I have been asked several times to expand on the idea of The Giant’s Shadow, which is the opening chapter of my book, Get Customers Every Day. Today, I want us to drill in. I want to unpack this concept not just as a chapter in a book, but as a fundamental shift in how you view your business and your marketing budget.
Let’s talk about the reality of why so many brilliant small businesses—businesses with great products and passionate owners—are burning through their limited cash and seeing zero return.
It’s because they are living, and marketing, in the Giant’s Shadow.
The Myth of the “Marble Foyer”
Let’s start with a story that puts everything into perspective. If you travelled back to 1886, to the dusty, chaotic goldfields of Johannesburg, and you were looking for Standard Bank, you wouldn’t find a skyscraper. You wouldn’t find a marble foyer or a glass-fronted office.
What you would find is a sun-bleached canvas tent.
The “counters” were wooden packing crates shipped from London. The floor was raw red earth. The only piece of technology was a small brass scale used to weigh gold dust. That was the “tent phase” of a giant.
The mistake most entrepreneurs make today is that they look at Standard Bank—or MTN, or FNB, or Coca-Cola—and they try to copy what those companies are doing now. They see the “marble foyer” version of the brand. They see the expensive TV ads, the massive billboards, and the vague “brand awareness” campaigns.
Then, they take their hard-earned money and they try to do a miniature version of that. They buy a radio spot that says, “We are the best in quality,” or they boost a Facebook post just to get “likes” because that’s what the “big brands” do.
That is performing marketing, not doing marketing. You are trying to act like a giant before you’ve done the work that makes a giant.
The Invisible Advantages
When I talk about this, I often ask: “Why do you think the giants are so successful?” Usually, people say “Better branding” or “More money.”
But there’s a deeper truth we often ignore. Many of the giants we see today didn’t just out-market their way to the top; they had structural, historical, and legal advantages that a small business simply does not have.
Take MTN. For nearly 20 years in this region, they enjoyed a legal monopoly. They didn’t have to “convince” you to join them; they were the only game in town. When you have no competition, your marketing doesn’t have to be efficient—it just has to exist.
Look at FNB. When they established themselves here, they didn’t start from zero. They inherited the infrastructure, the staff, and the customer trust of Barclays Bank. They stepped into a pre-built house.
Look at EswatiniMed. They grew because they had built-in access to large employer groups and government payrolls. Their customers were “captured” by the system, not won through scrappy marketing.
As a small business owner, you are starting in the “tent.” You don’t have a monopoly. You didn’t inherit a branch network. You have to fight for every single pair of eyes and every single cent. If you try to use “giant” tactics—which are often lazy and focused on ego—in a “small business” reality, you will lose every time.
The Problem with “Awareness”
When a giant like Coca-Cola puts up a billboard, they aren’t looking for you to pull over and buy a Coke immediately. They have billions of dollars to spend on “top-of-mind awareness.” They just want to make sure that the next time you are thirsty, your brain flashes red.
If you are a small business owner, you cannot afford “awareness.” Awareness doesn’t pay the rent. Awareness doesn’t cover payroll.
When you stand in the Giant’s Shadow, you start believing that “getting your name out there” is the goal. You spend money on a flyer that has your logo, your phone number, and a list of services, but no reason for the customer to act now. You are copying the giant’s luxury of being patient. But a small business in the tent phase doesn’t have the luxury of patience. It needs results today.
Marketing Like a “Scrappy” Giant
If you want to grow, don’t look at what the giants are doing today. Look at what they did when they were “scrappy.”
Before Capitec was a banking powerhouse, they were known as the “Bank in a Bag.” They didn’t have a massive TV budget. Instead, their consultants carried silver aluminum suitcases into factory canteens during lunch breaks to sign up workers. They parked a small car at taxi ranks at 5:00 AM to meet commuters where they were.
That is “tent phase” marketing. It is physical, it is aggressive, and it is personal.
Shoprite didn’t win the rural market with glossy brochures. They won it with megaphone trucks driving through villages and cheap newsprint flyers that focused on one thing: price. They understood that their customer didn’t care about “brand values”—they cared about the price of a 10kg bag of maize meal.
The Magnifying Glass vs. The Magic Wand
I want to challenge your view of marketing. Most people think marketing is a magic wand—that if you wave it (spend money), customers will magically appear.
It’s not. Marketing is a magnifying glass.
If your business has a weak foundation, or if you are trying to be something you aren’t, marketing just shows more people the flaws. It magnifies the cracks. When you stand in the Giant’s Shadow, you are trying to magnify a “brand” that doesn’t have a foundation yet.
Here is how you step out of the shadow:
- Stop “Announcing” and Start “Solving”: Giants can afford to just announce their existence. You have to solve a problem. Your marketing shouldn’t say “We are here,” it should say “I know you have this problem, and here is how I fix it.”
- Focus on Direct Response: Every cent you spend should be designed to get a reaction. If you put out a post, an ad, or a flyer, it must ask the customer to do something specific. Don’t ask for “awareness,” ask for an appointment, a lead, or a sale.
- Embrace Your Smallness: A giant bank cannot talk to you like a human. They have to use “corporate-speak” because of a thousand legal and branding rules. You can be personal. You can show your face. You can be the “tent” that people actually want to visit because it feels real and accessible.
Conclusion
The giants didn’t become giants by being “sophisticated.” They became giants because they were incredibly consistent at the basics during their “tent phase.” They didn’t have a shadow to hide in; they had to stand in the sun and do the hard work of finding one customer at a time.
If you are a small business owner, your goal is not to look like a big company. Your goal is to be a highly efficient, customer-acquiring machine.
Stop looking at the billboards. Stop worrying about “brand awareness.” Step out of the shadow. Look at your own “tent,” look at your scales, and start weighing the gold that is right in front of you. Don’t market for where you want to be in twenty years; market for the reality of where you are today.
Get access to the full chapter about the Giant’s shadow in my book free of charge – click here to download it now