Monthly Archives: August 2010

Possibly the greatest long-format ad ever

Posted on August 30, 2010 by

Long format ads are generally longer than one-minute and often associated with direct-order television. However, there can be many other uses of long-format ads, especially in today’s Internet society. My friends Abe Walking Bear Sanchez and John Younker recently shared … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobile Industry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ReBrand, ReLaunch, Resign

Posted on August 26, 2010 by

A while back I posted about the 3-Steps in the CMO’s life cycle: ReBrand, ReLaunch and Resign. I was reminded of those three steps while reading about the battle going on between KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) and a … Continue reading →

Posted in brand, Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

And the goal is?

Posted on August 24, 2010 by

My friend and master storyteller, Abe Walking Bear Sanchez, shared a story recently that I think bears (no pun intended) repeating. There once was a warrior who prided himself in being the finest archer in the land. One day he came … Continue reading →

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It wouldn’t be so obvious if it wasn’t right under your nose

Posted on August 23, 2010 by

Removing waste from all of your processes is especially critical in today’s increasingly competitive, global market. Such streamlining not only includes the obvious supply-chain processes, but the demand chain (customer-facing) processes as well. In particular, finding and removing waste in … Continue reading →

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Find a difference and leverage it

Posted on August 20, 2010 by

The world does not need another Wal-Mart. In truth it would not have needed Wal-Mart if Kmart had executed. Too many companies try to emulate a leader or compete head on in a market. Unless the leader has slipped, this is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Marketing, retail | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nero fiddled while Rome burned

Posted on August 17, 2010 by

While that story may not be precisely true, the metaphor remains relevant. Back in 2002 we wrote a paper entitled: “Is Your Business Model Right For Tomorrow’s Market?” As the title suggests, this paper asked a critical question, which many … Continue reading →

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If you get the product right, “marketing” is a lot easier

Posted on August 16, 2010 by

It’s no secret that Buick car sales and the Buick brand have been on a downward slide for over two decades. This performance notwithstanding, Buick was selected as one of the surviving brands in the GM portfolio. In a post … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobile Industry, Marketing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Why some brands are losing relevance

Posted on August 13, 2010 by

Consumer brands are designed to create floor traffic for retailers (because the consumer wants the brand) and value over private label products because the branded products are innovative and worth the increased price the consumer pays. Over the last 15 … Continue reading →

Posted in brand, Innovation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Human Intelligence and Forensic Sales Analysis

Posted on August 9, 2010 by

I’ve been buying products in retail stores now for…well, many decades.  In all of that time I’ve yet to have a store manager approach me and ask either “Why did you buy that product” or “Why did you put that … Continue reading →

Posted in market research, retail, sales | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Lean thinking applied to airports

Posted on August 6, 2010 by

Two of our favorite subjects (airports and lean thinking) were combined in a blog post entitled, Saying Goodbye To Long Waits At The Airport. While not all long waits are solved, one of the key ones, being #23 for take-off … Continue reading →

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