We help leadership teams get to the root of performance challenges and define a focused, commercially sound path forward.
When organisations work hard but don't see the results they expect, the issue is rarely effort. Its direction. Its focus.
Something Different is here to help.
WHAT I DO (And Why It Matters)
GET TO THE ROOT
DEFINE THE FOCUS
BUILD THE PLAN
GET TO THE ROOT
Performance problems are rarely surface-level.
We diagnose what’s truly holding the organisation back; across your customers, your category, our culture, and your company.
We:
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Challenge assumptions.
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Separate symptoms from causes.
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Identify the real constraint.
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Bring objectivity where politics or habit have blurred judgement.
Because until the root issue is clear, activity only adds noise.
WHO I WORK WITH
I work best with boards, CEOs and marketing leaders who:
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Are ambitious but frustrated.
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Sense something isn’t quite right.
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Want to solve performance issues properly.
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Value diagnosis before decisions.
If you’re looking for tactical marketing support, I’m probably not the right fit.
If you’re ready to address the root issue, we should talk.
MUSINGS
Strategy improves when thinking is sharpened.
I write about brand, performance and leadership, exploring what truly drives results, and where organisations often lose focus.
These reflections are practical, evidence-informed, and designed to help leaders make better decisions.
Marketing Strategy
Do. Become. Something Different
16 Feb 2026
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5 min read
Believe. Build. Brand. Become. In a sea of sameness, distinctive strategy and bold advertising are essential to win attention, margin and growth.
Business Strategy
Scotland, England, and the Discipline of Strategy
15 Feb 2026
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7 min read
What Scotland’s Six Nations win over England reveals about strategy, market insight, disciplined execution and driving commercial performance.
Training & Development
A Decidedly Useful Guide to How Brands & Businesses Grow
21 Jan 2026
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20 min read
Core thinking of some of the most credible minds in business, marketing, and advertising about how brands & businesses grow.
Training & Development
What 2025 Taught Me to Take Into 2026
14 Jan 2026
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5 min read
Some key learnings from 2025 that I'll be using in 2026, which may also be useful for you.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Integrated Marketing Comms - Week 10
16 Dec 2025
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5 min read
The final instalment on 10 Key Takeaways from my UC MBA Class. Here are the 10 from my lecture on Integrated Marketing Communications.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Objectives & Measurement - Week 9
9 Dec 2025
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5 min read
10 key takeaways from my UC MBA course's 3-hour lecture on objectives and measurement, part of my 'Marketing & Strategic Intelligence' course.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Branding - Week 8
2 Dec 2025
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5 min read
Continuing the series, here are the 10 key takeaways from my 3-hour lecture on branding at UC Business School.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Product, Price, & Place - Week 7
28 Nov 2025
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5 min read
10 key takeaways from my 3-hour lecture on Positioning, as part of my UC MBA Course, which I created and taught on 'Marketing & Strategic Intelligence'.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Positioning - Week 6
27 Nov 2025
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5 min read
10 key takeaways from my 3-hour lecture on Positioning, as part of my UC MBA Course, which I created and taught on 'Marketing & Strategic Intelligence'.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Segmentation & Targeting - Week 5
21 Nov 2025
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5 min read
10 Key Takeaways from my 3-hour lecture on Segmentation & Targeting, Week 5 of my UC MBA course.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Data, Insight, & Decision-Making - Week 4
19 Nov 2025
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5 min read
10 Key Takeaways for Data, Insight, & Decision-Making from my UC MBA Course, 'Marketing & Strategic Intelligence'.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Market Research and CI - Week 3
17 Nov 2025
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5 min read
A new series delivering the 10 Key Takeaways from each of my 3-hour lectures at the UC Business School MBA course I created and taught - this is Week 3.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Orientation - Week 2
13 Nov 2025
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5 min read
New series delivering the 10 Key Takeaways from each of my 3-hour lectures at the UC Business School MBA course I created and taught - this is Week 2 - Orientation.
Marketing Strategy
10 Key Takeaways on Value - Week 1
10 Nov 2025
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5 min read
A new series delivering the 10 Key Takeaways from each of my 3-hour lectures at the UC Business School MBA course I created and taught - this is Week 1.
Marketing Strategy
Why the Future Still Belongs to the Original Thinkers
24 Oct 2025
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5 min read
Why AI may be making business faster but creativity flatter, and why originality still matters most.
Business Strategy
Think wider with breadth and depth
15 Oct 2025
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5 min read
In today's business world, breadth can beat depth, and thinkers who cross disciplines can outperform specialists in creativity and strategy.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing is...
1 Sep 2025
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5 min read
Just a few things worth remembering for any business leader or marketer.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Isn't About being Seen
15 Aug 2025
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8 min read
Marketing isn't about being seen, although it certainly helps; the goal is to be remembered, which isn't as easy as it sounds.
