a bottom drawer — well, they come second or simply fail to finish.

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February 17, 2021

6 Key Principles for Creating Lightning Strike Moments: Exponential Marketing

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Creativity, exponential marketing

Learn about the scenario planning mistakes and how you can prevent them from misfiring your strategy so you can navigate complexity efficiently.

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January 11, 2021

5 of Your Favourite Step Change Articles from 2020

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Step Change, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Bendy Phones, Powerful Presence, Culture & Leadership, Fintech, Marketing Automation
After successfully navigating a year of unparalleled change and disruption, now is the time to look ahead and venture into 2021 with confidence.
 
As we distill fresh business insights and build a refined strategy, we thought it would be worthwhile to look back at the year that was 2020, through the eyes of our Step Change Blog highlights.
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September 25, 2020

Navigating Complexity: 5 Scenario Planning Mistakes & How To Stop Them

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Creativity, Culture & Leadership, Scenario Planning, Alignment

Learn about the scenario planning mistakes and how you can prevent them from misfiring your strategy so you can navigate complexity efficiently.

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May 21, 2020

History’s Greatest Strategists: Che Guevara

Marketing Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists

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?

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May 12, 2020

History’s Greatest Strategists: Bill Gates

Marketing Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists

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?

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May 7, 2020

History’s Greatest Strategists: Sun Tzu

Marketing Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists

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?

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April 23, 2020

History’s Greatest Strategists: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Marketing Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists

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?

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April 17, 2020

History’s Greatest Strategists: Admiral Horatio Nelson

Marketing Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists

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?

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January 23, 2020

Ecommerce Trends in 2020 and Their Marketing Implications

Marketing Strategy, Digital

Last year saw tremendous growth in Australian ecommerce and is expected to maintain an upward trend in the next few years. Are retailers still on track with their online marketing strategy for 2020?

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January 10, 2020

Marketing Trends You Need to Know in 2020

Marketing Strategy, Digital

The year 2020 is an exciting year for the ever-changing landscape of marketing. As we enter into a new decade, we share four important trends marketers need to keep their eyes on.

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January 7, 2020

Top 10 Articles C-Suites Read in the Step Change Blog [2019 Edition]

Business Strategy, Step Change, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Culture & Leadership, Fintech, Marketing Automation

The new year is here! And as we venture forward with fresh business insights and useful strategy, here are the top 10 articles most popular with C-suites in 2019 that you may have missed. 

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December 26, 2019

Addressing the Synergy Problem in Procurement Teams and Marketing Agencies

Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy

Many companies today are opting for procurement to manage their marketing spend. But marketers and agencies have always been at odds when it comes to procurement. Understanding the role that procurement plays and how it impacts marketing is crucial to not only save on costs but to pave the way for better alignment in achieving the brand’s vision.

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December 19, 2019

How to Accelerate Your Marketing for Business Growth in 2020

Marketing Strategy, Digital

Today’s marketing strategies are constantly evolving. As we close out the last few weeks of the year, it’s important to reflect on what current marketing strategies continue to deliver the best results so you can plan for 2020 ahead with the right precision. 

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November 21, 2019

Data-Driven Creativity

Marketing Strategy, Creativity

Brands are overwhelming people with so much content when what they actually need are authentic connections. But running on creativity without data just misses the mark. To build authentic and lasting connections with your customers, you need to use data-driven creativity. 

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November 8, 2019

Customer-Centric Digital Transformation: Making Customers the Centre of Your Digital World

Step Change, Marketing Strategy

As you strive to become a more customer-centric organisation, putting the customer at the centre of your digital transformation is the key to success. But how do you get started? 

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October 4, 2019

Strategies and Tactics to Build Your Ecommerce Brand Online in 2019

Marketing Strategy, Digital

To stand out in a competitive ecommerce market, your brand has to be visible and distinct. It’s not enough to just create products: you need to build an iconic brand that your customers trust. 

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September 30, 2019

You’re Invited: Predatory Marketing Masterclass

Step Change, Marketing Strategy

Learn predatory marketing from one of Australia’s leading predatory and strategic marketers, Ashton Bishop.

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September 27, 2019

How to Rebrand Your Business without Losing Customers

Branding, Marketing Strategy

At some point, a business may need to rebrand to stay competitive in the market. But how do you ensure a smooth transition and not lose any customers in the process? 

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September 24, 2019

What Makes a Good Business Strategy?

Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy

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.

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