What JCPenney Took From Apple And Gap With JCPenney's recent transformation, it's clear the department store has taken some bright ideas from Apple, and learned a thing or two from mistakes by Gap.
Updated Fri Feb 3, 2012
Consumers Fight To "Save Thanksgiving" From Black Friday Madness Based on broad underlying shifts in consumer values regarding spending and consumption, we may have passed the moment of "peak Black Friday" as consumers look to adjust their values long term.
Updated Wed Nov 23, 2011
"Yes, And...": Stealing The Rules Of Improv To Design Great Customer Experiences Like improv, experience design is an action sport, best done by a committed and crazy band of folks who are purposefully creating the new. And like improv, experience design can be delightful for the creators and the audience when it’s done well. So get on your feet and get started on improving your brand’s experience.
Updated Mon Oct 24, 2011
5 Tips On Using Instagram To Delight Your Customers Some brands on Instagram use it the way brands used the Internet in 1999, as a way of "digitalizing" their marketing materials. That old-school approach is no more interesting than listening to a person at a party yammer on and on about themselves and their job. Here's how to sexify your Instagram page and help customers connect with your brand.
Updated Wed Oct 12, 2011
How The Zagat Acquisition Could Help Google Be More Human Google's recent acquisition of Zagat shows the search giant is recognizing that there is more information than can be assimilated into their algorithm--information that is created, shared and appreciated by humans, not machines.
Updated Fri Sep 23, 2011
Sustainability That Lasts One of the conflicts yet to be resolved in the market today is the fact that selling more items means a greater carbon footprint, despite all efforts to the contrary. Making something last longer (thus using it longer) is often the best way to reduce your personal carbon footprint.
Updated Fri Apr 8, 2011
Walking the Walk I grew up on a farm. Farmers are increasingly rare--for some consumers, almost a mythical being. These days, my interactions with farmers consists primarily of my local farmers market. But it's as true in San Francisco as it is in the small town where I was raised: the best way to get to know someone is to talk with them. Face to face. One on one.
Updated Tue Mar 22, 2011
"Look, here's the deal..." Branding is changing. Slick marketing is out. Transparency is in. But many brand marketers are paralyzed, not sure exactly how to square the discrepancy between traditional marketing and radical transparency. I had an experience last week that gave me insight into an approach.
Updated Fri Feb 25, 2011
Groupon's Missed Opportunity By now, I'm sure you've seen the controversy regarding Groupon's Super Bowl commercials, even if you haven't seen the commercials themselves. They lost their one chance to make a first impression with much of the world through their high profile ad spot.
Updated Wed Feb 9, 2011
Deficit Brand Building We all know water is a valuable and critical resource for life. And although we may think the world is 90% water, less than 3% of the water on earth is fresh water. Less than 1% is drinkable (the rest is locked up in ice, for now.) Over the last couple of years in the sustainability community concern over water has been growing.
Updated Tue Feb 1, 2011
2011: The Rise of the Electric Car The electric cars are here! The electric cars are here! Although I predicted it as a sustainability trend for 2010, it seems like 2011 will definitely be the year that consumers get options when it comes to electric vehicles. The first month of 2011 has already seen several announcements regarding greener cars.
Updated Thu Jan 13, 2011
How Nike Is Helping the Competition This month Nike announced that they're releasing their Environmental Apparel Design Tool to the world. Developed over 7 years, Nike claims this tool has helped them double the use of recycled polyester last year, diverting 82 million plastic bottles from landfills near you.
Updated Tue Dec 28, 2010
Trends in Sustainability As we continue to emerge from the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, what can we expect to see in 2011?
Updated Tue Dec 14, 2010
Why "All Natural" Is Bad Recently, the Ben & Jerry's brand announced that it had decided to take the phrase "All Natural" off some of their ice cream and frozen yogurt packages.
Tue Oct 5, 2010
Revisiting Melville's "Moby Dick" in 2010: A Cautionary Tale for Yesterday and Today I've spent the last week reading Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." And like all great literature, what you see in it reflects who you are when you read it: it wasn't hard for me to see a cautionary tale about sustainability.
Tue Jul 20, 2010
The Future: The Continued Growth of Green After looking back on the 50 years of "green marketing", Landor Associates' Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyers, will outline what the future holds through trends in sustainability.
Sat May 15, 2010
A History of Green Brands: 2000's Thousands of Flowers Bloom This decade was a tipping point for the sustainability movement and this piece, written by Landor Associates' Russ Meyers, looks at the promotion and expansion of green brands.
Fri May 14, 2010
A History of Green Brands: 1990's In this post, Landor Associate's Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyer's outlines the problems with waste, the need to recycle and early signs of global warming.
Thu May 13, 2010
A History of Green Brands: 1980’s – Green Shoots Appear Written by Landor Associates' Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyers looks at the growing consumer awareness, their influence on brands and the emergence of green products.
Thu May 13, 2010
A History of Green Brands 1960s and 1970s – Doing the Groundwork Written by Landor Associates' Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyer, this series explores the evolution of the sustainability movement through the eyes of a marketer interested in the growth of green brands
Wed May 12, 2010
