Struggling companies often do better when they focus on their core brand. There are good reasons to have many different brands. A broad portfolio lets you target different customers with unique brands. It also reduces risk; if one brand gets into trouble the other brands can help offset the declines. The problem is that managing a big brand […]
There is a terrific article in The Wall Street Journal today about J.C. Penney. It is worth reading. Here are four noteworthy quotes from the story. “We didn’t test at Apple.” Apparently this was CEO Ron Johnson’s response when asked if he would consider testing a radical pricing change at J.C. Penney before rolling […]
News outlets are reporting today that OfficeMax and Office Depot are apparently considering a merger. The move makes sense for many reasons. The combination will result in significant cost reductions. The new entity will have a stronger negotiating position with suppliers. And competition in the brutal office-products industry will decrease at least a bit. The […]
It is clear that advertisers know everyone is watching the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLVII featured ads that were broadly appealing, safe, and focused on delivering a brand message. The tradeoff, of course, is that it is hard to be distinctive and safe at the same time. This year we saw a lot of ads […]
There is a lot to see on Sunday’s Super Bowl: more than 50 commercials, each one costing well over $3 million and a big half time show featuring Beyonce. Oh yes, and there will be a football game. With all this advertising excitement it is easy to forget that part. Every commercial provides an interesting […]
Coca-Cola has a Super Bowl problem. The iconic brand’s Super Bowl campaign is coming under fire from people who claim it reflects negative stereotypes of Arabs. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, for example, is calling on Coke to change course. Coke has to be concerned; you never want your brand to be accused of discrimination. Back […]
The Super Bowl is always important for marketers; people scrutinize every spot. If all goes well, senior executives will shower the brand manager with praise, hand out a big bonus and offer up a promotion. If things go poorly, however, he will be criticized and, in some cases, fired. For two brands this year, however, the Super Bowl […]
Super Bowl advertisers want to engage consumers; getting people to watch a sixty-second commercial during the Super Bowl is good, but getting them to visit a site and interact with a brand is better. The challenge is doing so in an effective manner. Turning over total creative control isn’t a good idea; this is why […]
One of the advertisers I’ll miss seeing on the Super Bowl this year is CareerBuilder. CareerBuilder first advertised on the game back in 2005. The brand was quite new at the time; Monster.com dominated the space and CareerBuilder was a much smaller challenger. CareerBuilder ran a charming commercial featuring the now iconic chimps. The Kellogg […]
The Super Bowl is a great place to launch a new brand; the event’s huge viewership provides a platform for introducing a new product to a significant portion of people in the United States. Brands like Monster, CareerBuilder and Go Daddy used the Super Bowl effectively during their launch. One of this year’s new brands, and […]
Every once in a while an advertiser tries something new on the Super Bowl and fundamentally changes the marketing game. Apple’s Super Bowl spot “1984” falls into this group, as does the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl program. It is becoming clear that Chrysler’s 2011 spot featuring Eminem should join this group. Chrysler broke a […]
Super Bowl XLVII, marketing’s biggest event, is less than one month away. This year Kellogg Professor Derek Rucker and I will once again be leading the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review; we will assemble a panel of Kellogg students and evaluate all the advertisers, awarding grades of A, B, C, D and, on occasion, […]