You might presume from the title of this post that I’m opposed to Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran. But that isn’t actually the case. I’m just confused. Why would Southwest do this? I don’t follow the logic. I can easily identify reasons why this deal isn’t a good one for Southwest. Southwest has a very distinctive and […]
Yesterday Starbucks announced that it was increasing prices. You can read an article about it here: https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703860104575508292633972562.html?mod=crnews The announcement isn’t a surprise. The price of green Arabica coffee has risen dramatically this year; it is now close to a 13 year peak. With that sort of increase in cost, Starbucks had to do something to maintain profits. […]
Nokia continues to clean house. On Monday Nokia announced that the head of its smartphone division was leaving. This follows a change in CEOs. Rumors are that Nokia’s chairman, Jorma Ollila, will leave later this year. These moves seem very appropriate given Nokia’s stunning collapse. Several years ago, Nokia was one of the dominant global […]
Yesterday Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced that he would not seek reelection in 2011. This was surprising news; Daley has been mayor since 1989 and would easily have won reelection to another term. Daley’s decision is a big loss for Chicago’s brand. Mayor Daley is a brand builder; he understands the power of branding and has worked […]
This week automakers released sales numbers for August. The results were dismal. According to The Wall Street Journal, sales in the U.S. fell 21% versus 2009. Sales at Nissan, GM, Toyota and Honda all fell more than 25%. These results aren’t a surprise, since U.S. government’s Cash for Clunkers program boosted sales last year. The Cash […]