Today’s headlines about brick and mortar companies are troubling. Office Depot just announced it will close 400 stores. Radio Shack wants to close 1,100 stores but its lenders are resisting. Sears is looking to sell off chunks of its real estate. The prevailing wisdom of retailing strategy seems to be minimizing investment in brick and […]
From What Great Brands Do: With great brands, company culture and customer experience are inextricably linked. other quotes: your brand can ’t just be a promise; it must be a promise delivered a brand is what you do when you can’t see any daylight between… […]
A thorough write-up about RH (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) in a recent Businessweek caught my eye. As Susan Berfield documented in the piece, the approach that CEO Gary Friedman is taking with the brand. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to several principles in my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building […]
If you’re like most Americans, you probably never thought about tacos for breakfast (other than tacos from Jack In the Box at 4 am after a night out, right?!) Well, that’s about to change with the introduction of the Taco Bell Waffle Taco on Thursday. […]
My new Brand Experience Brief (audit and analysis of a new or interesting restaurant and retail concept) is about a unique location of the West-Coast burger chain, Carl’s Jr. They have employed a new sports restaurant theme in the Glendale area of Phoenix and in this video, you’ll see the concept has good potential but doesn’t quite excel at retail customer […]
Great brands may think big, but they sweat the small stuff. They know that all the little things they do or fail to do in person shape brand perceptions far more than the big things they claim through mass media. So they design their customer experiences down to last detail, and usually appeal to as many of […]
The popular Bloomberg Radio show, The Hays Advantage, with co-hosts Kathleen Hays and Vonnie Quinn, interviewed me today to dish on the upcoming Super Bowl ads. Listen to my take on the ads from Danone, GoDaddy, VW, and more here. The interview was only one of the great pieces of content posted this week that […]
My latest Forbes CMO Network column is based on the basic idea that once customers feel a personal and meaningful bond with your brand, they’re more likely to stick with you. The point seems so fundamental that I almost hesitated to write a piece about it, but as I read about the latest coffee chain […]
Tom Ryan, the founder of popular better burger chain Smashburger, has started a new restaurant that’s a combination classic diner, hipster bar, and foodie haven. Check out this brand experience brief to learn how such a mash-up of concepts has turned out. other brand experience briefs: Modmarket True Food Kitchen Gourdough’s Public House transcript: […]
Modmarket was named one of the top 5 hot concepts of the year by Nation’s Restaurant News. What distinguishes it from the other fast casual restaurants serving better-for-you food? Check out this brand experience brief. related brand experience briefs: True Food Protein Bar Fresh2Order transcript: This brand experience brief is about a restaurant company with the […]