Posts by: James T. Berger

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Will Bid for the Presidency Destroy the Trump Brand?

By James T. Berger July 3, 2016

Politico writes: “But as Trump the candidate has ascended, hitting the top of the polls and staying there thanks to a series of controversial statements and a groundswell of Republican populist support, the opposite has happened to Trump the brand.”

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Why Relationship Marketing Has Never Worked for the New Car Purchase

By James T. Berger June 7, 2016

That structural problem is the “deep divide” between manufacturers and dealers. While manufacturers spend millions of dollars on image advertising to promote the brands, the dealers care little about the long-term brand value and instead put their emphasis on the transaction.

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Free Trade, Protectionism and Marketing

By James T. Berger May 9, 2016

Keeping less-productive Americans in their factory jobs means the U.S. government has to impose tariffs or quotas on the more efficiently produced foreign products. This will force the prices of those off shore goods to go up in order to match what it costs to produce them less efficiently in America. So the consumer has to pay, out of his/her own pocket, what it cost to keep a less productive American worker employed.

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McDonald’s Feasts on All-Day Breakfast, But Causes Indigestion for Some Franchisees

By James T. Berger April 4, 2016

According to Bloomberg Business, the all-day breakfast has created some meaningful initial problems for franchisees. Soon after the all-day breakfast policy was initiated, Bloomberg Business pointed out “Four Reasons McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast is a Headache for Franchisees.”

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Are You an ‘Imposter?’ If So, the Workplace Needs You

By James T. Berger March 4, 2016

Chance defines the “imposter phenomenon” as “an internal experience of intellectual phoniness” and adds that those who experience, for the most part, are “people who have achieved something; people who are demonstrably anything but frauds.”

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Special Marketing Provides the Force behind New “Star Wars” Film

By James T. Berger February 4, 2016

He pointed out how Disney’s ownership of ABC contributed to the integrated marketing effort. One example was when the anchors at ABC came to ‘Good Morning America’ dressed up as Star Wars characters. “That’s a nice synergy between your TV and your studio divisions,” said Eliashberg.

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Brands Valuations Go Topsy-Turvy Over Last 10 Years

By James T. Berger October 6, 2015

Disputing the economic turbulence over the last decade, the BrandZ ratings show that most brand categories increased in value. Leaders were fast food and technology. Seven categories doubled their values—fast food, technology, beer, apparel, telecom, soft drink and retail.

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Harvard Prof. Sees Ben Franklin’s “Way to Wealth” as Source for America’s Brand of Capitalism

By James T. Berger September 11, 2015

According to Reinert, “I’m interested in how ideas reflect but also change economic realities – and how ideas can translate into policies.” He adds that he is intrigued by the lasting power of Franklin’s treatise on industry and frugality and its influence on capitalism, as we know it today.

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Why Retail Has Reached an “Inflexion Point”

By James T. Berger August 10, 2015

Alvarez says that if you have two or three mall anchors of tenants driving traffic, this affects the entire mall. This creates a domino effect that reached down into the community through the lowering of tax base. “One major trend that Retail Revolution (the book) points out is that retailers will reduce store count and also reduce the size of those locations as online commerce begins to satisfy more and more demand….”

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Keeping Customers Isn’t So Easy

By James T. Berger July 12, 2015

There are other fields – like airlines and hotels – where providers have invested heavily in customer loyalty programs. Here these programs are effective as long as the provider can fly to the right destination of the hotel company has a property there. When that is not the case, the customer seeks other choices and may be attracted into competitors’ customer loyalty programs.

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About The Author

James T. Berger headshot
James T. Berger, Senior Marketing Writer of The Wiglaf Journal, through his Northbrook-based firm, James T. Berger/Market Strategies, offers a broad range of marketing communications, research and strategic planning consulting services. In addition, he provides expert services to intellectual property attorneys in the area of trademark infringement litigation. An adjunct professor of marketing at Roosevelt University, he previously has taught at Northwestern University, DePaul University, University of Illinois at Chicago and The Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan (BA), Northwestern University (MS) and the University of Chicago (MBA). Berger is an often-published free lance business writer who has developed more than 100 published articles in the last eight years. For more information, visit www.jamesberger.net or telephone him at (847) 328-9633.