A recent AdvertisingAge article about the launch…

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The latest Bloomberg Businessweek has its annual “How To” section with a little bit of everything squeezed in.  Included is a paragraph by Lew Frankfort,  the CEO of Coach, on how to “Reinvent A Brand”.  It talks about how they are transforming Coach into a women’s lifestyle brand.  He offers the following headlines:…

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For most b2c companies, a high-performing brand is the most productive path to growth.  Branding connects your business to more consumers with compelling messages that encourage them to buy more of what you're selling.  Advertising and other creative agencies are, therefore, some of the most…

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Any company can have a high performing brand that dramatically increases sales and profits. You don’t have to already be Coca-Cola or Apple to have one.  In fact, small and mid-sized (SMB) business owners should remember that…

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The human mind is one of the most complex and mysterious things in the universe. Yet when the word "depression" is spoken, for example, despite it being a concept squarely anchored in the realm of psychology and the mind, it connotes a clear definition and meaning. This is without regard to who says the word, either psychologist, or patient, or psychiatrist, or internist, or talk show host.…

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Sometimes it takes more than just a great image to make a great print ad.  

Let me first acknowledge my biases…

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A brand is frequently characterized as a "promise".  On a  superficial level that may be the case, but the day-to-day reality is much more complex and nuanced.  To me, the word "promise" speaks of a singular, narrow agreement that is unbending.…

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It's a marketers dream to have the chance to remake a classic.  I've often romantically pondered resuscitating fallen brand powerhouses, re-igniting dormant consumer equity to create new found financial gains.  There's just something about looking at a fallen great brand and thinking that you could do better.  I'm guessing I'm not the only marketer to do that!…

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One of my home town baseball teams, the Chicago White Sox, was described during the 1983 season by Doug Rader, manager of the Texas Rangers, as "Winning Ugly". He was trying to dismiss the White Sox style of play which emphasized a kind of scrappiness and bull headed determination rather than consistently good hitting or pitching.



Although I am not, strictly speaking, a White Sox fan, (I live on the north side of the city) I have always appreciated the way this phrase, "winning… Continue

I was riding behind a new Buick today and thought about the car and the brand. Big difference. I'm not sure what model it was, but from the back the lines of the car looked quite nice. It came across like a sleek, European sport sedan - definitely a nice look. What crashed it back to Earth for me, though, was the rather large Buick logo/crest on the back. it was definitely a downer - reeking of old, stale, tired, out of date cars that my grandfather might have driven in his youth!… Continue

As an intellectually curious person, I have always gravitated toward dialog and interaction about things of interest to me. Professionally, since my days at Kraft and Coke, that has brought me to content about all aspects of brand marketing, consumer behavior, marketing, corporate strategy, etc.



Online today there are a variety of blogs out there, many by people who are quite accomplished and who "know their stuff". The problem is - I sometimes feel uncomfortable, essentially,… Continue