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As the year wraps up, picture the past twelve months as a case file on the desk — nothing dramatic, just a folder full of clues, a few wins, a couple of “learning experiences,” and at least one moment where you wonder, “How did that end up in here?” Christmas is the perfect time to flip through it. Not to judge yourself — just to quietly admit which decisions were brilliant… and which ones were made before coffee. A few things worth noticing: •             What actually worke

Picture this: a cereal company staring down the barrel of “ho‑hum.” Shreddies had been around forever in Canada—square, safe, and about as exciting as watching paint dry on a beige wall. Then someone had a gloriously silly idea: what if we just… rotate them? And thus, Diamond Shreddies were born. Same cereal. Same taste. Same crunch. The only thing they changed was the packaging and the story wrapped around it. But now they were diamonds, baby! Suddenly, consumers swore they

When you hear the word warranty, what comes to mind? For some executives, it’s a line item on the balance sheet—a cost to be minimised. For others, especially in sales and marketing, it’s a powerful differentiator, a promise that reassures customers and signals confidence in the product. This tension—between warranty as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and warranty as a financial liability—is one of the most under-discussed friction points inside many companies. The CFO vs.

In business, too many people treat the sale as the finish line . In reality, it’s only the starting point of a much longer journey—the relationship with your customer. One of the best examples of this comes from Joe Girard, recognised by the Guinness World Records as the World’s Greatest Salesman. Girard sold more cars than anyone else in history, but his secret wasn’t flashy pitches or one-off deals. His genius was in what he did after the sale. Joe Girard: CRM Before It Had

Whether you're selling enterprise software or handmade candles, the moment a customer asks, “Can you do better on price?” is a strategic crossroads. If your team isn’t trained to handle it, they’ll likely cave—and your brand risks being seen as a commodity. 🧠 What That Question Really Means In both B2B and B2C, a discount request often signals uncertainty—not just about price, but about value. •             In B2B, it may reflect budget constraints, internal pressure, or a l

Corporate culture isn’t just a buzzword —it’s the invisible engine that drives your business forward or drags it down. Whether you're leading a startup or steering a seasoned enterprise, the culture you cultivate will shape everything from employee morale to customer perception. And here’s the kicker: if you don’t design your desired culture early, you’ll inherit one by default—and it might be toxic. 🧭 It Starts with Values Culture begins with values. Not the ones framed on

Everywhere you look, someone’s saying marketing has changed . They’ll tell you it’s all about social media now, or AI, or data-driven personalisation. There’s some truth in that — but only on the surface. The truth is, the fundamentals of marketing haven’t changed at all.  What’s changed is how we communicate and the tools we use to do it. The foundations of marketing are the same today as they were fifty years ago: Understand your customer. Identify what they truly need or w

In the world of business, reputation is currency. And few stories illustrate the fragility of personal branding more starkly than the rise and fall of Rolf Harris—a once-beloved entertainer whose legacy collapsed under the weight of criminal revelations.   🎭 From Household Name to Public Disgrace Rolf Harris was a cultural icon. Born in Australia in 1930, he rose to fame through quirky songs like Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, beloved TV shows such as Animal Hospital, and even

There was a time when capturing life’s magic was called a “Kodak Moment.” The phrase became shorthand for memories worth preserving — joyful, spontaneous, unforgettable. Ironically, Kodak’s most important moment wasn’t captured at all. In 1975, engineer Steve Sasson invented the first digital camera inside Kodak’s labs. It was clunky, slow, and revolutionary. Kodak had just glimpsed the future. And they shelved it. Why? Because digital threatened their core business: film . E

When James Dyson set out to reinvent the vacuum cleaner, he didn’t just tweak a few parts and call it a day. He built 5,127 prototypes. That’s not a typo. It’s a testament to a level of persistence most would call madness — and Dyson would call necessary. In the late 1970s, Dyson grew frustrated with his vacuum’s declining performance. He noticed the bag was clogging and reducing suction. Inspired by industrial cyclones used to separate paint particles, he envisioned a bagles

Richard Branson didn’t just build Virgin—he launched it, often quite literally, into the stratosphere. From balloon crashes over the...

Most people’s careers don’t follow a straight line. David Ogilvy’s certainly didn’t. Before founding one of the world’s most respected...

They weren’t just brands. They were rituals. Blockbuster owned Friday nights—plastic cases, popcorn, and tape rewinds before late...

In today’s digital-first world, your reputation isn’t just shaped by what you say — it’s defined by what others say about you. Online...

When global brands expand into new markets, they often expect their reputation to do the heavy lifting. But in Australia, Burger King...

When Woolworths launched Masters Home Improvement in 2011, it was billed as a bold challenger to Bunnings’ dominance in the Australian...

Masters Home Improvement failed in Australia due to a combination of strategic missteps, market misjudgements, and operational...

In the early days of my business journey, I made a rookie mistake—one that still makes me wince when I think about it. I was hungry...

Dr. Bruce Lipton makes a bold claim: your subconscious mind controls about 95% of what you do every day . Your conscious, deliberate...

If you think pricing is just about covering your costs or beating the competition, think again. Price sends a message—to your customers,...