Marketing Strategy
What Do Strategists Do When AI Can Do Strategy
12 Aug 2025
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5 min read
What will the strategist do when AI can do strategy? They will need to be skilled in its foundations and then make it clear, real, actionable, and resonant.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing, Comms, and Media Best Practice
25 Jul 2025
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7 min read
Four essential lenses every brand should consider to guide media and comms decisions, drawn from four leading schools of marketing thought.
Marketing Strategy
Creativity and innovation create value and they thrive with constraints
9 Jul 2025
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5 min read
Creativity and innovation create value, and they thrive with constraints as that brings clarity and focus.
Marketing Strategy
A Decidedly Useful Guide To Differentiation
2 Jul 2025
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15 min read
Being meaningfully different can open up new opportunities. In this guide, we explore how businesses can use differentiation to their advantage.
Marketing Strategy
Have We Forgotten What We're Meant to Understand?
27 Jun 2025
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5 min read
Here's a short slide rant about physics envy, marketing's number addiction, and the irrational beauty of actual human behaviour.
Marketing Strategy
A Decidedly Useful Guide to Finance for Marketers
13 Jun 2025
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25 min read
The gap between marketers and finance, two vital parts of the business, speaks past each other, rather than together, and growth and business performance suffer.
Marketing Strategy
In-Out-Grow-Retain
3 Jun 2025
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5 min read
Are people in or out of the market? Are they customers or non-customers? Knowing this shapes what you do and what you measure to drive business success.
Marketing Strategy
A Decidely Useful Guide to Behaviour Change
8 May 2025
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20 min read
For some, changing behaviour is the holy grail of marketing. This is a handy guide on how to do it.
Marketing Strategy
To Change The Outcome, Change The Story
28 Apr 2025
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5 min read
Many things can improve a company's prospects, but the story you tell can increase the chances you are chosen over your competition. This is an ode to that.
Marketing Strategy
The prime, nudge, convert, retain framework
22 Apr 2025
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8 min read
When it comes to marketing your business and thinking about what to communicate, the Prime, Nudge, Convert, Retain framework is a beauty. Allow me to explain.
Marketing Strategy
What Was Done In Year One of Something Different
20 May 2025
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3 min read
Year one of Something Different is complete. As a strategist, I can't share everything I do, as it's confidential, but here's a quick review.
Marketing Strategy
12 marketing principles worth knowing and applying
20 Mar 2025
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8 min read
With lots to occupy our minds and lots we could do here are 12 marketing principles worth knowing and applying.
Marketing Strategy
The long and short of it for startups and SMEs
18 Mar 2025
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20 min read
The Long and Short of It is one of the best pieces of marketing research, and this is how its principles can be applied to startups and SMEs.
Marketing Strategy
How Brands Grow for startups and SMEs
11 Feb 2025
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20 min read
How Brands Grow is one of the best marketing books, built from decades of buyer data, and this is how its principles can be applied to startups and SMEs.
Marketing Strategy
A Decidely Useful Guide to Marketing
26 Nov 2024
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20 min read
A guide to marketing that will help bring focus and clarity to what is most important to drive effectiveness.
Business Strategy
Becoming Something Different
14 Jan 2025
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20 min read
How will you find your competitive edge and new ways to create value? How will you find your something different? This series of workshops will help uncover how.
Business Strategy
In business what you believe matters
21 Jan 2025
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15 min read
What you believe shapes how you behave, the value you create for customers, the brand you build, and how you present yourself to the world.
Business Strategy
A personal reflection on 2024
12 Dec 2024
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4 min read
2024 was the year I went solo and started my own thing. Here are some learnings.
Marketing Strategy
The Magnificent 7 Communications Ideal-dos
6 Dec 2024
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3 min read
7 ideal-dos for when it comes to communications and embracing the Promotional 'P' of marketing.
Business Strategy
Its not about you
2 Nov 2024
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4 min read
It's important to remember that in life, business, and personal growth, it's not about you but what you can do for someone else.
Marketing Strategy
The Magnificent 7 Maketing Ideal-dos
15 Nov 2024
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3 min read
When it comes to marketing, there are so many things you could do and many you shouldn't, so here are 7 things you should ideally do.
Business Strategy
What is the problem?
1 Nov 2024
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4 min read
It's important not to be a solution looking for a problem. Businesses should focus on identifying real, impactful issues before jumping into solutions.
Business Strategy
Something different is scary
24 Oct 2024
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5 min read
Doing something different can be scary for a host of reasons, but it can also open up many opportunities to drive innovation, growth, and success.
Business Strategy
What is your something different?
22 Oct 2024
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5 min read
Strategy is about finding your place, space, and competitive edge. It's about finding something different to set you apart from your competition.
Marketing Strategy
Its worth remembering humans are irrational
15 Oct 2024
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5 min read
You see it in advertising all the time: lots of rational information. It is important to remember, though, that humans are irrational.
Marketing Strategy
Why emotion matters in advertising
14 Oct 2024
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5 min read
We talk of brand-building, building future demand, and connecting emotionally, but why is emotion important? Emotions direct our attention; attention builds memory
Marketing Strategy
Getting strategy right first matters greatly
7 Oct 2024
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5 min read
Where should I concentrate my marketing efforts to make the most significant positive impact on helping the business achieve its short and long-term ambitions?
