Reading Martin Lindstrom’s excellent book, Small Data, I am reminded of an example of how simple consumer observation blended with clear understanding of a brand's values can change forever the trajectory of a brand. A few years ago I was leading the marketing for PowerBar Sports Nutrition. Endurance athletes are a very demanding consumer, but are prepared to pay premium prices to get “the edge” they need to perform. This translates into both equipment and sports nutrition.

As the ski season in Europe draws to a close, I take a moment to reflect on an organisation with which I have become familiar thanks to my children’s skiing competitions; L’Ecole du Ski Français, (The French Ski school) The ESF, as it is known, is a federation of French ski schools, with ski monitors in every ski resort in France. Some 17,000 ski monitors are registered and the organization is rightly proud of its very stringent tests to ensure the monitors offer their clien