The Referral Engine: Turning Customers into a Salesforce Tobias Dahlberg September 24, 2025 – 2 min read Share this post Marketing Marketing to the Average: The Customer You Designed For Does Not Exist In Brief: Nobody is average. And a brand built for the average customer is built for someone who does not exist — which is why it struggles to be the most relevant choice for anyone. The average person has one testicle. The line is crude but it makes the point faster By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read Marketing The Most Expensive Blind Spot in Business: Misunderstanding Your ICP Most companies believe they know their customers. But if you push a little deeper, the illusion starts to crack. Ask a leadership team to describe their ideal customer and you’ll usually hear something like: “mid-sized companies,” “urban professionals,” or “health-conscious consumers.” That’s not insight. That’s By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read Marketing If You Don't Understand Your Customers Better Than Your Competition, You Don't Deserve To Win. Let’s say the quiet part out loud. Most companies have a shockingly weak understanding of their ideal customers. Not vague. Not “room for improvement.” Weak. And I don’t mean they lack data. They often have plenty of data. What they lack is understanding. I see this constantly—across By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read Intelligence More research doesn’t always give you a clearer picture. Warning. The following article might put people who don't care much for research and market intelligence to sleep. Avoid reading while driving. But if brand growth is vital to your business, or you geek out on stuff like this (like me), read on. -- A business can know a By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read Intelligence Introducing Talk™ by Original Minds There’s someone missing from a lot of conversations between brand leaders, agencies and consultants. You know who. The customer. Ideas get tossed around. Strategies take shape. Assumptions become conclusions. Personal preferences develop impressive strategic justifications. Meanwhile, the person whose choice pays for all of this hasn’t said a By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read Journal 10 Lessons From 6,543 Days As A Strategist In late 2008, started my first company, a brand consultancy. That was six weeks after Lehman collapsed. I know, brilliant timing. Here are ten things I've learned about brand-led growth through both obsessive reading and practical application since then: 1. Differentiation isn't the game. Relevance By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read Marketing Marketing to the Average: The Customer You Designed For Does Not Exist In Brief: Nobody is average. And a brand built for the average customer is built for someone who does not exist — which is why it struggles to be the most relevant choice for anyone. The average person has one testicle. The line is crude but it makes the point faster By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read Attention grabbing. Different. Chosen? Strategy Most Brands Are Trying to Be Different. But Choice Takes Something Else. In Brief: In competitive markets, differentiation has become the default answer to a question it does not actually solve. The goal was never to be different. It was to be the most relevant choice — and that requires knowing, precisely, what your customers value and whether your proposition delivers it. Walk By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read Journal The Customer Is Allowed to Be Ignorant. You Are Not. "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Usually attributed to Churchill. Probably not his. Still quoted constantly, because it captures something people recognize. There's a version of it in business, and it isn't about customers. Customers aren& By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 min read
Marketing Marketing to the Average: The Customer You Designed For Does Not Exist In Brief: Nobody is average. And a brand built for the average customer is built for someone who does not exist — which is why it struggles to be the most relevant choice for anyone. The average person has one testicle. The line is crude but it makes the point faster By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read
Marketing The Most Expensive Blind Spot in Business: Misunderstanding Your ICP Most companies believe they know their customers. But if you push a little deeper, the illusion starts to crack. Ask a leadership team to describe their ideal customer and you’ll usually hear something like: “mid-sized companies,” “urban professionals,” or “health-conscious consumers.” That’s not insight. That’s By Tobias Dahlberg • 3 min read
Marketing If You Don't Understand Your Customers Better Than Your Competition, You Don't Deserve To Win. Let’s say the quiet part out loud. Most companies have a shockingly weak understanding of their ideal customers. Not vague. Not “room for improvement.” Weak. And I don’t mean they lack data. They often have plenty of data. What they lack is understanding. I see this constantly—across By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
Intelligence More research doesn’t always give you a clearer picture. Warning. The following article might put people who don't care much for research and market intelligence to sleep. Avoid reading while driving. But if brand growth is vital to your business, or you geek out on stuff like this (like me), read on. -- A business can know a By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
Intelligence Introducing Talk™ by Original Minds There’s someone missing from a lot of conversations between brand leaders, agencies and consultants. You know who. The customer. Ideas get tossed around. Strategies take shape. Assumptions become conclusions. Personal preferences develop impressive strategic justifications. Meanwhile, the person whose choice pays for all of this hasn’t said a By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Journal 10 Lessons From 6,543 Days As A Strategist In late 2008, started my first company, a brand consultancy. That was six weeks after Lehman collapsed. I know, brilliant timing. Here are ten things I've learned about brand-led growth through both obsessive reading and practical application since then: 1. Differentiation isn't the game. Relevance By Tobias Dahlberg • 2 min read
Marketing Marketing to the Average: The Customer You Designed For Does Not Exist In Brief: Nobody is average. And a brand built for the average customer is built for someone who does not exist — which is why it struggles to be the most relevant choice for anyone. The average person has one testicle. The line is crude but it makes the point faster By Tobias Dahlberg • 5 min read
Attention grabbing. Different. Chosen? Strategy Most Brands Are Trying to Be Different. But Choice Takes Something Else. In Brief: In competitive markets, differentiation has become the default answer to a question it does not actually solve. The goal was never to be different. It was to be the most relevant choice — and that requires knowing, precisely, what your customers value and whether your proposition delivers it. Walk By Tobias Dahlberg • 4 min read
Journal The Customer Is Allowed to Be Ignorant. You Are Not. "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Usually attributed to Churchill. Probably not his. Still quoted constantly, because it captures something people recognize. There's a version of it in business, and it isn't about customers. Customers aren& By Tobias Dahlberg • 1 min read
