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Brand Meaning: Can a Brand Change Its Spots?
Famed Apple Stores leader and Silicon Valley wunderkind Ron Johnson thought so. He swept in as JC Penney's new CEO with celebratory bravado. He promised to change the stodgy brand meaning to a younger, hipper and more upscale image. Seventeen months later, JC Penney's board fired him.
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Social Media Communication: Social Is Anything But
It is said social media has changed communication. It hasn't. Communication is the same as it always has been. Message. Sender. Receiver. Social media's problem is the receiver. Most times there isn't one.
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Can Volvo be the Safe Luxury Car?
A little history first: Do you remember when Volvo was shaped like a tank and even drove like one? It was engineered tough and reliable. The controls on the dashboard were few. It was all about safety. Decision making throughout the organization was filtered first through the safety lens.
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It's the Brands, Stupid.
It appears Sears shoppers can be members. Eddie Lampert, Sears Holdings' chairman and CEO, told us so in a letter attached to the company's recent results. The letter says his membership program is "continuing to gain traction with our members as members engage in all aspects of our program.
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Pick Super Bowl Ads Like the Pros
Eighty percent of Super Bowl ads don't sell. That's according to a new study by the research firm Communicus. And, article after article, like Advertising Age's most recent one titled, "Under Review: Is Super Bowl Worth $4 million?" (January 21, 2014) jam the pundit backstory to the big game.
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The Tale of Two Conglomerates
In talks I deliver on the topic of positioning, I often make an offer that elicits a great response from the audience.
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Propel on Right Track Back to Being Cool for Those Who Like To Sweat
On a very hot day last summer while tracking Tiger Woods at Firestone Country Club, I thought for a moment about buying a bottle of water. Shade was sparse and I grew sweaty and thirsty as I tried to keep pace with the tournament gallery on Firestone's rolling grounds.
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Please Pass the ... All-Purpose Sauce?
Quick! What's A. 1. ? (You answered, "Steak sauce. ")
Quick! Name a steak sauce. (You said, "A. 1. ")
Positioning marketing theory calls this "equivalence. " Steak sauce is A. 1. ; and A. 1. is steak sauce.
Open, Sesame! Bert and Ernie Put Veggies On Kids' Wish List
It's easy to slide into cynicism, as the world tends to be a pretty heavy place sometimes. Today we fret more than ever that we are hurtling toward a gloom-and-doom destiny, so we fear.
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Positioning Storytelling.
Is the advertising industry losing its way? The recent Wall Street Journal article about the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity seems to point that the answer to that question is yes. Positioning storytelling is weak.
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