Yesterday Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced that he would not seek reelection in 2011. This was surprising news; Daley has been mayor since 1989 and would easily have won reelection to another term. Daley’s decision is a big loss for Chicago’s brand. Mayor Daley is a brand builder; he understands the power of branding and has worked […]
This week automakers released sales numbers for August. The results were dismal. According to The Wall Street Journal, sales in the U.S. fell 21% versus 2009. Sales at Nissan, GM, Toyota and Honda all fell more than 25%. These results aren’t a surprise, since U.S. government’s Cash for Clunkers program boosted sales last year. The Cash […]
The big marketing story last week was that the Gap offered a hot deal on Groupon and a remarkable 441,000 people took it. At one point Groupon was apparently selling more than 500 of the deals per minute. Groupon is an on-line promotion site. It is free to sign up and everyday Groupon sends out […]
You can learn a lot about marketing at a 4-H market pig auction. Last week I went to the Northwest Michigan Fair, a charming, old-time county fair, complete with the corn dogs, snow cones and “The World’s Biggest Alligator.” My kids and I had a grand time inspecting farm animals and studying the newest Massey […]
Procter & Gamble announced somewhat disappointing earning this week. While fourth quarter revenue grew by +4.7% to $18.9 billion, profit fell from $2.5 billion to $2.2 billion, a decline of -11.3%. The company’s stock fell by over $2 per share due to the news. P&G executives explained that the weak results were due to an […]
Yesterday while preparing for a class I read through Apple’s third quarter 2010 results. I was simply astonished. Three points of note: 1. The overall financial results are impressive indeed. Apple’s revenues were a record $15.7 billion in the latest quarter, up +61.4% versus year ago. Profits were $3.25 billion, up +77.6% versus year ago. […]
The press conference on Friday was an all too familiar scene: a somewhat grumpy CEO making a reluctant apology, noting that the press has blown things way out of proportion and complaining that the company isn’t being treated fairly, since everyone in the industry has similar problems. The company was: BP? Goldman Sachs? Toyota? Nope. […]
Playboy is in the news today, but not because this month’s edition includes a particularly risqué photo spread. The news today: Hugh Hefner has offered to buy the company’s outstanding shares and take it private. The surprising thing in the deal is the price. Hefner’s bid values Playboy at just $185 million. This is not […]
The Wall Street Journal today has an interesting article on Ford’s efforts to revive the fading Lincoln brand. Turning around Lincoln is not a hopeless task but it is certainly a challenge. The good news is that Lincoln is a rather well-defined brand; it stands for something distinct and unique. Lincoln’s are stable, solid and […]
Motorola is apparently going ahead with plans to split up the company. This move will raise a large and rather difficult branding question. The proposed split with separate the handheld division from the rest of the company. The handheld division produces cell phones and smart phones such as the Droid. The rest of the company […]
People aren’t motivated by insults. Criticizing someone feels good, but it isn’t likely to result in a behavior change. This is why companies selling weight loss products don’t go around pointing fingers, “Hey, you there. You really do look fat. Put the donut down now.” It is also why people in the fashion industry focus […]
There are huge unresolved questions around the uncapped well in the Gulf of Mexico. When will it stop? How long will it take to repair the environmental damage? What will the total cost be to BP? Will the BP brand survive? For anyone interested in brands this last question is a particularly interesting one to […]