Mixed Messages

Jenny Craig’s change in marketing message has been good. Instead of focusing on people reaching some sort of ideal weight or size, they have taken a page from SlimFast, encouraging customers to reach a goal that is appropriate for them. They use messages like “a size healthier” to get the point across. [...]

Incomplete Execution

We are right in the middle of the 39th Annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Every year, for as long as I can remember, visitors have been subjected to the original banner advertising—an airplane circling the grounds with an ad attached to its tail. Normally, the ads are for area bars, encouraging [...]

Wanting and Wanting to Buy

Last Thursday, a story came on NPR’s All Things Considered titled “From Clunker to Cruiser, Ford Posts Quarterly Profit”. One of the interviewees stated that people didn’t want new cars right now. I quickly turned to my wife and said, “That’s not true. People want new cars, they just don’t want to [...]

True Brand Value Is Perceived

On Monday, Millward Brown released its BrandZ Ranking of the world’s Top 100 Most Powerful Brands. Besides the odd name, I have some issues with their methodology (found on page three of their release). It was thorough, to say the least, with claims of 1 million consumers interviewed about 50,000 global brands. [...]

A Brand’s Life Cycle

Every brand has a life cycle. It starts as an idea, gets developed and is born. It then grows, matures and dies. That process may last as little as a few months or as long as multiple centuries. Occasionally, brands will be on the brink of death before suddenly resurging. [...]

Do We Really Believe the Customer Is in Charge?

Wherever you look, more and more people are writing about how the customer is now in charge of the conversation between buyer and seller. We point to the internet in general and web 2.0 tools in particular. We note the range of choices for consumers and the intense competition that creates among companies. [...]

Profiling for Talent

In a meeting I had with a client yesterday, we discussed two different ways to drive his business forward. Through that discussion, we also identified a pretty good psychographic profile of his clients (he’s in the service industry).

The reason the profile works so well for him—even though it just sort of happened that way—was [...]

Going Retro

I was listening to REM’s newest CD (which is excellent, by the way) and was struck by some of the acid-rock-influenced tracks. That reminded me of the 70s influence throughout Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky from last year. Some of you out there might say that you should expect as much from 40-ish rockers. [...]

Your Product Mix Depends on Your Sales Channel

In a meeting with a CEO earlier this week, we discussed changes happening at his company. One coming changes involved his sales presence on the internet. Like most products that sell through retailers, his ended up on various internet stores beyond his control. Instead of fighting it, he’s looking at how to [...]

Citizen Brand Managers?

Businesses rely on their customers for long-term success. I know that is a pretty obvious statement. In this post, though, I want to discuss the manner in which we rely on them, beyond the need for customers to buy our stuff.

News outlets use citizen journalists for different story angles and helping fill in [...]