Fixing Peloton
Things are not going well for Peloton, one of my 2022 Brands to Watch. The stock is trading at about $13 a share, a remarkable fall from its peak of over $160. The company lost a staggering $757 million in the latest quarter. Perhaps more concerning, the company has a vast amount of inventory and […]
United’s Lovable New Campaign
The world is full of mediocre advertising. There are commercials that simply deliver a product message, and many of these are perfectly fine. There are spots that promise a happy family and life, and these can work ok. Most advertising just does what it is supposed to do: slightly increase purchase interest. On occasion, however, […]
Student Loans and Good Decisions
Last week I moderated a panel discussion at Kellogg on personal finance with three successful Kellogg alumni. It was a great session; the panelists shared their learnings about saving, spending, working with a partner and making career shifts. For me, the most surprising part of the discussion was about student loans. All three panelists had […]
Evaluating the 2021 Annual Reports
It is annual report season. If you own individual stocks, this is the time of year when annual reports and proxy statements arrive in your mailbox. I like to dabble in stocks and I’ve been reviewing this year’s mailings. It is amazing how some companies invest in their annual report and mail out a well considered update on […]
A Branding Disaster at the Oscars
A disaster. That is perhaps the one word we can use to sum up the Academy Awards this year, an event most notable for Will Smith attacking Chris Rock. The Branding Impact The Oscars were a disaster for Will Smith. At his time of great success, the moment when he should be celebrating and enjoying congratulations, […]
The Transformation of Brand Russia
Brands are the associations linked to a name or symbol, and these connections are usually created over time. At first the Nike swoosh was just a swoosh, but today it has enormous meaning. Once created, brands are difficult to change. Brand repositioning, shifting the meaning of a name, is one of the great marketing challenges. All […]
Building a Strong Personal Brand
This week I’m giving a talk to Kellogg MBA students about building a strong personal brand during their summer internship. I’m looking forward to the session. Here are some of my main points. Personal Branding A lot of things need to come together to have a successful run at a company. You must have supportive […]
Super Bowl Ad Review 2022 Results
The 2022 Super Bowl was one of the most watched television programs ever in the United States with estimated audience of over 100 million viewers. The football was exciting, and the advertising was just as engaging. For the 18th year, a panel of Kellogg MBA students evaluated all the ads to identify which ones took […]
The Kellogg Super Bowl Ad Review Returns
The Super Bowl is just days away, and once again a panel of Kellogg students will be evaluating all the spots in the Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review. This is the 18th year of the event. I’ll be teaming up with my colleague Professor Derek Rucker again this year. The Start We started this event in […]
Learning from the 2022 Healthcare Case Competition
Last weekend we hosted the 19th annual Kellogg Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition, sponsored by Moderna. It was a terrific event. More than sixty teams applied and eleven gathered in Evanston for the final round. It was an in-person competition, complete with masks and vaccination cards and tests. It would have been easy to take […]
The Biggest Super Bowl Ever
We are two and a half weeks from the Super Bowl, so it is time to focus on the big event. The Super Bowl is without question the #1 advertising platform in the United States. One could make the case that it is the most important marketing event in the world. The game is important for […]