Champagne Strategy

This is our second episode on the topic of pricing strategy - the first of which was Jon Manning in Season 1 which we also recommend you to listen to first.  We could only cover so much in the last episode so in this episode we cover some of the other areas to round-out our understanding of how to use pricing strategy as a growth-driver. Any growth strategist worth their salt knows that prici...

Some of the first forms of recorded advertising was the SPQR insignia that Roman soldiers displayed on the Standards they carried into battle - Similar inscriptions are, to this day, still visible on the tops of manholes around Rome. Signage and other forms of outdoor advertising are perhaps THE original form of advertising. This topic is Charmaine's area of expertise and we start this discussion...

If you think positioning strategy is a bunch of fluffy brand-purpose-laden statements mixed with a few dual-axis, positioning maps, you’re in for a  rude awakening. Because as you'll soon discover, that's not what professional positioning strategists do. Kimberly A. Whitler is perhaps most famous for her book on this topic, and positioning strategy is what we initially aim to talk about, but...

Sean Ellis, the OG who coined the term 'growth hacking' explains the key determinants to growth for both SaaS and traditional businesses. In under one hour, you'll find out the macro version of why this approach to growing any business is so effective. I really don't need to write any more here. If you are a founder, a business owner, a growth professional, product manager or marketer and you're i...

Why does Rich Mironov disagree with Elon Musk regarding his statements about product? Is PLG a real thing or just another cult-buzzword? What are the secrets behind creating successful products which sell themselves?  Rich Mironov is one of the OG's of the product strategy and management world. He started working for tech companies before tech was cool. Before Product Management was even a te...

What is creative strategy? What is the secret behind award-winning agency, Thinkerbell and their ability to consistently push out creative that works. How do you keep a creative machine humming throughout the ups and downs of business? We speak with the two most senior MD's from Thinkerbell, Katie Dally and Paul Swann to find out.  Katie has over 18 years of international experience across Sy...

Is the best path to growth dependent on retaining the customers you already have, or by acquiring new ones? This is a major bane of contention depending on who you talk to, but today we're exploring Anita's side of the argument which is all about churn reduction strategy (a.k.a retention). But in doing so, we talk about so much more, including the pivotal role the sales process plays into this who...

One of the main reasons companies don't grow and stagnate is because they fail to execute on their planning phase.  There's many reasons why. This is an area we'll cover exclusively in this episode.  It’s always nice when you stumble across people in strategy who have interesting backgrounds. The more diverse and strange the background, the better the strategist in my book. These people...

Part 2 of 2. A continuation of the interview with Jennifer Harrison. Listen to Part 1 first. 

Part 1 of 2. How can companies like Tesla spend $0 on paid advertising and still sell billions of dollars of product? Well...they are very good at getting publicity and using owned media channels to their advantage. While this isn't possible for all brands, today we're talking to Jennifer Harrison to learn more about the power of PR and earned media strategy. Too much of what growth or marketing p...

Everyone client-side wants to know which channels or mediums they should be investing in. Because they want the ones which get the most ‘results’ for the lowest cost. Some will trust their vendor or agency to answer this question. But, if they want to know the real answer in a nutshell...well it depends. It depends on many factors. Factors which this episode will reveal - in detail. Jonathan Rolle...

Everyone thinks the easiest way to grow a company is advertising or marketing campaigns. But, forging partnerships and creating distribution networks can be an exponentially more powerful revenue-driver. Why pay to temporarily leverage another entity's audience when you can do it permanently and share both the risk and the upside?  Partnerships are the less-talked-about growth driver that eve...

Over the years, I've noticed the potential for teams and companies to grow, is often hampered by none other than a lack of operational hygiene.  Most business coaches and mentors will simply give advice that largely boils down to perspective, mental fortitude and operational discipline.  Often our perspective when working inside a business and industry can become warped.  We're insi...

It’s rare to come across a finance expert who has such a deep understanding of true customer value and all the complexity that goes along with it. But, Professor Daniel McCarthy has joined forces with Pete Fader Professor of Marketing from Wharton and Rob Markey, Partner at Bain New York, to spread the word about their Customer Based Corporation Valuation method (CBCV). Pundits in Silicon Valley a...

Programmatic display, video pre-roll, banner ads, skyscrapers, home page takeovers, leaderboards, MRECs, what the hell does it all mean? If you’re not advertising on search, social, content or digital audio, you’re most likely spending money on display advertising. Display advertising goes by many names, as we’ll find out in a minute, but this complex, murky world is a mysterious black box for man...

Hire slow, fire fast and blitzscale is often the mantra in Silicon Valley.  From personal experience, Alison believes in only one part of that statement. So we were intrigued to find more about her contrarian views regarding the management of global, remote, successful teams.  She's a self-described, "globetrotting multi-passionate pracademic", but also a genuine, loveable person underne...

You will never find real entrepreneurs doing laps of the motivational speaking circuits and flogging a bunch of online courses to the masses on social media. They are very busy people, with high demands for their time. Which is why you're in for a treat with this episode where we uncover someone who keeps a low profile within the wine and business world.  Supplier of wine and trusted beverage...

Pricing is one of the 4 P's of marketing. Before the bean-counters and financial analysts took over this domain, pricing sat firmly in the remit of the marketing department. Then the great purge happened and each of the other P's peeled off from marketing, fragmenting the critical strategic marketing discipline. There only so much that can be done by looking at spreadsheets and creating economic m...

You’ve probably heard him on LinkedIn or from his popular podcast, but today the microphone is reversed and we get to probe a little further into the world of Chris Walker. We ask him all the questions that he doesn't normally get asked.  If you’ve listened to him online, he shoots from the sales & marketing hip as much as a Texan ranger, but underneath this tell-it-like-it-is personality...

Matt Watkinson was talking about customer experience even before it became a boardroom buzzword. In fact by 2012, he'd already written a famous book on the topic. As a successful author and practitioner in the field of CX for over a decade, he’s someone who looks at the discipline from a much wider perspective than most. This multi-disciplinary approach to his craft makes him deadly effective when...

Vikki Ross is one of the UK and Europe's most famous copywriters which is why I hope she doesn't critique my terrible writing right here.  Very early on in her career, Vikki decided that copywriting was what she wanted to do. Her unwavering commitment and mastery of the craft is awe inspiring. She’s worked as a copywriter for both large and small brands. From in-house work for brands such as...

Customer experience aka CX. Is it just another buzzword or new name for customer support? Well it's neither. Kathryn lays down the truth bombs hard in this episode, cutting right through the fluff surrounding this mysterious discipline. Her multi-disciplinary experience working for firms both large and small, has meant her perspective on customer experience is extremely valuable. Naturally, we wan...

How do you do marketing for a tech company? Well we asked someone who's been there since the first tech bubble pop in 2001. We learn how marketing in the tech world has changed over the past 20 years. What's stayed the same and what's changed. What's the latest and greatest and everything else in between. Robin Daniels is the current CMO of Matterport and ex-CMO of WeWork, and he's held senior pos...

There's brand marketers on one side and Edgar Baum on the other. He has mathematically proven the complex relationship between brand and revenue. Edgar is even called as an expert witness in court cases, and has developed an ISO valuation standard, such is the depth and integrity of his knowledge regarding the evaluation of intangible assets. Why is Tesla so valuable? Why are CPG/FMCG brands under...

There's nothing worse than acting on poor advice. Sometimes it can be better to do nothing at all in retrospect. As a business owner, how to you ensure that you're receiving the best quality advice at the time? What are the different options out there and what are their pros and cons? Louise is the founder of The Advisory Board Center, the world's only global body for formalized advisory boards. I...