Advice, tips and inspiration to help you perform at your best
Popular culture has created a romanticised image of entrepreneurship. The visionary founder working from a garage, the dramatic pitch that changes everything, the overnight success story. These narratives make great movies, but they create damaging misconceptions about what entrepreneurship actually involves. Let's separate myth from reality.
Entrepreneurship might feel like a modern concept, complete with pitch decks and venture capital, but its roots stretch back to the earliest human civilisations. Understanding this history helps us see that entrepreneurial spirit: the drive to create, trade and innovate has always been part of human nature.
This is the first in a series of blog posts around the topic of Entrepreneurship. I’ve recently taken up a part-time position as an Associate Professor at Richmond American University London. One of the courses I teach is ‘An Introduction to Entrepreneurship.’ Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be sharing a few edited highlights from my course. So…watch this space!
A few years ago, the concept of brand love or ‘lovemarks’ was very much in vogue. This was the idea that consumers could develop a relationship with a brand beyond simply being happy with their purchase. That they could feel such a strong, emotional connection with a brand that it’s akin to love. Advertising agency folk can be very persuasive. Brand managers lapped it up.
Marketers spend much of their time focused on Promotion, the communication dimension of their job. Often we take for granted the most important of the 4Ps - Product. You can create the best advertising campaign in the world, but you'll still fail if your product isn’t up to scratch.
Don’t neglect your Product Strategy. To help shape it, here are the four questions you need to ask yourself.
Looking Back
Growing up, I recall that every popular brand had a jingle that drilled its way into your head. ‘Try a Taste of Martini,’ ‘Just One Cornetto’, ‘Do the Shake and Vac.’
Decades later, I can still hum along. They worked, clearly, and they linger as fond memories. Everyone has their favourites. Yet the jingle has largely vanished from today’s advertising landscape. What happened, and could the jingle ever see a revival?
The horror movie industry continues to grow in importance. Since 1995 the horror genre has more than doubled its market share in the US and Canada, and it's still growing. It remains Hollywood's most reliable money maker. In an interesting change in direction, Hugh Grant is starring in his first horror movie - ‘Heretic’. It's receiving rave reviews.
It’s no secret that Burberry has had a difficult time recently. Burberry's sales have been falling, especially in China, one of its core markets. As a result, the CEO was replaced in July 2024. Indeed the whole of the luxury brand sector is suffering. This month, even the giant conglomerate LVMH reported a 3% decline in sales.
In October, Burberry launched a new outdoor wear campaign under the banner, ‘It’s Always Burberry Weather’ and I love it.
I’ve spent years running ‘blue sky thinking’ workshops. Where anything goes. Where every idea is a good idea. I now realise that this is a waste of time. Firstly, people find it difficult to come up with ideas when there are no boundaries. Secondly, in the post-workshop review, the ideas are impossible to implement. No wonder ‘brainstorming’ workshops have got a bad reputation.
Instead, I would recommend the opposite. I like to call it ‘black sky’ thinking. It involves setting up the workshop completely differently. Here’s what to focus on.
The key to a great workshop is great planning. The first and most important task is to get to the heart of the workshop brief.
To help you do this, here’s a discussion guide to help you understand the real workshop brief. I’ve also developed a checklist, to ensure you’ve considered everything. As a rule of thumb, spend at least as much time planning the workshop as you do running it. The more you plan, the more successful your workshop will be.
When I look back on past workshops, the moments that stick out for me are the funny ones. I remember when someone brought their dog to the session and everyone played with it. Or when someone presented their ideas by taping a flipchart to their body. Once, we gave a prize to the most negative participant in the room. Something you’re never supposed to do - especially as he was the most senior person at the session. He played along with it, which was great.
One of the risks of running a workshop designed to generate new ideas is ‘Groupthink’. People will always seek consensus in a group setting and the facilitator encourages this. As a consequence, dissenting voices or challenging thinking will be squeezed out.
So how can you avoid Groupthink if you are facilitating a workshop? How can you ensure that individual voices and challenging ideas are seen and heard?
Here are a few suggestions.
