Creating a business with a tight strategic hierarchy like this is the entire goal of what we’re doing here. The strategy – the top bit – is an essential part of that, the point from which everything else flows, but it is not the goal. Having a strategically powerful company is the goal, and this is only achieved via the interaction of all three par

At the top, you have the strategy – i.e. the unique value the business aims to deliver to the market; its existential core; its telos if you like; its raison d’être. Below this you have the delivery – i.e. the physical way the business actually does this via its products and services. And then finally you have the brand – i.e. the way the business

The core job of a strategy – any strategy, not just a value-based one – is to determine actions. To tell you what to do. It’s a blueprint essentially, guiding you in your decision-making process.

Even if you understand unique value the way I’ve laid it out here, there is a final mistake you might be liable to make: Offering a unique value that nobody actually wants.

That’s why good strategy is just so valuable. Finding something that loads of people want but which isn’t already offered is like striking gold. You can’t get it simply by asking people what they want – you’ll never get a new answer there. You can only get it from lateral creative thinking – the kind of stuff we’re going to focus on as we go throug

Only is better than best. No matter how much better you think you are than the other brands around you, it’s nothing in comparison to being the only brand who does what you do.

The market doesn’t reward better; it only rewards different.

Unique value is: Value that your customer cannot get from anywhere else.

Nike, Red Bull, Harley Davidson, and the other iconic brands people like to talk about – pretty much none of them have changed their strategies in 40 years. All they’ve changed is the way they deliver their strategies, so they’re kept fresh and up to date.