May 6, 2008
Tapping into Great Ideas Right Under Your Nose
Business Week is running a series of what you might call “self-help articles for businesses.” Before you yawn and think it’s the same old, same old, you might want to check this out. In an April 28th article titled: Finding Your Company’s Great Thinkers, I was pleasantly surprised by the content. I think you might be, too.
April 29, 2008
Signing Braille onto Packaging
A short, interesting article piqued my interest in Packaging World recently. The article: “Braille ‘signed’ on sleeved bottles” simply discloses how Italian milk producer Milk Depot, based in Brescia, Italy, has added expiration dates on its packaging in Braille. While this may not seem like much to some, the addition of Braille for the visually impaired, is a big deal. It also represents a real innovation in consumer product packaging.
April 24, 2008
Capturing Teens
It seems that department store retailers, faced with sagging sales and a slumping economy, have made what appears to be a logical decision: Re-brand and reposition teen apparel to capture that market.
April 22, 2008
Consumers in Chrysler’s Boardroom?
The automotive industry’s first Customer Advisory Board (CAB) has arrived. Thanks to Palo Alto, California-based Passenger, a technology company, which created the platform for Chrysler’s CAB virtual forum. Goal: to invite 2000 consumers as well as Chrysler vehicle owners via a new consumer web site, which is being promoted via a Chrysler advertising campaign, according to a new article in Media Post.
April 15, 2008
Star Brands Aligning at Macy’s?
An interesting article appeared in Advertising Age in mid-March. Headline: “Macy’s Sticks With Celeb-Filled Ads.” Sub-head: “CMO Says Campaign Has Raised Awareness of Brands Retailer Stocks.” A mouthful, isn’t it? What it all boils down to is that Macy’s CMO, Peter Sachse, is excited about his latest advertising campaign, citing it as “a powerful tool for raising awareness about brands the retailer stocks.”
April 10, 2008
This Little Piggly Went to Market
According to an article in The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg, South Carolina, local grocery chain Piggly Wiggly might be on to something revolutionary and important in the supermarket business. This month, the retailer will unveil this country’s first "completely restructured grocery store model designed to fit how people intuitively shop."
April 3, 2008
Marketing Mind Meld, Part 2
Apparently, for quite a while now, some marketers have hosted focus groups using hypnosis as their tool. The wraps are off in a recent Brandweek article "Hypnosis Brings Groups into Focus.” I find it interesting that the article refers to hypnosis as a “secret weapon” for Fortune 500 companies and ad agencies.
March 25, 2008
Customer Service: Losing Its Touch?
A terrific article was published in a recent issue of CRM Daily magazine. In “Poor Customer Service Paralyzing U.S. Companies,” customer service consultant Bobbi Paine stated, “Businesses are losing business they can’t afford to lose. . .as a result, poor customer service is paralyzing American companies.”The findings of a 2007 Harris Poll reported a full 80% of respondents indicated they would never do business with a company with which they have experienced a negative customer service experience. . .that number up from 68% the year before!
March 17, 2008
Failing to Make an Impression?
Apparently marketers aren’t cutting it, according to a recent study. Marketers aren’t making a mark with consumers when they launch new products. An intriguing article in MediaPost on March 6th, New Product Messages Aren’t Making Intended Impressions points to data collected by Information Resources, Inc, New Products magazine, comScore and Schneider Associates.
March 11, 2008
Earth-Wise Packaging Choices?
“Research from The Nielsen Co. here shows that more than half of U.S. consumers would give up all forms of convenience packaging if doing so would benefit the environment,” according to a new article in Progressive Grocer. Nielsen’s PanelViews study surveyed 65,000 U.S. households.
March 4, 2008
Caffeinated Candy: What’s Next?
An interesting article dubbed “Stimulus Plan for Candy: Pack It Full of Caffeine” appeared in the February 13th edition of the Wall Street Journal. WSJ writer Katy McLaughlin begins by stating: “The candy industry is rolling out new sweets packed with more than just sugar. Buzz-inducing candy, spiked with caffeine and, often, vitamins, are the low-growth, $29 billion U.S. candy, gum and chocolate industry’s answer to surging competition from energy drinks. And just like those beverages, the caffeine-infused candy often sports a controversial name that critics say evokes illegal drugs.”
