All Posts By John Carlson

If I had a dollar for every client who has told me that their business provides a ‘great’ customer experience, I would be a great deal wealthier than I am ever likely to be. If I had a dollar for every time either protestation was true, I would be extremely poor. While most businesses believe ...

What do Zara, Tesla, Rolls Royce, Krispy Kreme, Costco, Tupperware, and Ferraro Rocher all have in common? None of them have an advertising budget! Like an increasing number of businesses, these leading brands do not rely on advertising to drive profits. Indeed, the success of these brands is evidence that advertising is not the only ...

  Simon Sinek first came to notice following the publication of his book – ‘Start with Why,' the subject of his TED talk, which is often touted as 'breaking the internet' (whatever that hyperbole means). He has subsequently published several books (including 'Leaders Eat First' and 'The Infinite Game'). There are now hundreds, if not thousands, ...

I wrote previously about Collective Illusion and how it renders intuition one of the most dangerous tools in marketing. For many, the logical alternative is market research – or asking target market members what they want and how they might behave. And market research has its place – but it also has its limitations, including: Despite ...

One-time Australian Prime Minister John Howard – is said to have said that - 'context is everything.' While there are any number of subjects that I would struggle to agree with Howard (or any politician) on, I agree with him on this one. To say that context is everything is hyperbolic and lacking in nuance ...