Brands in the News

Chicago’s Misguided Attack on Dollar Stores

14 Mar 2024  

To make good strategic decisions, it is important to identify the potential options and then think deeply about which one is best. Not thinking through the implications can lead to bad choices. The simple, obvious answers that seem right often aren’t. Chicago’s City Council provides a good example. The group recently passed a series of rules […]

Brands in the News

2024 Brands to Watch

10 Jan 2024  

Each year I highlight some brands to watch. These are brands facing unique situations as the year begins. You can see my 2023 list here, along with a look back at what actually happened here. Below are my 2024 picks. Harvard It has been a rough stretch for Harvard. The university has been attacked on […]

Brands in the News

Looking Back at my 2023 Brands to Watch

2 Jan 2024  

Recently I’ve started off the new year by highlighting some Brands to Watch. These aren’t necessarily the best or worst brands, they are simply brands that I project will be heading into an interesting stretch. As we begin 2024, it is time to look back at my 2023 Brands to Watch and see how I […]

Brands in the News

A Huge Branding Move by McDonalds

15 Dec 2023  

Last week McDonalds opened the first CosMc’s, a new restaurant concept built around drinks and snacks, in Bolingbrook, Illinois. CosMc’s serves items including coffees, lemonades, cookies, pretzel bites and ice cream. This is a huge move from McDonalds, and it makes a lot of strategic sense. You can learn a lot about brand portfolio strategy […]

Brands in the News

Why Teslas Sell and EVs Don’t

10 Nov 2023  

There is a strange situation developing in the world of electric vehicles. As companies ramp up production and the government showers the market with incentives, demand isn’t expanding as fast as expected. This all seems strange. Tesla managed to sell a lot of cars, at high prices. As EV prices decline, demand should expand dramatically. […]

Brands in the News

Ironman’s Branding Challenges

26 Oct 2023  

I am back from a trip to Hawaii; I flew back last Sunday, just in time for my Monday class. That isn’t a best practice but it all worked out ok. I was in Hawaii to see my daughter Claire compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona. She did great, surviving (the most important thing) […]

Brands in the News

Getting Rid of a Tough Business

5 Oct 2023  

I’ve had an old Tommy Hilfiger shirt hanging in my closet for about 10 years. I could never figure out when to wear the shirt; it had a bold pattern and didn’t go with anything. Then it started to get dusty, which is always a bad sign. Last weekend I gave up and donated it […]

Brands in the News

Jimmy Buffett: Entertainer and Brand Builder

8 Sep 2023  

A couple years back I was walking around my neighborhood in Chicago and noticed a group of people wearing Hawaiian shirts and carrying stuffed parrots. It was an unusual sight. A block further along, I came across a similar group. And then another group. It was a bizarre situation; in my part of Chicago, you […]

Brands in the News

Rolex’s Big Move and Controlling the Brand Experience

25 Aug 2023  

Rolex is in the news today; the brand is buying Bucherer, one of the most important watch retailers in the world. This is a dramatic move which will have implications for Rolex and the broader watch industry. It also reflects an important trend in the world of branding. Rolex Across the globe, Rolex is one […]

Brands in the News

The Twitter Branding Debacle

25 Jul 2023  

It has been a remarkable week in the world of branding, as Twitter rolls out one of the strangest rebranding efforts that I have ever seen. I suspect it will go down in history as an example of poor strategic brand management. The Announcement On Sunday, Elon Musk announced that the Twitter brand was going […]

Brands in the News

Bud Light and Northwestern

11 Jul 2023  

The main reason to study marketing efforts is to learn. If we can understand what is happening, we can identify things that seem to work and capitalize on those. We can also see mistakes and try to avoid making the same ones again. All of this brings us to two brands in the news: Bud […]

Brands in the News

Things Are Not Going Well at Tyson

17 May 2023  

I write about different companies in my blog and newsletter, and it is always interesting to watch how things develop. This week is a good time to check in on Tyson. Tyson’s Big Move In early October, Tyson announced that it was closing its Chicago office and consolidating operations in Springdale, Arkansas. This was a […]