February 27, 2008
The Marketing Mind Meld?
If it sounds a little like something out of Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, it is. New technology has been developed in Berkeley, California known as NeuroFocus. According to an interesting article on Reed Business’s Multichannel News site, NeuroFocus is “Leveraging marketing, engineering and neuroscience expertise from the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the company measures—on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis—attention, engagement and memory retention”. Hmmm. . .sounds like the old Vulcan mind meld, doesn’t it?
February 21, 2008
Clorox Going Green?
According to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Clorox is introducing a green cleaning product line. Wow! Move over Clorox bleach and sibling brand, Liquid-Plumr. The Oakland-based Clorox company is obviously betting that its new Green Works line will have traction and compete with the likes of Seventh Generation, Method, Ecover and Simple Green. This is a real departure for a company that generates $4.8 billion dollars in sales on chemical products. And, hopefully, a sign of things to come.
February 12, 2008
Coke Jumps Into the Tea Business
Coca-Cola execs obviously know a good deal when they see one. Looking to expand its beverage brand portfolio due to flagging soft drink sales, Coke has acquired a 40% share of Honest Tea, according to a recent Brandweek article.
February 7, 2008
Just Say 'No' to Tobacco
A short recent article in Progressive Grocer magazine reported that an upscale, independent grocery chain in California with eight stores, Andronico’s, has announced it will cease selling tobacco products this week. Wegman’s is another independently owned supermarket chain that has likewise committed to removing tobacco products from its stores.
January 31, 2008
'Locavore' and More: The Buzz Around New Buzzwords
Apparently, being a “locavore” not only spotlights one of the biggest food trends in years. It’s not only the reigning buzzword in the food biz—it’s also been named “Word of the Year” for 2008 by the New Oxford American Dictionary. How about those apples? What is a locavore?
January 25, 2008
P&G Cleaning Up
It’s no secret that P&G is an ambitious company that sets ambitious goals for itself and a plan for achieving them. CEO A.G. Lafley has notified Wall Street that he is targeting annual corporate revenue growth between 4 and 6% each year, and is aiming to make P&G a $100 billion dollar company by 2010. No small feat for such a mature company.
January 16, 2008
A Heavy Attraction to Metal
A recent Brandweek article dealt with a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: a new trend in packaging. A very cool new trend in packaging for beverages. Aluminum bottles—not cans—bottles. And I’m not talking about small niche players, either.
January 14, 2008
Retailing 'Lifestyle' v. Food
The Safeway supermarket chain, headquartered in Pleasanton, California, has had its share of challenges in the mid-Atlantic region of the country. In a short, interesting Washington Post article, dubbed “The Lifestyles of the Prawns and Pistachios, comes a very tantalizing tidbit -- one that points to the future of food retailing here in the US.
January 4, 2008
CPG Web Sites Reign!
A recent Advertising Age article made me sit up and take notice. The article opens in this manner: “What’s the hottest category in digital marketing? Package goods. Yes, you read that right. Staid old supermarket staples, once scoffed at as laggards in digital media, are charging online at an unprecedented pace—and their efforts are being rewarded: Traffic to industry websites in the past year has grown twice as fast as the U.S. internet population.”
December 20, 2007
Designing the Customer Experience
“Looking at design as part of the total customer experience is critical.” -- Claudia Kotchka, VP Design Innovation & Strategy, P&G
As the president of a design firm, who wholeheartedly agrees that product and package design play a vital role in creating customer experiences, a recent article in ADWEEK really hit the mark.
December 11, 2007
Gourmet To Go?
What better testing ground for new concept gourmet mini-supermarkets than Southern California? That’s what British supermarket giant Tesco thought, too. Fortune Magazine reporters Matthew Boyle and Michael V. Copeland recently wrote about this new phenomenon in an article that appeared on CNNMoney.
December 3, 2007
P&G Is Going Green
According to a Financial Times article, P&G sets ‘greener’ products targets, “Procter & Gamble has set itself a target for environmentally targeted products, marking what senior executives describe as a major evolution in the corporate philosophy of the world’s largest consumer products company.”
