10 great growth stories from our first 10 years

New Year
Resolutions
10 great growth stories
from our first 10 years
#
New Year Resolution
Stretch your brand
like Apple
Back in 2005 we were already using Apple as a good example of brand stretch, based on the iPod. Little did
we know what was to come, with the iPhone and then the iPad to follow. Each of these three new products
has added genuine value to the market it has entered, combining ease of use and gorgeous design. And wave
after wave of renovation has kept Apple ahead of the competition. Since 2005 revenues have grown by a
staggering 370%, from $14billion to $65 billion.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Use fresh consistency
like Absolut
This was from our 2006 cards, and its still one of the best examples of using "fresh consistency" to build a
brand. The campaign has run for over 25 years with 1400 different executions, each one with a fresh take on
the same theme and the iconic bottle. The campaign has played a key role in turning Absolut into the world's
3rd biggest premium spirits brand in the world.
2004
1981
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
1986
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New Year Resolution
Bake your brand into your
business like The Geek Squad
We first covered computer repair business Geek Squad in 2007, and we're still using them as a great example
of "baking" your brand into every bit of your business. The impactful and highly distinctive personality is
brought to life in every single bit of the mix: from the uniforms to the cars the agents drive. And the Geek
Squad backs this up with professional, reliable and expert service. This helped The Geek Squad grow from a
1-man band to a company employing 15,000 agents without advertising, something founder Robert Stephens
calls “A tax for having an unremarkable product”!
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Revitalise your brand
like James Bond
James Bond is our best example of brand rejuvenation. The new Bond movies starring Daniel Craig took the
key brand properties (gadgets, girls, glamour, catch-phrases) and updated them to bring the brand up to date.
As a result, 40 years after the first movie, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have been the biggest
grossing Bond movies of all time.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Go beyond promotion to brand
activation like innocent
Four years on from when we first covered it, innocent's Big Knit activation is still going strong. Instead of
boring BOGOFs (buy-one-get-one-free) innocent use this clever idea to drive sales and build brand equity.
Each bottle with a wooly hat raises money for charity, but also creates great stand-out on shelf.
For a full set of cards email
davidn@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Grow the core like
Gillette
Over the last 10 years, Gillette stand out when it comes to growing the core. They have continued to drive
profitable growth of their shaving business with a range of techniques to "SMS" (sell more stuff) helping deliver
an 85% share: aggressive up-trading to more premium razors, consistent communication with "The Best a Man
Can Get" slogan and a new campaign to encourage all-over body shaving.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Create new routes to the
consumer like Nespresso
Nespresso's innovative route-to-consumer starred in our 2011 cards, having created a $2.5 billion brand with
annual growth of 30% for the past 9 years. Nespresso sells its premium coffee capsules direct to the 6 million
"members" in its club through its website, boutiques and call centre. This brand can uses sophisticated, tailored
direct marketing and also has total control of product assortment, presentation and listing of new launches.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Go beyond CSR to BSR
like Timberland
With its Earthkeeper boot, Timberland have shown how "Brand Social Responsibility" (BSR) is more powerful
than the more common "Corporate Social Responsibility". With BSR, the good cause is "baked in" to an attractive
product, in this case a boot made with recycled materials and designed for easy disassembly to aid recycling.
The marketing is free of weighty worthiness: ads tell you to protect the environment ‘or it will get you back’,
the box has fun ‘nutritional labelling’ and a final claim inside asks "What kind of footprint will you leave?". BSR
like this does good for your business, not just good for the wider world.
Click to watch ad
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
#
New Year Resolution
Bring real value through
innovation like Dyson
When Dyson were inventing their hand dryer, they realised that the way the ‘airblade’ worked could also make a
good room fan. Then they tried adding heat. The result: one technological insight, three categories re-invented –
hand dryers, fans and heaters. Dyson is now a $1bn success story, selling its products in 52 countries.
Faster and more hygienic
than any other hand dryer.
No blades. No buffering.
The fastest to heat the room evenly.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
10
#
New Year Resolution
Lead like Leahy
During Sir Terry Leahy's 14 years as CEO of Tesco he led a dramatic transformation of the business.
