denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ /

Consensus Advisors just released their 2009-2010 Retailer Health Ratings (RHRs) report.  The RHRs measure and compare retailers over a five-year period on:

• healthy growth
• asset utilization
• pricing power
• balance sheet strength

The report and webinar were really interesting and so I thought I’d share some of the insights and my reactions. (more…)

Last week I had the pleasure of serving as a panelist on the marketing track for the 26th Annual Southern California Business Growth Conference.  Co-hosted by the Harvard Business School Association of Orange County and USC Marshall Alumni Association, the conference attracted over 1,000 of the region’s elite business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs. (more…)

Recently several manufacturers have announced that they are initiating an e-commerce business.   I’m not sure of the motivations behind these moves but it seems to be a growing trend. Although many manufacturers have been offering direct sales for many years through their own e-commerce sites, it seems we’re seeing a new surge of interest in doing so from players who have historically shunned the idea.

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Why should stockholders care about a company’s brand? That’s the subject of today’s post, the 3rd in a series on the many ways a brand creates value for a company. (more…)

Here’s Post #2 in a series on how brands create value.  I’m using Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard as an organizing framework and kicked the series off with the Customer perspective.  Today, the topic is Financial brand value creation. (more…)

Today I’m launching a short series on brand value creation.  My intent is to outline the ways brands create value, organizing the points by the four quadrants of The Balanced Scorecard. (more…)

Last week, Interbrand Design Forum the retail arm of the global consultancy of the same name released The Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands 2009 report and it is a must-read for anyone who wants insights into the retail sector. (more…)

Last week’s Ad Age juxtaposed 2 pieces worth noting:

First was an excerpt from David Aaker‘s latest book, “Spanning Silos:  The New CMO Imperative.” Its main thesis (more…)

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has officially changed its name to Panasonic Corp (see release.)  The company also ditched its National brand, (more…)

Discover magazine has published an interview with William McDonough, the “King of Green Architecture.”  In it, McDonough explains (more…)