denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ /

Now that summer is officially here, I wanted to take a look back at the past 6 months and see what kinds of conversations had been sparked by brand as business bites. The following are the top posts from each month in terms of number of re-tweets, comments, or emails they generated – I’ve also included some of the commentary.  I’d definitely like to hear more, so please take a look and then add your voice to the conversation by clicking on the “comments” link below. (more…)

Rich Thomaselli from Advertising Age called me recently for some comments for an article he was writing, “If Consumer Is Your Agency, It’s Time for a Review.”  The piece turned out to be a great analysis of how the use of John Q. Public to develop ads has “jumped the shark” (as Rich refers to it).  He calls out companies for turning over their marketing to consumers through contests like Doritos’ Super Bowl campaigns and Folgers’ recent contest asking the Average Joe (pun intended?!) to update its famous “Best Part of Wakin’ Up” theme.

(more…)

I’m fascinated by the recent flurry of activity of designer PCs.  Having worked at Sony during the early years of VAIO (perhaps the first fashionable PC line, launched with its distinctive violet color and sleek features and all), it’s pretty amazing to me to see how the category has developed. (more…)

Recently Ad Age published a list of what it considered to be “America’s Hottest Brands.”   The list featured 40 brands that are “setting the pace for innovation — and getting results – right now.”  Although their selection criteria wasn’t clear and I can’t say I agree with all of the choices, I did find some instructive insights in the write-up.  (more…)

Last week’s Ad Age featured an article called “Why It’s Time to Do Away With the Brand Manager.” The piece, and the Forrester research report which inspired it, argues for “changing the name ‘brand manager‘ to ‘brand advocate,’ and fundamentally changing marketer organizations in response to the onset of the digital age.” It reminded me of an article I wrote several years ago.

(more…)

Last week Ad Age announced that Anheuser-Busch InBev is holding an online contest in China in which consumers can pitch ideas for a Budweiser TV spot which will run during next year’s Chinese New Year.  The only brief to the aspiring ad-makers:  the commercial must include ants (a recurring theme for the brand’s Chinese New Year ads.)  I’m liking this idea as much as I did when these so-called “user-“generated content first emerged as an advertising approach a few years ago – which is to say, not much. (more…)

This week’s AdAge features a troubling piece, Want More Out of Your Agencies? Write Better Briefs:  Execs at Top Shops Say Clients Are Unclear About What’s Expected, Leading to Lots of Wasted Time.  The article cites research (more…)

An open memo…

To: Richard Block, VP Marketing, Haier America

From: Someone Who Really Wants to See Haier Succeed

Subject: How to Grow Haier Into a Household Name (more…)

There’s a healthy debate going on over at AdAge.com this week — a POV by Michael Fassnacht, Chief Customer Intelligence Officer at DRAFTFCB entitled “The Death of Consumer Segmentation?” (more…)

Last week’s Ad Age featured a column by brand luminary Al Ries that I just can’t let go without comment.  Ries’s main thesis is that brands must remain narrowly focused (more…)