The Growth Blog

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed something new in the places where I usually shop. At the supermarket. At the gas station. At the garage, the café, the bank, even at the pharmacy. It also happened during an interaction with … a civil servant. Something has changed in the way people behave. New gestures have appeared, along with new […]

Whenever economic conditions become more difficult, companies tend to react in surprisingly similar ways. Budgets are reviewed, investments are scrutinized and marketing is often among the first areas to come under pressure. The underlying assumption seems perfectly reasonable: if resources are becoming scarcer, then the only option is to squeeze more out of less. Yet, after watching businesses navigate several […]

During my 30+ years in business I have heard or read many dangerous claims, some of them being the following: But if I had to choose only one, I think I’d go with this: “We know our customers.” Not because it’s a false claim. On the contrary. And that’s precisely what makes it dangerous. Because the people who say it […]

A few years ago, I was presenting a growth and communication strategy to the management team of a mid-sized B2B company. I had barely started when one of the executives interrupted me. “That’s it,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’ve been missing.” What caught his attention wasn’t a breakthrough growth tactic, a clever campaign idea, or some new technology. It […]

Last week we found ourselves driving toward Château de Chenonceau, one of the most visited castles in the Loire Valley. We did not realize it was a long holiday weekend in France, due to Ascension of the Lord, celebrated on Thursday. Bad timing, we thought, when we found out. Thousands of tourists. Endless queues. Parking chaos. Overcrowded halls. The usual […]

If you’ve ever tried sailing, you must have learned something very fast: you don’t need the wind to be behind you to move forward. In fact, you can sail almost into the wind — at an angle of about 40 degrees — and still reach your destination. Not directly, not in a straight line, but effective enough to get where […]

Did you ever have the following experience? You’re driving uphill with a stick shift car. The car slows down, so you hit the accelerator. Still, the response is weak, if not the opposite. The car is choking. Speed won’t increase. There’s no power. And it’s not because you’re lacking petrol or cubic centimeters. It’s because there’s no alignment between current […]

Most B2B technical companies believe they have a marketing problem. They don’t. They have a problem much earlier in the chain, a problem that marketing only makes more visible. The uncomfortable reality If your growth is slower than it should be, one of these is probably happening: So, you do what most companies do: you invest in marketing. More campaigns. […]