Some Marketing Insight from Kellaway
Lucy Kellaway, columnist at the Financial Times, had a terrific column in yesterday’s paper. The article has some important insights about marketing and influencing. It is also highly entertaining. I recommend you read the article. Here is the link: https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ab3795b8-8ef3-11e1-ab32-00144feab49a.html#axzz1terwY5fM ***** I’ve heard from a number of people that they’d like me to do more frequent blog updates, so I’m now planning […]
The Amazing Lululemon
Every once in a while a remarkable brand appears on the scene, one that stands out in the cluttered world we live in. Lululemon is one of those brands. Chip Wilson founded Lululemon in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. Apparently Chip tried yoga and loved the experience but he couldn’t find good yoga apparel. So he […]
Sony’s Branding Problem
Today’s New York Times has a fascinating article about the decline of Sony. It really is shocking how far the company has fallen. Sony hasn’t made a profit since 2008. According to the article, the company is now worth one ninth of Samsung and one thirtieth of Apple. You can read the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/technology/how-sony-fell-behind-in-the-tech-parade.html?_r=1&ref=business […]
Corning’s Gorilla Glass Campaign: Good Thought, Weak Execution
Corning is running a rather striking campaign for Gorilla Glass, its high-tech materials for mobile devices and televisions. The latest ad features a large gorilla and a big number two. Does it work? Well, the thought is right. Corning is trying building a brand around its unique glass. This makes a lot of sense. […]
Pepsi’s Upbeat Spin
What do you say in your annual letter when you’re running a company that has delivered disappointing returns for investors and is getting clobbered by competitors? If you are Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, you talk about all the positives. According to her just published annual letter, things are going quite well at Pepsi. She […]
Apple and the Power of Differentiation
You can learn a lot about marketing strategy by studying Apple. Perhaps the most important point is this: be different. The folks at Apple clearly understand the power of differentiation. They are masters at both creating it and destroying it. Apple does a phenomenal job creating products and services that are unique and special. The […]
The Mondelez Challenge
Kraft today announced that it will call its new snacks company Mondelez International. Later this year Kraft Foods will split into two companies, a grocery business and a snacks business. The grocery business will retain the Kraft brand name, which makes perfect sense because many of the grocery products actually use the Kraft name: Kraft salad dressing, […]
Coors Light Iced Tea
This week the Chicago Tribune reported that Molson Coors will be introducing a number of new products including Coors Light Iced Tea. You can read the article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-molson-coors-launching-new-beers-to-boost-share-20120306,0,3634860.story The goal is to build sales through innovation so that the company doesn’t have to rely so heavily on cost reduction projects to drive profit growth. […]
Buying a New Car: Observations and Learnings
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I bought a new car: a 2012 Honda CRV. The entire experience was remarkable, and it highlights the core marketing challenge we all face. Earlier this month we visited our local Honda dealer, Fletcher-Jones. We use Fletcher-Jones for service. We did a test drive on a new CRV and liked […]
2012 Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review
That was quite a Super Bowl! The Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review results are in. You can see my thoughts on the ads here: https://kelloggsuperbowlreview.wordpress.com/
Defensive Strategy, Super Bowl
Dannon Fights Back
Dannon will debut its first Super Bowl ad on Sunday, promoting its Oikos brand of Greek yogurt. The move seems a little debatable on the surface. Oikos is a small brand, with nothing close to the size or reach of big Super Bowl advertisers such as Budweiser, Toyota or Samsung. Other small food brands have […]
Carnival’s Branding Problem
This is tough time for Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company. The big issue, of course, is the sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. This is a branding disaster for Costa and for Carnival. The problems are fairly obvious. First, it is tragedy, with more than a dozen deaths. Second, this […]