Death of a Salesman, Starring Tiger Woods His brand didn't tank because he smashed his car on a residential street he'd driven hundreds of times before or even because there was something fishy about the whole incident; it changed because he stonewalled.
Posted Thu Dec 10, 2009
What CSI Can Teach Us About Shopper Behavior Great retailers know they must be in the rhythm of societal trends. We know how contemporary Apple stores, Abercrombie, Sephora's, and Coach stores feel. But I want to talk about plain old grocery shopping.
Like a CSI episode, where the evidence at first is invisible but then magically becomes apparent to the talented investigator throughout the crime scene, the forensic evidence about what people want from retail and what keeps them up at night is right there in their shopping cart.
Posted Wed Nov 18, 2009
Online Marketing Research: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times A little more than two years ago, just when online research had become a major source of data for marketers looking to keep their fingers on the pulse of consumers, Procter & Gamble’s marketing research leadership dropped a bomb.
Posted Thu Oct 8, 2009
The New Rules of Brand Competition
The old branding model is past its "sell by" date. It is a product-centered model that comes from packaged goods in the '70s and '80s; offer differentiated benefits that a particular consumer segment is thought to care about. "My peas are picked at the peak of sweetness"...that kind of thing. This model is breaking down as people try store brands and find they are "fit for purpose" at a better price. Now what?
Posted Fri Jun 19, 2009
What's Love Got to Do With It?
A reality check from Tina Turner for brand managers: most customer/brand relationships are marriages of convenience not finding a soul-mate. There are plenty of annulments, divorces, and lots of sleeping around.
Posted Fri Jun 19, 2009
The Need for Simplification Marketing There's a problem with the theory of the long-tail: people want choice, but they don't want too many choices.
Posted Thu Jun 18, 2009
Innovating Innovation: The Best Ideas Can Come From Anywhere
Traditionally, new product development has been a linear process. The "new product" team creates many alternative versions of the core idea, winnows them down in various stages of testing and re-development until a winner emerges and gets launched.
And then expect 4 out of 5 to fail.
Posted Wed Jun 17, 2009
Seven Predictions About the Future of Advertising
Let's start with what we know about media habits, structural changes in advertising practices, and advertising effectiveness.
Credit: Paul Carlon
Posted Tue Jun 16, 2009
