“Authenticity is the only difference between brands that are successful and those that are not. Success can only be achieved by focusing on Product, People and Values.”
– Chris Buchanan
Chris Buchanan is the Chief Strategy Director at B&Associates in Sydney, Australia. With over 15 years of C-level experience in some of Australia’s largest and most successful retail businesses, Chris has established himself as a proven leader, mentor and strategist in fashion and business management.
Today, Chris partners with established brands looking to develop high performing teams to unlock new opportunities. With a long track record of delivering top line growth and profitability, Chris works closely with clients to deliver exceptional shareholder returns.
As an accomplished professional in the consumer goods industry, Chris’s expertise is regularly sought by brands looking to strengthen their international, digital & sustainability efforts.
At B&A we stand with the brave & the creative.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Quality is no accident, it is the result of intelligent effort.
The status quo is not an option. You have to question everything. Then have the courage to break the rules.
No idea is a bad idea if it leads to somewhere new. Too many people make dull predictable decisions, which leads you to the same place as your competitor. It is the unsafe idea that makes you think and respond in ways others had not considered, which will set your brand apart.
The most successful brands all have a common thread. They employee consistency across all touch points & their handwriting is unmistakably theirs.
To succeed, your values must be well defined, easily understood and consistently applied. this is especially true if you want to engage the millennial generation which will account for 50% of total spend by 2025.
Millennial’s are now more connected, more aware, more informed, more opinionated, more disloyal, and over stimulated than ever before.
Consumers don’t buy features or benefits; they buy from brands where they belong, where a brands values and purpose reflect their own. Authentic communications, tone of voice and marketing is the only way to embrace this discerning group.
