Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD
How much is a brand worth? For Whole Foods, a premium grocer, it represents the difference between a $3.49 canister of Quaker Oats rolled oats and $2.99 canister of 365 store brand oats.
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“What business are you in?” Theodore Levitt, 1925-2006. First to market doesn’t make you the winner, the best offering does. A growing…
More The classic product lifecycle theory predicts that prices fall as competitors enter. Well, do all prices fall? Similarly, many pundits like to talk about first-mover advantage. Well, does it really exist?
An examination of e-reader market demonstrates some serious flaws in a cursory acceptance of these premises. In this article, we look at the price and product evolution of the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Apple iPad to demonstrate some finer nuances of the product lifecycle.
More “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” Robert Fulghum “Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone.” Toyota should have…
More Going into the great recession, many commentators suggested and corporations undertook across the board price cuts. Many, but not all. Nordstrom took a different route. The results of their approach are in: better customer attraction, better profits, better post-recession positioning.
In this article, we will examine some key strategic decisions made by Nordstrom which enabled their counter-trend approach to triumph over the oft quoted “best practices”.
More “In an authentic world failure is something you embrace. It’s almost a noble pursuit. I come from that world—it supported me in…
More The game in business markets has changed. The opportunity landscape has shifted from the stalwarts of North American and Europe to the onetime turbulent and unstable emerging markets. Furthermore, the pricing power that shrank to the ether is returning to the tangible as markets return to growth.
These are bold claims and require bold reengineering of corporate strategy. Before you the reader consider these to be audacious statements from an ill informed outsider on unimportant and irrelevant industries, let me provide the evidence.
More “There’s so many things that have been said over and over again that need to be said again and again,” Soliloquy From…
More In the last weeks of March 2010, just before the media hoopla hit a crescendo on the release of the first Apple iPad, Sony took a shot to establish a more tenable position within the e-Reader market by dropping the price on the Sony Pocket Reader to $169. Is this the beginning of a standards war or a last ditch attempt to move units before Sony finds itself left in the wake of the Apple iPad?
More Ah, March, we all get to be Irish for a day. “May the dust of your carriage blind the eyes of your…
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