November 15, 2007
Starting a Food Fight
Starting a Food Fight is the newest game site for foodies on the Internet, thanks to General Mills. What’s neat about it is that while participating in a virtual food fight, consumers can also download dozens of simple, healthy recipes to make at home.
November 6, 2007
'Blogging Is Intellectual Prototyping'
"Blogging is intellectual prototyping."
--Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
How’s that for a quote? From a very influential thinker in a very good B-school yet. This appeared in Business Week’s Innovation section, on Bruce Nussbaum’s design blog on October 10th.
October 30, 2007
Disney Garden: “Eat Your Fruits & Veggies.”
According to a CNNMoney.com/Associated Press story that ran on October 12th, Disney has followed up on its pledge to the Federal Trade Commission this past July to do its part to address the child obesity problem with a responsible marketing program.
October 23, 2007
Don't Squeeze The What?
As fellow Daily Fix contributor Lewis Green recently pointed out in his post, What Happened to Storytelling and Anticipation in Advertising, “I'm not an advertising expert by any means but I know a little about marketing, and marketing is at its best when it features storytelling and anticipation that equals surprise.”
October 16, 2007
Advertising? Forget It. Word of Mouth Reigns!
Nielsen marketing researchers conducted a global survey recently to find out which of the advertising platforms in use today, including new media technologies, are most trusted by consumers. Since marketers have increasingly powerful tools they can utilize to reach the consumer, why not get a reading on how they are performing? Even more importantly, why not measure consumer trust in various forms of advertising media?
October 11, 2007
Frito-Lay: Altruistic, or Caving to Pressure?
Healthy junk food for the masses... what a concept! Frito-Lay has decided to launch healthier snacks, either because it’s the right thing to do as the general populace packs on the pounds, or because of pressure.
October 5, 2007
Ring Bros. Experiment in Grassroots Green Marketing
An interesting article caught my eye in the September issue of Progressive Grocer. The article titled, EXCLUSIVE: Ring Bros. In-store Experiment to Turn Waste Into Power, struck a familiar chord with me as a marketer.
September 25, 2007
The Latest Miracle on Ice
The story created a media frenzy in mid-August. In Barrow, Alaska, of all places. Up on the Arctic Circle, on the Arctic Ocean. NBC and ABC were there. So was ESPN. The media was covering the Barrow Whalers football team come from two touchdown scores behind to beat out a rival Seward Alaska team in the final three minutes of the game. Final score Barrow, 18 - Seward, 16.
September 19, 2007
How to Avoid Brand Hijack
Finally! A terrific Business Week highlighted a potentially devastating problem in one of its recent articles, dubbed Feeling Trashed on the Web? recently, and I just had to comment on it.
September 12, 2007
Filling the Soda Void: Merchandising Water and Milk
So how do parents and schools replace sugar-laden drinks with plain old H2O and milk as exciting, viable options? Maybe all it takes is a change in marketing and packaging.
August 30, 2007
The Big Brand Sell-Off
Whoever heard of multinational consumer product companies divesting themselves of category leading brands? Rumors have been flying for some time in business circles about CPG giants Kraft and P&G doing just that. In a recent Advertising Age article, Billion-Buck Brands on the Block, it seems this is more than just talk.
August 21, 2007
Marketing a Green Business
The increasing impetus to green up corporate modus operandi has companies scrambling to find ways large and small to protect the environment—and to position their businesses to connect with like-minded customers. Let’s face it: it makes good business sense to do this, and it’s the right thing to do.
August 15, 2007
Dell: Moving Past Sales to Building Relationships
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Dell has lost significant PC market share to Hewlett-Packard over the past few quarters, so according to industry analysts, Dell has wisely decided to focus on small business users—one of the company’s strengths.
July 31, 2007
Ridemakerz: Build-a-Bear with 'Enginuity'
As a design consultant with deep roots in the toy and entertainment biz, I’m always interested in studying new business launches by industry wunderkinds. Ridemakerz—a new toy retail and entertainment concept all in one enables boys to build do-it-yourself, customized model cars—is one of those businesses that are well worth studying.
July 26, 2007
Coffee Wars Brewing
Consumers and investors alike know the power of the humble little coffee bean. Coffee has always been a popular beverage choice in this country, and the demand for premium and specialty coffees has spurred tremendous volume growth in the past two decades. No business capitalized on the hot coffee trend more effectively than Starbucks.
