brand as business bit: A couple of sound bites connected for me recently. In a recent Bloomberg BusinessWeek piece entitled, “Has CNN’s All-News Strategy Become Old News?,” Alex Sherman writes about the cable networks’ reliance on “the story” to drive its audiences, unlike other networks that balance breaking news with opinions and personalities. Phil Grffin, [...]
For me, Tiffany Shlain is a source of great insight and hope on culture, communication, technology, and life, so I’m pleased to share my recent interview with her: Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Tiffany is a filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and co-founder of The International Academy of Digital [...]
brand as business bit: What makes an ad something people want to share with others? Is there a secret formula for making ads that are most likely to be shared? The March issue of the Harvard Business Review included a report by Harvard prof Thales Teixeira who tracked viewers’ eye movements and facial expressions while [...]
brand as business bit: “A strong concept that has the potential to evolve into a brand” is among the five criteria for a successful fast casual restaurant concept, according to Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs. Speaking at an education session at the National Restaurant Show earlier this week, Don shared his insights about growth. [...]
What makes a store more than a store? What makes a breakthrough brand experience at retail? These are questions that companies with brick and mortar assets wrestle with as they continue to lose share to online competitors or to those with mobile capabilities (smart phone-enabled mobile commerce as well as IRL roving mobile units and [...]
brand as business bit: I got a response to my last “brand as business brief“, Value and Values, that I just have to share with you. It’s from Kevin Knight, who along with his wife Heather, run Anjou Bakery, a “a thriving incubator of good taste in food” in Cashmere, WA (about 2 hours East [...]
brand as business bit: Last month we lost a great political thinker, James Q. Wilson. In a tribute to “the pre-eminent political scientist of the last 50 years,” The New York Times described Wilson’s groundbreaking analyses of political behavior. His work on how organizations offer incentives for people to join and support them seemed an [...]
brand as business bit: “Do well by doing good” has become the ultimate rallying cry for corporate social responsibility (CSR) – and case studies from Walmart to Nike to Timberland prove it is possible to benefit society and the bottomline. What’s more, CSR programs can make companies more innovative: According to research featured in April’s [...]
BurgerKing, Volvo, Coke, LEGO, and ShoeDazzle were some of the brands in my recent conversations. Peruse this recap of my content this month to see what you might have missed:
brand as business bit: I love how some of The New York Times’ best business stories aren’t found in the Business section. Case in point: The Sports section’s recent recap of the 76ers turnaround. It retraces private equity titan Josh Harris’s moves to rejuvenate the august team – and in doing so, it provides helpful [...]
(Here’s my newest Brand Experience Brief — insights and analysis from my audits of new and interesting retail or restaurant concepts.) It’s always interesting to see how product companies create retail experiences for their brands. That’s why I’m eager to share my download on the LEGO store. It’s a solid experience for the LEGO brand, but they [...]
Change is good. It’s more than good – it’s necessary for growth. Companies need to evolve their offerings in order to keep things fresh and their customers interested. But what happens when a company changes its business model in a way that strips away a valuable element of its brand equity? Is it able to [...]
What happens when a 125 year old $35BB company wants to get entrepreneurial? When the company is Coca-Cola, it starts a new business unit, Venturing and Emerging Brands whose mission is to discover “the next big thing.” It’s the force behind the company’s recent acquisitions of Honest Tea and a new product at Whole Foods, [...]
brand as business bit: In my contribution to OPEN Forum this month, Why Brand?, I lay out what strong brands do for small businesses. Although I usually work with larger companies/brands, I believe a brand is any business leader’s most powerful tool for accelerating and sustaining growth. And so, small businesses should invest in brand [...]
brand as business bit: There’s been a lot of activity in the fast food world these days: Burger King just launched a new menu and ad campaign, Wendy’s introduced a new tagline and campaign, and Taco Bell is experimenting with a new menu and tagline. My colleagues over at E-Poll and I thought it would [...]
