Marketing Strategy Blog - Page 55

For years, Marketing Eye used the same brand messages and continued to push through to the market key points that we believed were different to what everybody else was saying and doing.

The problem is that when you are online everyone can see for themselves what you are saying and doing, and for competitors to copy, it really is quite simple.

All of a sudden, prospects were ringing up and saying "oh, you do the same as such and such".

Today I started writing a series of blogs on our various websites: www.marketingeye.com | www.marketingeyeatlanta.com | and now www.marketingeye.com.au giving readers of these blogs an insight into who I really am. I am going to try and be raw and real, with no secrets or pretense. Feel free to give any feedback on whatever you read.

Inquisitive

I am inquisitive. I ask the "why?" every single time, usually inside my head. I don't just accept things as they are. I think about why they are as they are, or why someone has said what they have said. I think about why people do the things they do. Why they are one way with one person and another with the next.

When I see a painting, I think about why the artist chose to paint the picture like they did? What was going on inside their minds when they were painting away? Why they chose to sell their painting where they did? What they really thought of the painting that they did?

I am fascinated by design. Today I walked into Restoration Warehouse in Atlanta. It is one of the most beautiful retail buildings in the world. Each piece of furniture or fitting has a unique story to be told. 

Further on my journey today, i walked past Moncler and stood watching the window display. The robots with the mannequins dressed in jackets was so creative I wonder how anyone could have come up with it. It not only made me stare at it long enough to think that in itself it is a piece of art, but it also had me completely in awe of the designer. That's a real talent. 

Inquisitive people have a strong desire that borders on obsession. They want answers - especially one's that are not so obvious.

Good marketers are born to be inquisitive. They need to be inquisitive as to why someone would buy a product or service. Why someone chooses one brand over another. If they are not inquisitive, then they usually are not the best marketers.

Sometimes I am given great topics to write about just because I am out there living life to the fullest, experiencing as much as possible. I meet people from all walks of life and am continually exposed to different cultures. This is what I really love about my world.

Yesterday I received an apology, actually two from someone. As I read it and re-read it, I realized that it wasn't an apology, it was just words so that the person could get themselves out of a spot of bother. They didn't care less about the apology, but were probably advised to do so.

I can't believe I am saying this just days after I reminded my blog readers that I refuse to reward bad behaviour - that I am in fact, not going to put any more energy into someone who I can't change or rectify their bad behaviour. At some stage, people just won't change. They will laugh it off and pretend it didn't happen.

Then what happens is you spend your time putting in place the procedures to ensure that their bad behaviour is not rewarded only to find that you have spent a lot of time and effort and at the end of the day, they are who they are, and most people if they have not been brought up properly with good manners will never change.

Most people are good. They care about others and they in general do the right thing. But we don't always get that right and when its a matter of the heart or a business deal that has been ruthlessly dealt with, we sometimes want to fight back or at least teach these people who always get away with it, a valuable lesson.

But only hours after agreeing to something, I have decided that its not worthwhile. It won't teach them a lesson and it may hurt others that don't deserve to be brought into the drama. 

Some people are not nice. Not kind. Not honourable. Not respectful. Leave them fly from one friend to another and only have people around them that they pay or support to have there.

While the rest of us can enjoy being with our loved one's, caring about not just our family and friends but others around us and showing good manners even in the worse situations.

So sorry readers... I have had a change of heart in the past few hours and for me its best. I have an amazing business to focus on and I can't afford to waste time on people that are just not nice. Karma always comes backs and bites them. I don't need to! Nor do I need to contribute to it.

If I had a magic ball, I would look deeply into it and think about what I really wanted to experience and get out of life. 

This morning I had breakfast at The Mercer Kitchen in Soho with my friend Kristina Karlsson, you know that phenomenal businesswoman who blows every other Australian businesswoman out of the water.