Bob Garfield
Is John Winsor Bringing Industry Full Circle?
Victors & Spoils Founder on Difference Between Crowdsourcing and 'Expert Sourcing'
Al Ries
Do You Have Everything Except a Marketing Strategy?
We don't see many marketing people calling the shots on products, names and distribution channels. Instead, marketing people tend to focus on "communications" issues.
Discountitus, the Disease That's Sweeping the Marketing Community
In industry after industry, the discount is the focus of the advertising. That's no way to become a category leader.
Have We Killed Brand Advertising?
Companies no longer advertise brands. They advertise various products their brand names are attached to.
Want to Expand Your Business? You Should Narrow Your Focus
Recently, the Conference Board asked 704 CEOs to rank a number of business priorities. The No.1 priority of their list: "Business growth." Who can argue with that objective? But the real question is "How?"
Northwestern's Medill's New Name Encompasses Everything but Says Nothing
Is this what Medill is teaching its students? That as time goes on, names need to be expanded to include additional activities an organization is getting into.
Would Amazon Be Stronger With Multiple Brands?
While positioning has become famous, the line-extension trap and other principles of positioning are mostly ignored. Take Amazon.com, "Earth's biggest bookstore." It didn't take long for Amazon to move onto bigger and better things: computers, electronics, home and garden supplies, groceries, health and beauty aids, toys, clothing, jewelry, sports equipment. But what if Amazon had followed up its book success with the launch of product-specific websites.
Retail America Is Having a Big Sale -- but for How Long?
Like most marketing fads, the coupon craze is typical of the follow-the-leader thinking rampant in the marketing community -- if everybody is using coupons, then they must be an effective marketing tool. And they are -- in the short term.
Social Media Will Usher in Golden Age of Global Branding -- if Marketers Get Message Right
A great ad campaign will make a bad marketing strategy fail faster. What should Burger King's marketing strategy have been? And what is the role of social media anyway?
Apple's IPad a Great Example of Divergent Thinking
The tablet computer of 2002 was a convergence product. It combined the functions of a pen computer with the functions of a standard laptop computer. The tablet computer of 2010 is a divergence product. It's as if Apple took a laptop computer and cut off the keyboard and threw it away, then put a handful of the laptop's more important components into the screen itself.
Marketing Sense Isn't the Same as Common Sense
Common sense says that marketing messages have to constantly change in order to stay in tune with the times. Marketing sense says that's nonsense. The way to build a brand is with a consistent message over an extended period of time. Maybe you remember Little Caesars.
You Can't Win a Revolution With a Line Extension
"Everything has changed" is the message marketers have been reacting to recently. And because everything has changed, marketers believe they have to change everything in their marketing programs.
Long Slogans Are Absolutely, Positively More Effective Than Short Ones
In spite of the success of long-form slogans, the marketing industry seems fixated on the idea that when it comes to slogans, the shorter the better.
Why Two Names Are Better Than One
A nickname is a good thing. People who use a brand's nickname feel closer to the product than those who don't. As a matter of fact, nicknames are one of the most under-utilized aspects of marketing. If at all possible, every company and every brand should have a formal name as well as a nickname. Two names are better than one.
Comcast Needs a New Strategy, Not a New Brand
What's Comcast doing playing in this game? That's a classic marketing mistake. Comcast is trying to fight a branding war with its heavily-hyped Xfinity brand when it should have been fighting a category war.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Offers Bittersweet Lesson
High-fructose corn syrup is getting a bad name. But the broader lesson is the importance of the category name itself. Too many marketing people take the category name as a "given." All of their efforts are spent on promoting the brand, not the category name. Yet over time, the category name can be an extremely important element in the success of a brand.
Once Brand Takes Flight, It's Hard to Bring It Down
Once a brand has a strong position in consumers' minds, it is almost impervious to flak. There are a host of examples that demonstrate the power of a strong brand to withstand negative publicity.
Fill in the Holes in the Consumer's Mind
Dell, IBM and Xerox are just a few of the many well-known brands with no places in the mind to put them.
'Modelitus' Is the Primary Cause of Toyota's Troubles
The Toyota Production System is world famous for its focus on "continuous improvements." With all those improvements continuously taking place, why has Toyota suddenly found itself in deep trouble? You might have your own theory, but here is mine: "Modelitus."
What Good Are the Words to a Song Without the Music?
Without a visual hammer, an advertising campaign is almost certain to fail.
The Principles of Marketing Can Be Summarized in One Word
What's the No. 1 principle of marketing, at least as far as we're concerned? It's the principle of focus. You narrow the focus in order to own a word in the mind of the consumer. Without a focus, it's very difficult to build a strong brand. And without a strong brand, any company's future is in doubt.
