STRONGBRANDS    Professor Tim Calkins, Kellogg School of Management

Last week Disney fired the voice of Kermit the Frog. Steve Whitmire had played the famous green frog for the past 27 years. As he said in an interview, “Playing Kermit is my life.” While details are a bit sketchy, it appears that Whitmire was a difficult employee. He refused to perform at certain events and […]

We are near the end of annual report season. If you own many individual stocks, by now you have received a flood of reports and proxy statements. Some people get excited about spring because of baseball and flowers; I look forward to reading about different companies. It is interesting to see how firms approach this annual […]

One of the benefits of being a professor at Kellogg is that you get to participate in  student events. Recently the Brew n Q club invited me to join them for a beer tasting. I shared some thoughts on branding in the beer industry to kick things off, then we sampled the beer. The event […]

Yesterday United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from an overbooked flight and other passengers captured the incident on video. You can watch it here. A Huge Problem It is hard to overstate how bad this is for United. Let’s review what happened: – The airline boards too many people and won’t offer enough money to entice […]

This week the Kellogg School of Management officially opened the doors of its new global hub. The building is spectacular, with stunning views of Lake Michigan, a soaring atrium and state of the art rooms. I held my first classes in the facility on Monday morning. You can read more about it here. I was […]

Some brand combinations make a lot of sense. The Intel brand has long been a good fit with Dell; Cruise giant Carnival is a reasonable partner with the Houston Texans; Lufthansa works with German luxury luggage brand Rimowa. When I managed Bulls-Eye BBQ Sauce, we partnered with Burger King on a BBQ Burger. All of these pairings […]

This week politicians and lobbyists are debating the future of Obamacare. Republican lawmakers have proposed a revision that makes few people happy; Democrats are unanimously against it. Many Republicans don’t like it either. You can read more about it here. A few days ago I had the opportunity to talk with Professor Craig Garthwaite, my […]

Last week The New York Times launched a bold new marketing campaign featuring print ads, outdoor ads and television spots, including an ad that ran on the Oscar’s on Sunday. You can read more about it here. I have three thoughts about the new effort. It is about time. The Times last ran television ads […]

Recently I posted my list of brands to watch in 2017. The list included Emirates, Tesla, GoPro, Wells Fargo, Amazon and P&G. I noted, however, that the most interesting and important brand to watch was clear: Donald Trump. Defining the Trump Brand I think everyone is confused about the Trump brand. What does it stand […]

With the holiday season in full swing, it is time to start thinking about the year ahead. Here are six brands to watch. Amazon Amazon is flying high, and the story is all about expansion and growth. The company is opening physical stores, getting into the shipping business and expanding private label options. It even […]

One of the core concepts I teach in my Marketing Strategy course at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management is that no one company can be all things to all people. The problem is that people are different. Delighting one person might mean providing a top quality product at a very high price, but pleasing […]

Donald Trump stunned Hillary Clinton and the world by winning the election. Here are four observations on his victory and what it means for marketers. Don’t trust the research data Few people expected a Trump victory. The most sophisticated researchers, using the most advanced techniques, were quite confident in their projections. In recent days the […]