Differentiating Vanilla
Selling mainstream spices and seasonings has to be an enormous challenge. There are a number of strong brands in the market and there is always a risk that people will assume all the brands provide similar quality, and buy on price. In a tough economy I suspect that many people are very willing to let price drive […]
Tide Dry Cleaners?
P&G is one of the world’s top marketing companies. So P&G’s focus on expanding into services such as Tide Dry Cleaners and Mr. Clean Car Washes is worth a bit of discussion. Is this the future for consumer brands? You can see the logic behind the move. Perhaps most importantly, it opens an enormous growth […]
Hong Kong’s Branding Paradox
The people in Hong Kong have an incredible luxury goods. Every high-end brand, it seems, has an enormous store: Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, the list goes on and on. There is no question luxury brands sell exceptionally well. At the same time, Hong Kong is full of people selling copied products. In one twenty-minute period, […]
A Booming Economy
I’ve been in Hong Kong the past few days and the local economy appears to be booming. The South China Morning Post has reported the following pieces of news since I’ve been here: Minimum wages are going up by 18% Benefits are going up by almost 6% Unemployment is below 5% There is a growing […]
BMW’s Joy
Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal featured a rather striking insert from BMW. The message: BMW creates joy. The advertisement reads: We do not make cars. We are the creators of emotion. We are the keepers of thrill. We are the guardians of one three-letter word. Joy. This is quite a change from BMW’s long time focus on […]
Healthcare Reform: Where are the Savings?
I am hoping that someone reading this post can help me answer a basic question: how will the proposed healthcare reform reduce costs? It is very hard to disagree with President Barack Obama when he says that we should reduce inefficient and unnecessary healthcare spending. I am entirely in agreement. Who can be against that idea? […]
Integrity and Healthcare Reform
I am astonished by the healthcare reform debate. Let me focus on just one issue. Apparently in the proposed legislation, ten years of incremental tax revenue is used to pay for six years of benefits. In other words, taxes go up immediately and the benefits begin in a few years. And by using ten years of […]
SeaWorld Bounces Back
On February 24 a whale at SeaWorld killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in front of astonished spectators. Three days later, on February 27, SeaWorld resumed shows. SeaWorld president Jim Atchison stated that the animal, a killer whale named Tilikum, would remain part of the show. SeaWorld is dodging a potential branding disaster. It is hard to imagine anything more […]
Tiger’s Very Small Step
Tiger Woods took a step toward rebuilding his brand on Friday, but it was a small step indeed. His statement on Friday was most notable for what was absent, including most of the press, questions and a timetable for his return to golf. And, of course, Tiger’s usual confidence and poise. I think the only […]
P&G’s Olympic Shocker
The 2010 Winter Olympics are turning out to be quite surprising, at least in terms of the advertising. Topping the list is P&G, which this weekened unveiled a new advertising campaign that represents a huge strategic shift for the company. P&G has long been one of the world’s best examples of a company with a […]
The $200 Super Bowl Ad
Stuart Elliott, from The New York Times, wrote in an article earlier this week that the cost to produce one of the Doritos spots that ran on the Super Bowl was less than $200. $200. That is an astonishing figure. I spent many years at Kraft managing brands such as Miracle Whip and Taco Bell. […]
Toyota’s Nightmares
Here is a nightmare to think about. You are driving along in a car when it suddenly and for no apparent reason starts speeding up. You can’t stop it; the car just goes faster and faster. You try to get it to slow down but you can’t. The brakes don’t work. You weave in and out […]