Those of you who are Star Trek fans would have felt right at home with me the other day. I went to check out the new Microsoft store which just opened at Fashion Valley mall here in San Diego because I wanted to do a compare/contrast to the Apple store in the same mall. My fellow fans would have felt at home in the Microsoft store not because it was a cool look at the future of culture and technology, but rather because it seemed to be the Mirror Universe. (more…)
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…)
Consensus Advisors just released their 2009-2010 Retailer Health Ratings (RHRs) report. 
The RHRs measure and compare retailers over a five-year period on:
The report and webinar were really interesting and so I thought I’d share some of the insights and my reactions. (more…)
“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…)
I usually try to keep my critiques to categories I’ve worked in, primarily because I think it’s irresponsible for me to comment on what works and what doesn’t when I have little basis for my assessment other than being a consumer. So I initially demurred when some folks have asked for my POV on AT&T’s new campaign, Rethink Possible.
I’ve been working with a major retail brand and my engagement has included an audit and assessment of retail best practices. Although most of my work is proprietary, I wanted to share some of my findings here because I’ve found some really interesting patterns. (more…)
Ever since the phrase “you manage what you measure” made its way into the dialogue of corporate America, metrics have played an increasingly important role in the management of businesses. 
No one can argue the value of timely, detailed, and accurate measures of performance as assessments of effectiveness and guides for decision-making. Yet, which metrics are best remains highly debatable.
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 Sunday’s New York Times included a piece, “At MoMA, ‘Permanent’ Learns to Be Flexible.” 
It outlined how the museum’s new chief curator of painting and sculpture, Ann Temkin, is challenging the rules of museum display. In the piece, I found some instructive parallels for struggling retailers. (more…)
Congratulations to Jon Galloway, the winner 
of the “vote for the best blogpost” celebration I held to mark the 1-year anniversary of my blog!
Jon voted for “don’t go changin’ to try to please them,” a post I had written about why brands shouldn’t go chasing after customers. Jon explains his choice:
This really resonated with me since I’ve seen this mistake made so many times from a product development point of view: (more…)