“Marketing is not a department—it’s the story of how you create difference for your customers.” Bernadette Jiwa
Marketing is such an important part of doing business whether you have a brick and mortar or online business. I asked a woman I admire — Bernadette Jiwa — founder of The Story of Telling and a rising star in marketing/branding to talk to us about her new book: Difference: The one-page method for re-imagining your business and reinventing your marketing.
In our interview, Bernadette talks about the importance of seeing the truth and acting on it. You start with empathy and stand in your customer’s shoes and see the truth of their experience. When you look from their perspective, it gives you the ability to take their reality and focus on “what could be.” Difference starts with examining what people are currently experiencing in your market category or niche. It helps you find out what is possible if your customers desires and needs were met. It’s about understanding why this product or service and why now. When you operate from your customer’s perspective and think about what would it feel like to solve their problem – it helps you create a bigger impact in the world.
Bernadette says an idea developed with difference thinking looks like this:
TRUTH—>PEOPLE—>IDEA—>LAUNCH
“The truth is that people don’t fall in love with ideas at all. They fall in love with how those ideas, products, services and 
places make them feel.” Bernadette Jiwa
Bernadette is the author of three #1 Amazon Bestsellers on marketing, ‘Make Your Idea Matter’ and ‘The Fortune Cookie Principle’ and her latest book Difference: The one-page method for re-imagining your business and reinventing your marketing.
She is a brand story and marketing strategist working with entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the world, helping them to apply ‘difference thinking’ to their businesses so they can intentionally craft and tell brand stories that communicate their difference.
Bernadette’s blog TheStoryofTelling.com was voted the Best Australian Business Blog in 2012, and she spoke about ‘The Secret To Spreading Ideas’ at TEDxPerth.
She has been named as one of the Top 100 Branding experts to follow on Twitter and has been described as the “female Seth Godin” and “the Banksy of the marketing world.”
To download a free copy of The Difference Map, click here.
If you liked this article, please share it with your friends. If you want to ask Bernadette a question, please leave a comment below.
I LOVE Bernadette Jiwa’s blog too, thanks for this. If you could have just one of the three books, which would you start with (as an entrepreneur)?
Thanks!
Marj
Hi Marj,
Sherold’s right, Difference is the one to read first. I realized it was what entrepreneurs needed after I wrote The Fortune Cookie Principle (it’s the prequel I didn’t know I needed to write).
I hope the book helps you to get clear on what’s unique about how you bring your business to the world.
Hi Marj – I would start with her most recent – Difference because it would give you a great way to think about your business. I think of Bernadette’s writing as similar to Seth Godin’s – they both want us to see our customer’s from their perspective.
If we can stand in our customer’s shoes everyday and think of what they are struggling with most, it helps us create solutions for their problems. Thank you for asking and reading. Glad it was helpful.
Thanks for the interview Sherold and for helping other women to grow and shine.
Bernadette – you are such a light worker yourself. I am so happy to know you. Please let me know when you want to get the word out on your next work. I would be honored to support your work.