Marketing Strategy
The keys to effectiveness and what to measure
2 Sep 2024
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10 min read
Focusing on these key things will increase your marketing's effectiveness and your ability to grow your business
Marketing Strategy
Less is often more
13 Sep 2024
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6 min read
Most brands, big and small, try to do way too many things and communicate about all of them, but doing fewer things, as well as you can, is usually better.
Business Strategy
Release the handbrake to achieve your goals
2 Oct 2024
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3 min read
When examining a business problem, it is essential to determine what is stopping you from achieving your goals before focusing on moving forward.
Marketing Strategy
I loathe wasting money
5 Sep 2024
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4 min read
Brands waste a lot of money on things that they simply do not have to. Here are a few that I think are worth pointing out.
Brand Strategy
What are you fighting for
25 Sep 2024
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3 min read
To create a rallying cry for your entire organisation, ask yourself, what are we fighting for? What are we fighting against?
Business Strategy
Things to ponder, discuss, answer, and then do
12 Aug 2024
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7 min read
With so much for business owners, leaders and marketers to think about, here is a collection of really useful things.
Marketing Strategy
The marketing Olympics
30 Jul 2024
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5 min read
If there were a marketing Olympics, would your brand make it onto the podium? Is Gold a possibility?
Marketing Strategy
Customer value framework
31 Jul 2024
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5 min read
Businesses often lose sight of the customer, and this framework puts the customer and how you meet their needs front and centre again.
Brand Strategy
Taking responsibility for your brand
22 Jul 2024
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4 min read
Each interaction a customer or potential customer has with your brand matters; creating positive memories is everyone's responsibility.
Marketing Strategy
Don’t be ignored
23 Mar 2024
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5 min read
A few years ago, the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute researched how many ads TV viewers could recall the next day. The majority weren't remembered.
Business Strategy
The issue with short-termism and working in silos
20 Jun 2024
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5 min read
Humanity's challenges are complex, with political divides and short cycles hindering progress. Businesses also suffer from silos and short-termism.
Marketing Strategy
Speaking finance for marketers
20 Aug 2024
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5 min read
Marketers often don't speak the language of CFOs and the C-Suite, yet marketers are instrumental in delivering business success. Speaking the same language helps.
Marketing Strategy
From knowing nothing about your brand to knowing something
5 Jul 2024
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4 min read
Saying less is usually more in helping category buyers know at least something about your brand.
Business Strategy
Reflections after 4 weeks of Something Different
18 Jun 2024
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3 min read
After taking the leap and going out on my own, here are some reflections after the first 4 weeks.
Training & Development
The foundations of better business and marketing part 1
16 Apr 2024
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10 min read
The fundamental principles that all businesses should understand and adopt as they have been proven to be effective across industries, geographies, and time.
Training & Development
The foundations of better business and marketing part 2
1 May 2024
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10 min read
Part 2 in the foundations of what makes for better business, brand and marketing strategy.
Marketing Strategy
Know where you are before you plan where you are going
10 Jun 2024
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2 min read
It's important to understand where your business is in the market, in relation to your competition, and in buyers' minds before setting your strategy.
Brand Strategy
Brand salience is so very important
11 Jun 2024
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3 min read
Growing your brand salience will help grow your business. Salience is a beautiful thing for any business to nurture and grow.
Business Strategy
Focus and simplicity are wonderful things
2 Jul 2024
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3 min read
Focusing on SMART goals for your business, your TO, and then defining how you'll achieve it, your BY are so essential.
Business Strategy
Get yourself some grade A talent
25 Sep 2024
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4 min read
Talented professionals who are new parents are perfect for part-time or more flexible positions that allow them to put their talents to good use for businesses.
Marketing Strategy
Survive and thrive through economic uncertainty
23 Mar 2024
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5 min read
Economic headwinds will undoubtedly remain through 2024 and into 2025. Beyond that, who can say with any great certainty? ...
Marketing Strategy
Creativity can be scary
15 May 2024
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7 min read
While creativity is lauded as the catalyst for innovation and growth, it's often shunned in practice, because it can be different, confronting, or scary to embrace.
Business Strategy
Why Something Different?
23 Mar 2024
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2 min read
Helping businesses believe, build and become Something Different.
Business Strategy
The power of doing Something Different in business
23 Mar 2024
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5 min read
Embrace the power of differentiation, of distinctiveness, of doing something different. Encourage creativity and use it to its fullest potential to maximise growth
Marketing Strategy
The power of doing Something Different in marketing
23 Mar 2024
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5 min read
In the vast ocean of marketing, standing out requires more than just following the herd; it demands making your path.
CONTACT
Founded by Gareth O’Connor, Something Different brings 20+ years of commercial brand and marketing strategy experience, combining evidence-based thinking with practical business logic.
Trusted by leadership teams across banking, telecommunications, energy, retail, FMCG, automotive, entertainment, industry bodies and growth-stage organisations.
