Flip: Time to Update the Slides
I am always looking for examples of great marketing to include in my different courses. For the past few years, one of my favorite examples in the area of new business strategy has been Flip. Flip is a wonderful example of a company changing the rules in an established category. When Flip entered the video […]
P&G’s Pringles Sale: Bad News for PepsiCo
Yesterday P&G announced that it was selling the Pringles brand to Diamond Foods. This is a good move for P&G and Diamond. It is bad news for PepsiCo. Pringles is a fascinating marketing story. Despite a very slow start, P&G supported Pringles for many years and eventually the brand caught on. P&G created great advertising […]
Starbucks and Seattle’s Best
This week Seattle’s Best coffee has been in the news; the brand is rolling out a new simplified packaging system. Seattle’s Best is adopting a new level system, featuring different coffee blends at different amounts of intensity. The move is all part of an effort to reinvigorate the Seattle’s Best brand and, perhaps more importantly, […]
Nokia’s Branding Problem
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 […]
Michigan Sticks with a Winner
Things are tough in Michigan. Tax revenues are slumping. The U.S. auto industry continues to struggle. And the big news in Detroit is that the city is getting ready to knock down thousands of buildings, which is always a sign of progress. Despite all this, Michigan is continuing to invest in its compelling tourism campaign, […]
Spirit’s Bold Move
Spirit Airlines generated quite a bit of commotion this week by announcing that it would soon start charging passengers for carry-on luggage. Every piece of carry-on luggage stored overhead will now cost $45 each way. The price drops to $30 if purchased in advance. This is a controversial move but a smart one. Spirit is cheap. […]
Differentiating Vanilla
Selling mainstream spices and seasonings has to be an enormous challenge. There are a number of strong brands in the market and there is always a risk that people will assume all the brands provide similar quality, and buy on price. In a tough economy I suspect that many people are very willing to let price drive […]
BMW’s Joy
Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal featured a rather striking insert from BMW. The message: BMW creates joy. The advertisement reads: We do not make cars. We are the creators of emotion. We are the keepers of thrill. We are the guardians of one three-letter word. Joy. This is quite a change from BMW’s long time focus on […]
Healthcare Reform: Where are the Savings?
I am hoping that someone reading this post can help me answer a basic question: how will the proposed healthcare reform reduce costs? It is very hard to disagree with President Barack Obama when he says that we should reduce inefficient and unnecessary healthcare spending. I am entirely in agreement. Who can be against that idea? […]
Integrity and Healthcare Reform
I am astonished by the healthcare reform debate. Let me focus on just one issue. Apparently in the proposed legislation, ten years of incremental tax revenue is used to pay for six years of benefits. In other words, taxes go up immediately and the benefits begin in a few years. And by using ten years of […]
Healthcare: Here’s a Better Idea
“But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.” President Barack Obama Last night President Barack Obama asked people to let him know if they had a better idea […]
The End of Free Content at The New York Times
You don’t have to attend Kellogg to know that it is hard to make a lot of money by giving things away. Selling products for nothing might make you feel good and it will often attract a crowd, but it is not a smart way to run a business. There isn’t any profit in that particular business […]