Expert Interview: Don't Buy a Duck–5 Crisis Points of Marketing

Derek Champagne

Derek Champagne is the founder & CEO of The Artist Evolution, a full-service agency building successful brands, marketing tools, and campaigns. He is also the author of the bestselling book “Don’t Buy A Duck,” endorsed by Seth Godin, and co-founder of champagnemarketingcourses.com. Derek is also a published musician with music contributions on soundtracks on shows on ABC, MTV, E! channel, Bravo, and Oxygen network.

Don't Buy a Duck–Five Crisis Points of Marketing

Derek’s duck story illustrates his buyer’s remorse when, as an eight-year-old, his patient mom gave into his impulse to buy something he did not need. Quackers lived a long, happy life—at someone else’s home—and taught Derek lessons that save his clients money on their media and marketing plans. He shares what he has learned in his book, with his full-service agency’s clients and now on this podcast.

Why Is This Important?

“In the past decade I reviewed more than 1,000 brand audits and have had the opportunity to see five commonalities. In startups and even in household brands, we kept finding five things that happen. Any one of them can lead to bad business decisions like ‘buying a duck.’ When we solve these five marketing crisis points, we see meaningful traction and growth. The good news is, these are easy to fix. They just take commitment, dedication and consistency.”

What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?

The first question to ask yourself, in life and in business, is, “Who am I?” Many companies suffer from an identity crisis when they fail to ask this fundamental question. Next comes learning who your customers are, not just superficially. Derek lays out key lessons tied to choosing the right tools, striking a balance between aggressively pursuing goals and being realistic. And, vital to success is having a written plan and executing it consistently, without fail.