STRONGBRANDS    Professor Tim Calkins, Kellogg School of Management

Last week in my Marketing Strategy course we discussed new business strategy. There are different strategies for entering an established category. Perhaps the most difficult one is the attack the core. This approach rarely works but that doesn’t stop people from giving it a try, as Goldman Sachs reminded us last week. Attack the Core An attack […]

Happy New Year! Each year I pick a few brands to watch. These are brands that I think are heading into a particularly interesting year. Some have opportunities to break out, and some are likely to struggle. Here is my 2023 list. In a somewhat risky move, I’ll also include my stock market forecast at […]

There are just a few days left in 2022 so it is time to look back at my 2022 brands to watch. Each year I identify a few brands that are worth following as they head into particularly interesting situations. I’ll publish my 2023 list next week. Here is review of my 2022 picks, with some […]

Last week I taught Marketing Strategy in the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA program in Koblenz. It was great fun; the students were bright, diverse, and engaged. One evening, after a day of teaching, I was wandering through the charming city of Koblenz and came across a protest march. There were banners, drums, horns and all the […]

Twitter is in complete disarray. Elon Musk, since purchasing the company for $44 billion, has made a series of moves ranging from strange to bizarre. Will all this work out for Twitter and Elon? Perhaps. Twitter had been a somewhat stagnant brand for many years. Today, it is anything but. The company is making big […]

The midterm elections are behind us, and the expected red wave fizzled out as voters punished the Republicans for limiting a woman’s right to choose. Conservatives hoping to get elected in many parts of the country need to figure out how to communicate a reasonable approach on that issue. The focus now shifts to the […]

Happy Friday! Inflation is dominating the news these days. The Federal Reserve is boosting interest rates and reducing liquidity in an effort to slow the increase. Inflation is quickly becoming a dominant theme in the upcoming election, with Democrats being accused of sparking the rise with too much government stimulus. There is no question that […]

It is always interesting when a company does something that just doesn’t make sense. Tyson’s announcement that it was closing its Chicago office is one of those decisions. The Announcement Last Wednesday, Tyson put out a press release announcing that it was closing its Chicago office and moving the positions to its global headquarters in […]

The world this week is mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth. People are piling flowers at Buckingham Palace and lining up for miles to view the casket. There is much to be learned from the queen’s long and eventful reign. I will leave it to others to address questions of politics and the monarchy. Instead, […]

Hearing aids are in the news this week, as the FDA announced new rules allowing people to buy some of the devices over the counter. Previously you needed a prescription. This simple rule change will transform the industry. Hearing Aid Branding Here is a simple quiz about hearing aid brands. 1. How many brands of […]

Last weekend my daughter Anna and I headed up to the Racine County Fair. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and exhibitions, including the first placed pies and tomatoes. The highlight was the 4-H livestock auction; we watched the end of the steer auction and most of the market pigs. I was once again impressed by […]

There are a lot of big issues in the world. There is a war in Ukraine. Global warming is changing our environment in profoundly negative ways. The U.S. is battling inflation and fractured over abortion. It is exhausting. So, this week, I’d like to focus on a very small issue: the tradition of not clapping […]