July 18, 2007
The Latest Marketing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry: Spas
That’s right: spas. Hotels -- from branded, global chains catering to business class or high end, jet-setting travelers -- have (or are building) spas. Ditto for boutique establishments and casino hotels that cater to guests seeking luxurious amenities. In fact, hotels of every stripe are hopping on this new trend. Note, we said trend. Not fad.
July 10, 2007
Selling Technology to Baby Boomers & Seniors
Business Week’s online Innovation section reported on a new cell phone designed and marketed to the 100+ million baby boomers and seniors in this country. A Cell Phone for Baby Boomers is a great case study and clearly demonstrates what business can do to capture the technophobic segment of our society by completely rethinking a basic item: the cell phone.
June 27, 2007
Liddle Explores a New Market for Plastic Waste
Briton Richard Liddle is taking on the huge problem of plastic waste in his country, and the impact of his efforts is creating a ripple effect --not only in Britain, but around the world. In a terrific Business Week article entitled Richard Liddle’s War on Plastic, the sustainable designer explains how plastic can be turned into a fully recyclable material.
June 20, 2007
The New Design Culture at P&G
A noteworthy article appeared in the June issue of Shelf Impact, an influential online e-zine. The article, P&G Exec: Design’s strategic value is vital to innovation, features excerpts from a keynote speech given by Claudia Kotchka, Procter & Gamble’s Vice President of Design Innovation & Strategy at the Fuse’s Brand Identity & Package Design conference this past April in New York. Having attended this conference, and recalling the value this presentation has for business and design, I thought this issue worth discussing....
June 12, 2007
Marketing to Employees: Hearing a 'McCalling'
A recent McDonald’s ad caught the eye of Business Week writers recently. “It’s Not a McJob, It’s a McCalling” caught my eye since internal branding and team building are ever hot topics these days.
June 6, 2007
No Snack or Bathroom Breaks: Keeping TV Viewers in Their Seats
The New York Times ran a great story recently, titled Marketers Struggle to Get Folks to Stay Put for the Commercials. Apparently, the major TV networks are experimenting with ways to keep the viewing public in their seats, rather than dashing off during the commercials to head for the fridge or the bathroom....or even worse: clicking to other TV channels... .
May 31, 2007
Intellectual Piracy: Not a Mickey Mouse Operation
Every major brand is grappling with the issue of intellectual piracy. While infringements on property rights are a problem around the globe, the Chinese are especially guilty of rampantly "borrowing" ideas or adapting successful product and entertainment ideas, making them their own without much concern.
May 23, 2007
Brands Must Have an Online Presence
Just in: An interesting short article from Brandweek, citing a study conducted by WPP’s GroupM—a consultancy that offers advertising and marketing services worldwide. GroupM reported that, for the first time, the company will place more than $2 billion in online advertising for its clients around the globe in 2007.
May 16, 2007
The Wegman’s Way
Wegman’s, the privately held, Rochester, New York-based supermarket chain has always been the envy of most food retailers. A highly successful operation, the Wegman family has been approached countless times to sell out to larger chains. They have steadfastly refused, preferring to operate their 70 store chain, mostly in New York, but in additional locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland.
May 9, 2007
Xerox: Walking the Walk with 'Customer-Led Innovation'
Who doesn’t hate it when the office copier goes down? Everybody scurries away from it, yelling for the closest administrative assistant’s help as they go. After all, who on earth knows how to fix these things? And who has time to figure it out?
May 3, 2007
There’s Something About Harry
Harry Potter, boy wizard. Cultural phenom. This generation’s Boy Wonder. The seventh and final installment about Harry’s last year at Hogwart’s—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—goes to press on July 21st of this year. Author J.K. Rowling made the announcement recently, but remained tight-lipped about any of the particulars.
April 25, 2007
GE Wins 'Most Admired' Billing
Sunday, April 22nd was Earth Day. Time for companies to take stock of what can be done and to applaud what’s already being done Earth-wise...
