Defensive Strategy

Yoplait’s Smart Decision

16 Jun 2011  

Today executives at General Mills announced they were pulling its latest ad for Yoplait.  The ad features a slim woman debating eating a piece of cheesecake. She tries to rationalize the decision, eventually going for a yogurt after another woman makes that choice. You can see the ad here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/yoplait-pulls-ad-that-pos_n_877618.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=061611&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief#s292650&title=iMac A number of consumers complained […]

Brands in the News

The Chicago Tribune’s Premium-Edition Strategy

6 Jun 2011  

Today the Chicago Tribune announced that it would be introducing a premium edition of its home delivery newspaper. According to Crain’s, the Tribune will apparently now be available in two versions: the standard home delivery paper and a premium home delivery version with expanded content and features. The new version will be more expensive. You […]

Defensive Strategy

Oprah’s Branding Challenge

25 May 2011  

Oprah Winfrey is one of the world’s most gifted brand builders; over the years she has demonstrated her ability to create and build a truly remarkable brand. But she now faces a rather big challenge: evolving her brand. Today Oprah signed off, ending her run as a daytime talk show host. In branding terms, she just […]

Brands in the News

Nokia Cuts Ovi

16 May 2011  

Today Nokia announced that it was dropping the Ovi brand, replacing it with Nokia. My opinion: the move makes sense but it doesn’t solve Nokia’s core branding challenge. Nokia created the Ovi brand for its software products and services. On the Ovi website you can find software for mapping, email, games and music. The concept […]

Defensive Strategy

The Royal Wedding and Branding

1 May 2011  

The marriage of Kate and William was a joyous event but also an incredible bit of brand building. It all looked effortless and natural, but of course it wasn’t. I am quite confident the entire affair was carefully constructed with an eye on the brand. The organizers deserve an enormous amount of credit; it is hard […]

Brands in the News

Why Green Products Don’t Sell

22 Apr 2011  

The New York Times has an interesting article on the front page this morning: “As Consumers Cut Spending, ‘Green’ Products Lose Allure.” The article notes that sales of a number of environmentally friendly products such as Clorox’s Green Works have fallen sharply. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/business/energy-environment/22green.html?_r=1&hp The article presents the results of a study done by Sanford C. […]

Brands in the News

Flip: Time to Update the Slides

13 Apr 2011  

I am always looking for examples of great marketing to include in my different courses. For the past few years, one of my favorite examples in the area of new business strategy has been Flip. Flip is a wonderful example of a company changing the rules in an established category. When Flip entered the video […]

Brands in the News

P&G’s Pringles Sale: Bad News for PepsiCo

7 Apr 2011  

Yesterday P&G announced that it was selling the Pringles brand to Diamond Foods. This is a good move for P&G and Diamond. It is bad news for PepsiCo. Pringles is a fascinating marketing story. Despite a very slow start, P&G supported Pringles for many years and eventually the brand caught on. P&G created great advertising […]

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Defensive Strategy

The Harry & David Bankruptcy

28 Mar 2011  

Today legendary fruit seller Harry & David filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. There are two very important branding lessons in this story. 1.  Savvy marketing can create enormous value. Harry & David does something remarkable: the company gets people to spend $30 for a few pears. A box of 7 to 12 pears currently runs […]

Defensive Strategy

United’s Temporary Branding

14 Mar 2011  

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in airports over the past couple weeks; I was teaching a course in Germany so I made four trips across the pond. As a result I’ve had a chance to get a good look at United’s new brand design. My prediction: it won’t last long. Airlines need good […]

Defensive Strategy

Galliano’s Branding Lessons

2 Mar 2011  

This week luxury brand Christian Dior fired star designer John Galliano for making anti-Semitic comments. The incident provides some important lessons about managing a brand in today’s fast moving media world. Lesson 1: It is very easy to damage a brand. An apparently drunk Mr. Galliano said some highly inappropriate things while out one evening. The […]

Defensive Strategy

Wal-Mart’s Branding Challenge

22 Feb 2011  

Today Wal-Mart announced that its U.S. division is continuing to slump. For the seventh consecutive quarter, same store sales declined. This of course is not good news. There are many factors behind the move, but I suspect one of the primary issues driving the decline is Wal-Mart’s growing focus on private label products. Wal-Mart grew with […]