Archives posted in: Communication
A few months ago I reported on a visit to J.C. Penney and commented on my disappointment with the look and feel of the store. What I saw was CEO Ron Johnson’s new strategy. The basis of this strategy is a return to the roots of the company through its “Fair and Square Every Day” philosophy. The problem with this strategy is that it is, in the words of Wharton Professor George S. Day, an “inside-out” strategy instead of an “outside-in” approach.
More Energy Drinks have become the new star of the supermarket and drug store checkout counters. They are incredibly profitable throughout the channels of trade. One of the most popular – and profitable – is 5-Hour Energy.
More This fall, Nike is rumored to be launching the above $300 LeBron X Nike Plus basketball shoes. What was expected to be a highly promising product launch has morphed into a management and political quagmire regarding its high price, potential violence, and target market abuse. What should Nike do?
More The conventional wisdom in the public relations business is that being a good corporate citizen is “good business.” Companies that invest in socially responsible activities are believed to receive some payback in the form of goodwill or good publicity. Remarkably this may not be the case.
More When Mark Zuckerberg showed up to a meeting with potential Wall Street investors wearing a hoodie sweatshirt, just before Facebook’s initial public offering in May, analysts derided the young CEO for his lack of maturity. Andrew Mason faced similar criticism for sipping a beer during a major employee meeting. With Zuckerberg as a cornerstone example, here are a few lessons we’ve learned from the minor ‘scandal’ analysts dubbed ‘Hoodiegate.’
More Ambush Marketing, coined in the 1980s by Jerry Welsh, is a marketing strategy in which a competing brands connects itself with a major sporting event without paying any sponsorship fee. Will it succeed in the upcoming London Olympics?
More For some reason, consumers often find the underdog more attractive than the category leader, according to research done by Harvard Business School Professor Anat Keinan. In this article, we examine some of the drivers that makes underdog marketing successful.
More In the first week of June, the Business Marketing Association (BMA) held its annual B2B marketing conference in Chicago. The show over-delivered on its “Unleash” theme with a tidal wave of information about the changing nature of strategic marketing, business models, content and data strategy. Incoming BMA chairperson Al Maag, Chief Communications Officer of Avnet, had this to say about outgoing chairperson Gary Slack, “The annual conference is the jewel in our thought leadership BMA crown thanks to Gary Slack.
More Chief executive Howard Schultz had the right idea about evolving the Starbucks logo, but his solution shows some of the hubris that got the company into trouble a few years ago.
The best brands are built upon a clear business strategy translated into a clear brand strategy. A brand strategy is consistently communicated to both internal and external audiences until it becomes the DNA of both employees and customers. Starbucks accomplished this mission, and then killed it.
More The turbulent decade that is about to end can best be seen in the values and ranking of brands through the 10 year period. While most brands continue to hold their rankings in the annual Business Week/Interbrand annual ratings, there have been some notable exceptions and these newcomers and departers tell the story of the decade.
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