STRONGBRANDS    Professor Tim Calkins, Kellogg School of Management

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 […]

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? […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

It seems like everyone is launching a smart phone these days. Earlier this week Google started selling a smart phone.  Today Dell rolled out a new one.  Motorola is still aggressively promoting the Droid.  Apple keeps investing in the iPhone.  RIM is spending heavily on Blackberry.  Palm, Samsung and Nokia are still in the game.  HP and Cisco […]

The good people at Kohl’s would be wise to consider the law of diminishing returns and slow the pace of email promotions. I’m always happy to sign up for promotional programs.  I sign up in part to learn about good deals.  But I mainly sign up to see what people are doing in terms of […]

This weekend I flew from London to Frankfurt on Lufthansa, and I am now very puzzled. The flight was terrific.  It left on time, the plane was clean and shiny, there were free newspapers at the gate, the flight attendants were friendly and helpful and the in-flight service was excellent.  Despite the fact that it […]

This week Starbucks reported some very strong financial results. Overall operating income for the third quarter improved from $14 million in 2008 to $199 million in 2009. In the U.S, profits more than doubled. This is very impressive because revenues in the U.S. were down during the same period by -4%. Operating margin in the […]

Now here is a real marketing challenge: sell Michigan as a vacation destination.  Yes, Michigan, the land of failing auto companies, the bumbling Lions and desolate Detroit.  It isn’t the sort of place that stirs the soul.  I suspect both Hammond and Newark both fall higher up the list of places to visit for most […]

Let me start with a confession: I failed the Via challenge. This morning I stopped by my local Starbucks.  I tried Via and then I tried the brewed coffee.  And I couldn’t tell the difference.  I was completely stumped. I find this rather astonishing.  I am quite a coffee fan and I drink a lot of […]