Defensive Strategy

Chick-fil-A’s Branding Fiasco

27 Jul 2012  

Chick-fil-A has a significant and growing branding problem. The company has long been grounded in religious beliefs. It is owned by a Baptist family and embraces traditional ideals. The company donates to conservative causes. The restaurants are closed on Sunday. Recently, however, Dan Cathy, the company’s president, gave a series of interviews where he strongly […]

Defensive Strategy

A Tough Branding Question for McDonald’s

24 Jul 2012  

I suspect executives at McDonald’s are wrestling with a key branding question facing the company: should McDonald’s Corporation continue to focus all its efforts on the McDonald’s brand or is it time to broaden the brand portfolio and invest in a second brand? This isn’t an easy question. McDonald’s has been one of the great business success […]

Brands in the News

PepsiCo’s Yogurt Challenge

15 Jul 2012  

PepsiCo is entering the yogurt category. Last week a number of news outlets reported that the company will soon start selling yogurt in several cities in the Northeast. PepsiCo has formed a partnership with German dairy company Theo Muller and will sell yogurt under the Muller brand. This isn’t a small introduction; the two companies […]

Defensive Strategy

The Bing Puzzle

3 Jul 2012  

Microsoft is in the news this week with more bad news about its online division and its struggling search engine, Bing. Recent results have been just terrible; in the 9 months ending March 31 the division lost $1.45 billion on revenue of $2.1 billion. Microsoft this week announced a $6.2 billion write-off related to the […]