A boutique consultancy dedicated to delivering relevant insights that guide clients through complicated decisions and uncover new ways of thinking.
Shari Allison
Principal
Shari has spent the past 20 years helping clients refine the way they look at their marketplace, their customers & their business. Co-founder of Ignite in 2011, Shari focuses on challenging convention, redefining context & delivering clarity to client partners. Although she holds advanced degrees in consumer behaviour, Shari’s expertise extends well beyond research & insights to thought-leadership & true strategic-partnership.
Stephen Tile
Principal
For the past 30 years Steve has been helping some of the biggest brands refine their target, define their messages and build their businesses. He is a consummate strategist who uses an array of research tools to deliver crisp & meaningful insights that inspire and transform.
Ignite is brought to the table when senior level, objective, thought-partners are needed to help provide clarity, focus decision-making & optimize opportunity.
Our business model allows for intimate, hands-on engagements that are flexible & provide meaningful business outcomes.
While Ignite can of course execute basic research, our sweet spot is really those issues that are strategically significant to the organization.
We focus on strategic, high-touch engagements related to…
- Market dynamics
- Brand strategy
- Brand targeting & positioning
- Brand identity
- Innovation
- Concept development
- Concept evaluation/execution
- Communication strategy
- Communication development/evaluation
Specializing in retail, travel, packaged goods, alcohol, technology, financial services & luxury goods segments.
- Ignite employs a creative range of methods to uncover insights…from traditional focus groups & online surveys to inventive interactive, observational & ethnographic approaches.
- Emphasis is on driving insights deep into organizations, either up or down, where they can be actioned — use facilitation & workshopping methods to ensure organizational enculturation.
6 Brand Strategies Most CMOs Fail to Execute
The ground rules for branding are rapidly evolving. Social media, content marketing, the younger generation, second screening, thought-leadership and the demographic shift are just some of the many things that are challenging brands to think differently. Creating and sustaining customer trust and loyalty is more difficult than ever before. Building relationships with consumers has never been more challenging, with so much competition for their attention. Look at the constant barrage of pop-up and video ads that flash before our eyes every time we use our phones, turn on our computers or tablets. Read more...
Does Your Agency Have a Brand Commissary?
I’m talking to brand managers, brand, stewards, consultants — anyone who is responsible for maximizing your company ad agency’s efforts on behalf of your brands. Don’t let your agency have an academic relationship with the product you are selling. We all know the academic relationship. It revolves around sexy charts, research, case studies, infographics, word clouds, focus groups. The client says to the agency, “Make consumers understand the full, comprehensive robust experience of our brand … and if the agency people get a chance to have that experience on their own time, that’d be kind of neat.” Find out more about why your agency needs a brand commissary...
9 Communication Tips to Help Improve Your Life
Many people struggle with learning to fight fairly. What needs to be said (and how to say it) and what not to say are just a few of the challenges facing those who can’t seem to argue appropriately. Learning to state your needs without adding fuel to the fire is a relationship necessity. Here some communication tools for resolving disagreements and making your interactions easier and more satisfying. Enjoy all 9 of these communication tips by reading this...
New Infographic Reveals the Principles of Success Behind Geico’s Branding Strategy
In the last 15 years, Geico has successfully branded their business with astounding success. With the creative use of their mascot, the Geico Gecko, and one of the best known slogans in history, they have earned the attention, and even affection, of customers across the US. Fannit, an internet marketing firm from the Seattle area, has chosen to analyze this success in a recent publication by breaking down the key components of Geico’s business branding and revealing the principles that they used to achieve success. Read more about Geico’s branding strategy...
Adidas details ‘digital newsroom’ strategy for brands
Adidas Group is setting up a series of digital newsrooms across the world in a bid to bring more strategic oversight to how brands such as Reebok are marketed online. Commenting on its financial results for 2013 yesterday evening (5 March), the sportswear maker said its brands needed to be more relevant online in order to propel demand. It is setting up internal digital newsrooms over the next 12 months to tap into trending topics, a move that builds on the “moments of celebration and acknowledgment” real-time marketing strategy it currently employs with its agencies. Read more about the ‘digital newsroom’ strategy...
