Earlier this week I posted some key takeaways from the keynote speakers and panelists at the Southern California Business Growth Conference. As a panelist on the marketing track, one of the things I said during the “Brand Implementation & Impact: Bring your Brand to Market” session seemed to spark some interest of its own – and so I thought I’d say more about it here.
“Differentiate or die” is probably a familiar mantra to all; and there’s a well-established albeit less pithy corollary – don’t sell the category, sell your brand. After all, given the overcrowded nature of most categories, the hope of success for most brands rests on their ability to stand out from their numerous competitors. And promoting the category usually only benefits the market leader. (more…)
While you are reading this, I’m attending the Consumer Electronics Show. 
I’ll be meeting with clients and prospects, attending educational sessions, and walking the show floor — the last activity is one that I always find both exciting and frustrating. Exciting because there always so many new and cool gadgets and technologies to check out; frustrating because so many of these new items tend to blend together into one big, indistinguishable, unmemorable morass of technology. The brands suffer from the lack of remarkable and sustainable differentiation. (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…)
Yesterday’s New York Times’ article, Apple’s Game Changer, Downloading Now, was a fascinating read. 
I’m not knowledgeable enough about the technology behind mobile apps to evaluate the story as a representation of the programming and development challenges and opportunities of all the different companies. But I found it a provocative report on the different brands’ strategies. (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.
Last week I had the honor of guest-leading a session at the University of California-San Diego. 
Although the class was about news-writing, the instructor wanted to spend a day focused on brands and so she asked me to do a brief intro to brands and then lead the group in a brand management exercise. It was an eye-opening experience and I thought I’d share some of my takeaways. (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…)
