In my opinion far too many companies spend too much time trying to 'revive the dead' instead of 'giving birth' to new opportunities - "kill or be killed".

At the start of the pandemic we saw the term 'pivot' occuring in the business world. 

Something that saw many companies 'leverage' existing assets, resource, and infrastructure in order to 'leverage and grow' new opportunities and operating models afforded (or enforced) to them via the Covid crisis.

A core part of my 'transformation' playbook when working with leaders is to give them a framework to help them and their teams better understand and measure the power of a 'Leverage & Grow' strategy. 

It's a strategy and process I've used for a few years now, and without blowing my own trumpet too loud the reality is that pre/post-Covid it delivered a few outstanding 'growth' results.

On Instagram, FaceBook, Pinterest and other social networking platforms there are literally thousands of small businesses around the world, and they are all nibbling away, piece by piece at a lot of established retail, and eCommerce companies.

Since the introductions of  'lockdowns' and the generous 'furlough' schemes many frustrated wannabee entrepreneurs have joined their counterparts and 'got that small business going'

And all that 'aggregated' nibbling is already disrupting quite a few of the big boys, with many  more to follow no doubt. and it all sounds very, very familiar.

In 95 percent of cases, customers across retail categories make their brand decision digitally.

Today preferences are built online, yesterday it was via TV and/or push advertising.

The competitive game happens on the internet. It’s the new moment of truth. Retail, after all, is a personal interaction (at least, it must feel personal).

Back in the mid 1990's an online movement was gradually taking place, an interesting phenomena back then, but very few recognised that this was to be the birth of eCommerce around the globe.

At first there were just a few of eCommerce sites, these included book stores, music stores, and the inevitable world of 'online 'porn', along with lots of people just wanting to earn some extra income from something they already knew a lot about. 

This was at a time when most physical retailers thought it nothing other than a fad, an irritation maybe, and something that if embraced would 'cannibalise' their existing physical store portfolio.

So instead of embracing it many chose to ignore it, and others set up their online store out of FOMO.   

History and economics has shown what happened to that kind of internalised thinking from the 20th Century mindset of those boardroom leaders. 

Everyone knows social media marketing matters in China’s market. But what does it mean when a brand inspires discussions or starts a new trend?

Every social media platform has its own rules, and the preferences of young netizens vary a lot.

Therefore, brands must consider using platform-specific marketing strategies. Posting the same commercial clips on all platforms is a waste of resources and a bad look.

All the companies I choose to work with have identified much bigger growth opportunities than ever before.

The reality is that by accepting that waiting for someone else to come to their rescue isn't a viable survival, let alone long term growth strategy.

They see that having an internally aligned  'social strategy' in place is one of the core ways to draw clients/customers to them by sharing stories, creating engaging messaging campaigns all so they can cost effectively deliver on their new 'leverage and build' strategy.

Statistics show that people trust the recommendations of an influencer they follow more than any other form of advertising. 

In fact, 70% of millennial consumers are influenced by the recommendations of their peers in buying decisions, and 30% of consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by a non-celebrity blogger. Why?

Consumers want to hear from other consumers. This is largely due to their trustworthiness, their relatability and the fact that their followers value their opinion more highly than a celebrity or brand.