April 19, 2007
Not Your Granddaddy's Cadillac
Let’s face it: American car manufacturers are in a major funk, and have been for some time. Cadillac, though, has been a bright spot. Talk about an iconic American brand that had been dying a slow, dignified death for the past few decades... only to make a dramatic U-turn at the dawn of the new millennium! Wow!
April 13, 2007
Green in Chicago
A new idea has taken root in Chicago—bully for that city! According to Business Week, Chicago’s Green Exchange will be the first shopping center in the U.S. for environmentally responsible and socially conscious businesses." What a great idea!
April 3, 2007
Store Brands Give National Brands a Run for the Money
If you missed it: there was an excellent article in the March 20th MarketingProfs newsletter dubbed Premium Store Brands: The Hottest Trend in Retailing. The authors, Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, hit the nail on the head in this article: retailers have developed, branded and positioned private label brands so effectively, that this has become a primary tool in their efforts to differentiate themselves from stiff retail competition.
March 28, 2007
Mr. Mackey Goes to London
An interesting story in the Houston Chronicle says that Austin-based Whole Foods Market will be opening a spanking new store smack-dab in the middle of London this coming June. Does anybody out there doubt that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has any plans for global expansion yet?
March 22, 2007
A Drink to Your Health, Beauty, or Both?
What will they think of next? According to Brandweek, Coke and French cosmetics giant L’Oreal will be launching a “skin friendly” tea in 2008.
March 15, 2007
Busy As A Bee
A recent online Business Week interview with Roxanne Quimby, the former owner and president of Burt’s Bees, got my attention recently.
March 6, 2007
Where the Customer Really Is King
Someone has finally come along and done it. It took years, but Business Week has stepped up to the plate with its first-ever ranking of 25 client-pleasing brands.
March 2, 2007
The Over-Use of 'Innovation'
Business Week writer Reena Jana published a great article recently. “The Innovation Backlash” is a must-read for business executives and marketers everywhere.
February 28, 2007
Putting the Kick Back Into Starbucks
Hot off the presses, blog site Starbucks Gossip has published a link to Monday's Wall Street Journal article just published on February 26th. The WSJ article, "Starbucks Stirred to Refocus on Coffee," centers on a memo that Chairman Howard Schultz sent to executives company-wide on February 14th.
February 22, 2007
What Whirlpool Knows: The ROI of Good Design
I read a great article in a recent issue of Fast Company, titled No Accounting for Design? that I urge all marketers to read. The article profiles Whirlpool’s highly-regarded, much-talked-about, resident design expert, Chuck Jones, and his topic du jour: how consumer product companies can gauge the financial return (ROI) that an investment in great design brings to their bottom lines.
February 13, 2007
Coffee Wars Heating Up
Coffee drinkers are pretty passionate about their favorite brews. As freelance NYC writer Carol Vinzant recently wrote in an article: “After Starbucks proved that Americans were willing to spend more for a better—or at least fancier—cup of coffee, everyone wanted in on what is now an $8.4 billion retail coffee market. Dunkin’ Donuts showed that there was room for a high-quality cup of Joe from a place that is not so high falutin’. The rest of the fast food industry quickly piled on....”
February 8, 2007
Of Art & Marketing: Boston's Newest Museum
The Boston Globe recently heralded the unveiling of the city’s spanking new $51 million Institute of Contemporary Art. The grand opening on Sunday, December 10th, lured 5,000 people to get a close-up look—gratis on opening day—at the much-anticipated museum, its collections and great public spaces. Reading about it makes me reflect on the value of thoughtful public design....
February 1, 2007
From Windows to Vistas
Microsoft’s new wunderkind has made its long-awaited appearance. Bill Gates unveiled his company’s new Vista operating system in a three-hour performance worthy of Apple’s Steve Jobs. Five years and millions of dollars worth of development have finally come to fruition. The question is: how will it be received by an audience already made skeptical by a mixed bag of early reviews...?
January 30, 2007
Nickeled & Dimed
Recently, computer-generated TV ads have hit the airwaves depicting a baffled consumer wading through multiple pages of her monthly invoice from her financial services firm, questioning a number of fictitious-sounding fees. Ms. Consumer then whips her glasses off and gives her incredulous take on this....
