New addition to the family

Em and I are very pleased to announce that on 18th of September at 6:23am our baby boy was born weighing 8 and a half pounds. We have since named him Elliot George Martin. I'm sure this will explain the lack of posts on the Wildfire blog over past few months. Lots of exciting stuff coming for 2011 for the business including some new written material to share, to which i'll be adding the finishing touches in between changing dirty nappies and helping with night-feeds!!!

Win From Within Seminar in June

Hot off the press... Neil is speaking at Conwy Business Centre in North Wales on Wednesday 23rd June at 4.30pm (finish approx 6.30pm). The subject of the talk is "Win From Within: Why Every Business Needs to Make the Most of What They've Already Got!". Covering topics such as employee engagement, customer loyalty, thinking differently and personal branding, this is a MUST for anyone interested in how to make the most of the existing (mainly human) resources that exist within your business. Garunteed to get you thinking differently, Win From Within will challenge traditional views of how to get the most from your business, and encourage delegates to redefine themselves and their view of their own contribution to the success of their company. Any questions email me at mail@wildfire-concepts.com.

Engaging Brands 1 - Guinness

Welcome to the first of our regular features on "The Arc" - A series of postings about engaging brands garunteed to get you thinking about why these classic products (and companies etc.) really do capture our hearts and minds. Somewhat predictably our first chosen brand comes from the drinks industry (that's my background!), and the brand is The Mighty Guinness! Awareness of this iconic brand, including its harp and toucan logos, is extremely impressive both in terms of sustained public interest and admiration, and in terms of its command of the Stout Market which it dominates - latest estimates (March 2010) place its market share at 96%. Brewed in Dublin (and in 49 other countries beyond Ireland) Guinness has all the charm, mystique and character of the Irish. Of course it completely 'owns' (in marketing terms) St. Patrick's Day in terms of its brand sponsorship platform, and is guaranteed to decorate every Irish bar on our planet. Available in over 150 countries, Guinness is a truly International brand with a loyalty and stature that people from any industry cannot help but admire. Drinkers in the pubs are proud to show it off and to drink it - the brand seems to say something about who you are if you drink it in public and that's one of the reasons why people love to drink it. When talking about brands, 'love' is an important word. There are few brands I am aware of that spark such deep-seated feelings of loyalty. Whatever it is about Guinness that turns people on - the fantastic TV advertisements, the association with rugby, the emphasis on Quality, the two-stage pour in the pubs - it is absolutely clear that 'the black stuff' is an iconic engaging brand. What do I think? Well, I can't drink Guinness because the taste doesn't agree with me. But what interests me personally is that I want to be able to drink it, and part of me wishes I did enjoy it! That is the power of the Guinness brand. What about you? What do you think?

Progress on Flexible Thinking Module

Things are progressing nicely with the development of a full 12-session Leadership Development Module focussing on Flexible Thinking, based on the outline of the subject discussed at the first Leading Edge Thinking seminar last month. i call it a 'module' since it can be delivered either via 3-day seminar, through 12 x 1 hour sessions, or a combination of the two. Although our plan was to get this module ready by the end of 2010 I would estimate that we will have most of the work completed by July/August. The contents of the individual sessions (and of each section of the seminar) are 90% agreed, there is only some work to be done on supporting information and tweeking the format. Once this module is complete it will form the backbone of Wildfire Concepts "Developing a Leadership Mindset" platform which the company plans to launch in 2011.

Leading Edge Thinking Seminar - Results!

Following on from yesterday's posting, I thought I'd share with you some of the fantastic comments and feedback we received following April's Leading Edge Thinking introductory seminar in Chester. Overall 80% of the delegates believed the seminar would definitely make a significant positive impact on their business! Two of the comments on the feedback sheets are particularly worth sharing: "Well structured, well researched content, delivered with enthusiasm." and "Excellent. Very informative. Would recommend anyone who wants to be successful in business to come to this seminar." I should have details of the next Leading Edge Thinking Seminar by the end of next week so keep checking this blog and our website!

First Seminar Exceeds Expectations

Wednesday the 21st of April was a BIG day for us at Wildfire Concepts - our first ever seminar introducing delegates to our ideas about how businesses can find unique and sustainable competitive advantage by focusing on intangible 'routes to success', especially through flexible thinking. The small but perfectly-sized group which attended the 1-day event in Chester included business owners and directors from all different industry sectors including bars and restaurants, travel agency, freelance coaching and consultancy and marketing. Neil (see "About Us" on our website) kicked off with a guided tour of key strategic principles and a taster for what was to come: thinking differently about business. Richard Grace - our Associate Consultant and self-styled serial entrepreneur - then spiced things up with a series of objects for delegtes to choose from for life on a deserted island and a series of anecdotes about the most important sources of differentiation for businesses today. The morning session closed with a look into Internal Business Resources and how companies need to match their choice of strategic options to their internal capabilities. After a great lunch in the St. David's Park Hotel restaurant, the afternoon discussion on Flexible Thinking got underway, stimulating arguably some of the most provocative and rewarding group conversations of the day. Neil finished off the day by summing up what individuals, working groups, and companies can do to improve the flexibility of their thinking. All in all it was an extremely encouraging first effort for the team at Wildfire and a follow-up seminar is now planned for mid-July (look out for details on our website!)

A Blog Is Born!

Finally after weeks of deliberating, the Wildfire Concepts Blog is now born. Or should I say, "alive!" Another landmark in the Wildfire journey - reaching out to the big wide world! If you've reached our blog by any other means than through our website then please visit www.wildfire-concepts.com and find out what we do and what we stand for. Most of the posts on this blog will be added by Neil David Martin unless otherwise stated. Thanks for following us...