From 568 UK stores and £750mill pre-tax profit, the business grew to 5,000 stories in the UK and
abroad, with pre-tax profit of £3.5bill. His key leadership principles include getting "customer
empathy" by immersing yourself in peoples' real lives, and using this to create business building
ideas. Tesco’s many innovations include "One in front" (opening new tills if queues get long), the
Clubcard loyalty scheme and the Tesco Finest premium range.
For a full set of cards email
david@thebrandgym.com
A special thanks to all the marketing leaders who invited
us to coach them and their teams during our first 10 years:
Peter de Kruif
David Arkwright
Alberto Volpe
Stuart Edmunds
Chris Mason
Carol Welch
Elaine Whitley
Guido Hagenaars
Marie Catherine Cerutti
Niamh Conroy
Nick Johnston
Fergus Chapman
Mark Luce
Becky Routley
Chris Mason
Joel Almedia
Chris Taylor
Annamaria Ferencz
Angus Rowe
Tanja Hulst
Liz Evendon
Marchien Van Hulst
Patrizia De Haag
Piotr Jurjewicz
Andy Porteous
Janti Soeripto
Annamaria Ferencz
Sian Davis
Helen Lewis
Yvette van de Meeraker
Thom Albers
Nic Yates
Cees Talma
Luis Escobar
Jorgelina Racciati
Allan Gamboa
André Felippa
Phil Champan
Louis Rippen
Alain Loss
Kasar Singh
María Mujica
Tony Macadam
María Mujica
Robin Moriarty
Cecilia Iglesias
Aline Santos
Caroline Neumann
Carmelo Lombardo
Suthipa Panyamahasup
Patrick Wauters
Mike Harvey
Maria Grigorova
Lysa McIntyre
Steve Milton
Bety Martinez
Roberto Echandi
Tatiana Aurich
Pablo Kennedy
Geraldine Gonzalez
Francois Levy
Matt Adams
Anne Hollamby
Gordon Henderson
Robert Saat
Lance Bachelor
Andres Gonzalez Cuevas
Cristina Castrillón
Ricardo Motta
Daniela Olivero
Linda Cripps
Xavier Pons
Mark Ollila
Jean Bouvain
Marie-Ange Vaessen
Sean Summers
Konstantine Samoylov
Tanja Hulst
Emilie Michot
Brian Macreadie
Constanza Brizzi
Sebastian Genesio
Augusto Garzón
Sebastián Scasso
Peter Waxman
Constantin Schraub
Kirby Myers
Kim Szymura
Silke Schaefer
Vera Markl Moser
Malte Griess-Nega
Mariken Kimmels
Ian Penhale
Andrea Quaye
Emmanuelle Marcos
Kostas Vlachos
Sarah McDonald
Delfina Correa
Mauricio Escobar
Tony Macadam
Bruce Williamson
Héctor Castillo
Martin Uberhuber
Eva Wolf
Chris Johnson
Johan Stenmarck
Claire Winstanley
Karl Frestle
Lucile Celisse
Cecile Coutens
Cyrille Balmes
Mosidi Seretlo
Darek Paprot
Helene Baretzki
Sheila Struyck
Ciko Thomas
Allan Gamboa
Florencia Marro
Maite Bosch
Eugenia Nievas
Tamer Karaby
Richard Pash
Isobel Coleman
Pascale Meulemeester
Claire Harrison-Church
Diana Hall
Marc Levy
Herve Dufoix
Eugenia Rigaud
Yvan Bonneton
Patrick Gantier
Christian Houvenagel
Claudia Esposito
Gabriela Cedrola
Antonela Puleo
Laura Uboldi
Ariel Suffern
Julieta Da Representacao
Viren Popli
K Koshidaka
Mathew Warren
Amanda Messler
Steve Brass
Carmen Hobbs
Sydney Mbhele
Nontokozo Madonsela
Claire Jefferey
Paola Valverde
Florencia Balestra
Macó Estebanez
Ezequiel Acosta
Laura Espada
David Reilly
Tom Parker
Severine Brichard
Raul Andrade
Dana Nacheva
Bethy van den Velde
Jeff Rothman
Alejandro Helou
Ariel Suffern
Venkataraman K
Shubhabrata Saha
Venky Rajagopal
Anupam Thareja
Sanjar Imam
Prem Kamath
Asisia Niken
Ajay Mallapurkar
Anil Vishwanathan
Anu Narasimhan