January 25, 2007
Going Berry, Berry Strong
The Ocean Spray cooperative has been the subject of business school case studies in the recent past -- with good reason. Called a “paragon of manufacturing efficiency” by The Economist a while back, Ocean Spray could also be called a “model of marketing know-how...."
January 18, 2007
Season Six: The American Idol Juggernaut Steams Ahead
Just when I thought American Idol's last season might be the beginning of the end, the show surprised with its biggest, strongest debut ever this past week. Last season, American Idol failed to give us anything inventive or new in the way it selects its potential new Idol—deadly in the entertainment business—but still: it thrives....
January 12, 2007
Apple's iPhone: Boon or Bust?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs obviously has high hopes for the company’s new iPhone. When he unveiled the new wunderkind at the Macworld Conference and Expo, he stated: “Your life in your pocket. . .It’s the ultimate digital device....”
January 10, 2007
A Whole New Kind of Supermarket
Scuttlebutt has it that Whole Foods opened its latest supermarket just before the holidays in North Dallas with a full-service spa—so customers can get off the merry-go-round for a brief respite in the midst of their busy days....
January 5, 2007
Red's Take: "You Deal with People"
Inevitably, with the beginning of a new year, we all stop and reflect back on the year, the people and the events that have also passed. One of the great architects of the NBA—Arnold “Red” Auerbach, died on October 28, 2006. He was 89 years old, and he had spent 56 of those years with the Boston Celtics....
December 14, 2006
Cultural Anthropology In Marketing
Cultural Anthropology as a marketing tool is an idea whose time has come. In the past, only a few major consumer product companies (read: Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, Volvo, among others) tinkered with anthropological research into consumer behavior. Now, more and more companies are adopting this to drive the design and development of new consumer products....
December 7, 2006
Paperless Marketing?
The Internet and shifts in consumer spending to e-commerce were supposed to do it. Printing and mailing costs were supposed to do it. Consumer complaints were supposed to do it. All of these things were supposed to be the death knell of the most venerable of direct marketing vehicles: the catalog....
November 29, 2006
Martha Stewart: The Brand
Martha Stewart. The name conjures up images of a very unique brand....
November 14, 2006
America's Top Coffee Seller?
Which chain is America’s number one coffee seller in total cups sold? If you said “Starbucks”, you were wrong....
November 8, 2006
'Road Tasted': Something to Sink Your Teeth Into
The Food Network debuted a new show this past summer. Billed as light fare, “Road Tasted" features the brothers Deen—Jamie and Bobby, sons of the personable, well-liked Paula Deen—on their culinary adventures as they criss-crossed the country in search of local food specialties created by small business entrepreneurs....
November 1, 2006
Branding: The Commodity Conundrum
My favorite section of Business Week magazine, Innovation, published a provocative article on October 10th. Is Your Brand Headed for Extinction? was written by the self-described girls of 3iYing, a marketing and design strategy firm that specializes in marketing to girls ages 15 to 25....
October 24, 2006
JOINRED.COM: Marketing At Its Best
Kudos to rocker Bono and Bobby Shriver, son of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, for conceiving Product RED, “...a global initiative whose primary objective is to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS in Africa by chanelling funds from the sale of (RED) products to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria"....
October 18, 2006
Business Week: Upward & Mobile
Business Week magazine has launched a portable electronic version of its content called Business Week Mobile Edition, according to a short and sweet news flash on B to B magazine’s online site on September 25th....
October 10, 2006
So Simple...Even a Toddler Can Use It
Once in a while, the international press picks up a story that tickles the funny bone...!
October 3, 2006
Why Shouldn't We Have More Elmos?
The wraps are off Fisher-Price's latest incarnation of Sesame Street’s superstar with the preschool set: Elmo....
September 26, 2006
Chocolate Phone: Sweet Spot or Sour Taste?
Verizon Wireless and LG Wireless’s much-anticipated new chocolate phone was recently unveiled to lots of oohs and aahs....
September 20, 2006
Branson’s Mission
Fast Company has published a short, but very insightful, piece with Richard Branson in the magazine’s September issue....
September 14, 2006
Are You Ready for Some Football?
The NFL has successfully extended its popular brand into a way of life with TV, sports radio and satellite radio coverage, a super-interactive Web site, its own cable network and plenty of licensed merchandising....
