This morning NPR reported that Walmart was planning to become a major player in healthcare in the United States. This afternoon Walmart denied the story, saying the document NPR saw was real but “overwritten and incorrect.” Reuters quoted Dr. John Agunobi, president of Walmart U.S. health & wellness as saying, “We are not building a […]
Thermostats are not the most exciting devices. I would put them right up there with water heaters and door hinges in terms of overall interest, things that fall in the category of “items you need but don’t think much about.” This is why I am so impressed with what Nest pulled off this week. Nest […]
Groupon is gearing up for an IPO. My advice to the team planning the offering is quite simple: move quickly. Andrew Ross Sorkin has as an interesting article on Groupon in today’s New York Times. He notes that Groupon has a number of rather significant issues, including a fairly low cash balance and a working […]
Yesterday we lost one of the great brand builders of our time. Steve Jobs was a master in terms of design and technology. He was also an exceptionally gifted brand manager. Jobs did four things incredibly well in terms of branding. Perhaps most importantly, he believed that branding and marketing mattered. Under his leadership Apple consistently invested in […]
Last week Amazon announced the launch of the Kindle Fire, a tablet device targeting Apple’s very successful iPad. One of the most debatable parts of the launch is the price: Amazon set the price at $199, significantly below Apple’s cheapest iPad, which sells for $499. Many people have attacked Amazon for the pricing move, declaring […]
Netflix today announced that it was splitting the company into two business units operating under two different brand names. The internet video streaming business will retain the Netflix name. The traditional DVD business will now be called Qwikster. You can read the email CEO Reed Hastings sent to current Netflix customers at the end of this post. This […]
Yesterday was a difficult day for marketing executives: what is the appropriate way to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks? Most advertisers wisely decided to ignore the event. State Farm, however, invested heavily in a 9/11 spot and stood out as perhaps the most prominent advertiser of the day. State Farm certainly invested. […]
When it comes to marketing strategy, there are three critical steps. The first step is developing a powerful strategy. The third step is executing well. The second step, however, is sometimes overlooked: selling the plan. HP CEO Leo Apotheker recently demonstrated why selling the plan is so important. On August 18, HP announced that it […]
Yesterday Steve Jobs announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Apple. The news is unfortunate but not entirely a surprise given his ongoing health issues. The stock is holding up pretty well today, just down a tad. And if I had any stock in Apple, I would sell it. First, let me note that […]
Wal-Mart is an incredibly strong brand. It has very high awareness and an exceptionally clear positioning: Wal-Mart stands for low prices. The company is relentlessly focused on reducing costs and giving consumers the lowest prices. But Wal-Mart has a very big problem; many people no longer think Wal-Mart has the lowest prices. The Wall Street Journal is reporting today […]
Kraft Foods today announced plans to split the company, spinning off the North American grocery businesses. The company has about $48 billion in revenue today. After the transaction there will be two companies, a global snacks business with about $32 billion in revenue and a grocery business with $16 billion in revenue. The move makes enormous […]
Netflix’s new pricing plan is not going over particularly well with customers. Yesterday the company announced that it was separating its DVD and streaming services and increasing the cost of the combined offering from about $10 per month to about $16 per month. While Netflix pointed out that the price of a DVD-only plan is actually […]