Innovation Thought Leaders: Do You Know Who They Are and Their Impact on Business?
Last week, almost every American could have ticked off who the Oscar nominees were for best actor or actress. But given the disappointing US economic data that also made news last week, the stars we should be paying close attention to are those who won the “Oscars of Management Thinking.” This yearly award from Thinkers50 acknowledges the world’s seminal management thinkers, whose contributions can make a meaningful difference by improving the business climate. Past winners have included Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Michael Porter, Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Friedman and more. Read more about innovation thought...
4 Brands Making Customer Loyalty Programs Work
The Share the Love: 2014 Consumer Study into Australian Loyalty Programs report released in February showed an alarming quarter of consumers leaving loyalty programs in recent years. Disillusioned by the speed of earning or redeeming points, or unappealing offers available, many of these individuals simply stopped using cards or apps, and walk away. According to report authors, Cirrus and Directivity, this mass exodus is a clear judgement on brands and something all should be striving harder to curb. “Make no mistake – if members have defected from a program, they’ve defected from the brand,” CEO of Citrus, Peter Noble, warned. “Loyalty programs are big business and a key touch point for a brand so marketers need to ask themselves: Remove a quarter of your membership and what impact would that have on your brand?” Read more about these customer loyalty programs...5 Ways to Communicate With Your Team & Peers
Sometimes it is difficult to navigate workplaces that are full of politically-savvy peers and team members. In such an environment, good communication holds key. Shreya Biswas lists a few thumb rules to make it better. 1. Be Consultative Communication is situational and differs based on situations but, in general, it has to be consultative. “A boss, while talking to his team members, should not impose his ideas on them, instead should draw out inputs from them,” says Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder & SVP, TeamLease. Read more about the 4 ways to communicate with your team & peers...
What Brands Should Know about the New Woman Consumer
The role and purchasing power of the female audience are changing, yet brands have been slow to drop outdated stereotypes, writes Jane Bainbridge. The 1950s advertising image of the archetypal female consumer was one of a consummate homemaker: attractive, slim, two beautiful children (one boy, one girl), handsome husband, content within her domestic domain. Roll forward 60-odd years and this image doesn’t feel quite so consigned to history as it should. Read More about the new woman consumer...
6 Powerful Communication Tips from Some of the World’s Best Interviewers
Everyone knows that particular feeling of dread that accompanies a lull in conversation at a party, networking event, or even a job interview. You’ve already covered the usual small talk and then, oof, you hit a dead end. What now? Even the most extroverted among us know that being a good conversationalist doesn’t always come easy–but there are some experts who have had more practice than the rest of us. Writers, journalists and others who interview sources regularly have developed tried and true techniques that help them connect deeply with people. Not only can interviews with thought leaders in your field provide a great source of content for your blog or website, the skills honed while interviewing are useful in many types of communication. Read all 6 communication tips right here in this...
10 Tips to Ensure Your Brand Stands the Test of Time
People’s values have shifted dramatically over the last couple of years, changing their needs and expectations from brands. Mark Artus, CEO at global brand agency 1HQ explains how brands need to adapt to stay relevant. 1. Go long on your brand Building a successful brand has never come easy. It takes insight into consumers, creating products and services they love and investing in your reputation. The current market environment makes it tempting to profit at the expense of your brand – say by reducing quality or discounting – but these actions can quickly erode the competitive advantage and customer goodwill that takes years to build. More than ever it’s important to invest in and manage your brand with a long-term mindset. Find out about the remaining nine tips that will allow you to make sure your brand stands the test of...
7 Major Pitfalls in Concept Development
Most business units are required to respond to competitive pressure by maintaining or increasing market share and enhancing profitability; launching new products or services is often a key strategy behind achieving these market share and profitability goals. Marketers are most often on the front line of this battle, continually trying to develop line extensions or new offerings to satisfy the organizational demands of share and profit while meeting the desires of an often fickle marketplace. The need to develop high quality, winning “concepts” for these new products or services becomes glaringly apparent. Find out more about concept development and key concept development pitfalls...Ignite Lab Inc.
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