How Ideas Can Deliver The Goods

Here’s a pub quiz question for you. What was the first online purchase in the UK?

…..still thinking?

No it wasn’t a book, item of clothing or cuddly toy. It was in fact Sting’s ‘Ten Summoner’s Tales’ on 11^th August 1994. Surprised? I was.

Fast-forward to today and people continue to shop online in their millions. The Centre for Retail Research highlights E-commerce as the fastest growing retail market in Europe and North America with online sales growing from £132 billion in 2014 to £157 billion in 2015.

Despite a slowdown in consumer spending during the recession, the appetite to buy is on the rise, coupled with a growing amount of international trade.

Logistic services and transportation firms are the enablers of consumerism and the wheels that keep the global economy moving by ensuring products are stored, transported and delivered on time.

Yet in a world where instant gratification is now our reality and customers are demanding more value-add from their suppliers, simply talking about what you do – and not what you enable – will no longer cut it.

Successful logistic services and transportation firms understand their customers. Crucially, they understand the role they play in driving business growth through enabling the movement of goods and people.

Traditionally, sales conversations have been transactional and focused on price and service offerings. Today, buying decisions are multi-layered and complex and product and service specialists are expected to apply their unique lens on drivers of the global economy to contribute more fully to a broader business conversation – be it with the owner of an SME or the CPO of a multinational.

In this fiercely competitive sector, firms that move from being product and service led, to being issues and ideas-led will win. The tricky part is striking the right balance between being ideas-led and clearly aligned to what you do, and not thinly disguised sales messaging. You can leave that for the brochures.

If you’re struggling to generate original ideas that sell, then download our handy eBook for practical advice and a framework to stress-test your ideas.

For further inspiration, click here for a selection of campaign case studies that demonstrate our deep knowledge of the global trade and manufacturing agenda. Click here to read how Man Bites Dog created shareable, interactive content to support a campaign for Arcadis on a global scale.