September 12, 2006
Auf Wiedersehen, Dr. Z! (At Least for Now)
On August 31st, I posted a blog entry here titled: “Ask Dr. Z"....
September 6, 2006
Building Brands: The Mind or the Heart?
In marketing circles, we focus on brand-building by effectively reaching customers, and getting their endorsement....
August 31, 2006
Ask Dr. Z
Watching Daimler Chrysler’s new ad campaign unfold, has been quite interesting. It will be even more interesting to see whether this latest marketing concept works....
August 23, 2006
The Best Global Brands 2006
The hotly anticipated report (in marketing quarters) of the top 100 global brands has been recently released by Interbrand and Business Week magazine....
August 15, 2006
Wining and Dining the Brand
Just read an interesting article in the July 23rd issue of the International Herald Tribune titled: France driven to (gasp) market wine, and I think it merits comment....
August 2, 2006
Building Corporate Brand Value from the Inside Out (Redux)
Due to the interest I’ve gotten on a recent blog entry which was a commentary on a business article I had read on employee value, and the discussion it sparked, I thought it might be a good idea to do more than comment on someone else’s opinions on the topic....
July 26, 2006
Taking the Initiative in Design Innovation
Now I know this has nothing to do with marketing, PR or blogging....
July 21, 2006
Building Brand Value...from the Inside Out
Just read an interesting article in Strategy + Business magazine. Rethinking the Value of Talent by the Chairman and CEO of Manpower, Inc. (and a former senior VP of Strategy of the same company) makes some interesting points....
July 12, 2006
Thinking Green
Everything in our society is packaged. As the president of a design consultancy that specializes in packaging, I have to say that I’m as concerned as every responsible citizen is about sustainability issues....
July 5, 2006
DIY As Big Business
No doubt about it. DIY is big business. Just take a look at the phenomenal growth of retail behemoth The Home Depot....
June 26, 2006
A Brave New Buzz
I recently got back from the Kid Power conference in Orlando where I chaired two tracks: the “TV, Internet, Mobile & Beyond” track and “Promotions” track, respectively....
June 20, 2006
Making Connections
Business Week's inaugural issue of “Inside Innovation,” a quarterly magazine within the magazine, just launched on June 19th. The new magazine’s lead story heralds “Innovation Champions”...
June 15, 2006
Talking Brands & Building Buzz
Interesting snippet in the June 5th issue of Business Week's “Up Front” section: a marketing research firm, Keller Fay Group, conducts research online that shows that, on average, Americans bring up specific brands 56 times per week...
June 7, 2006
“Cars” Rule
No doubt about it: America has had a love affair with cars since Henry Ford’s first Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908....
“Cars” Rule
No doubt about it: America has had a love affair with cars since Henry Ford’s first Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908....
June 2, 2006
New Soft Sell at P&G
In a recent Business Week article, “Detergent Can Be So Much More,” the author points out that Consumer Packaged Goods giant Procter & Gamble has taken an entirely new tack...
May 30, 2006
Left Brain—Right Brain?
Just skimmed the brochure from one of the most prestigious conferences I know of: “Leaders in London”...
May 25, 2006
“The Brand Show” Experience
I recently was invited to make a guest appearance on a Kansas City radio station’s (1510 AM) talk program...
May 17, 2006
American Idol: Flash in a Pan or Enduring Brand?
Wow. We’re already into the fifth season of American Idol, and the show is hotter than ever....
May 10, 2006
Spiffing Up Tarnished Pro Sports Brands
Arguably, professional sports account for a tremendous percentage of Americans’ time and spending on entertainment....
May 3, 2006
Supermarket As Theater?
I have to admit: I’m fascinated by what’s going on lately in the supermarket industry....
Supermarket As Theater?
I have to admit: I’m fascinated by what’s going on lately in the supermarket industry....
April 27, 2006
Too Many Web Sites Miss the Point
I wonder how many business principals out there ever take a good look at their Web sites. Not many, I’ll bet....
Too Many Web Sites Miss the Point
I wonder how many business principals out there ever take a good look at their Web sites. Not many, I’ll bet....
April 19, 2006
Innovation, Creativity, Design: What It All Means to Business
This is getting exciting....
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