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(The following is the first in a two-part blog-exchange I’m doing with Stephen Denny, author of Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry.  Because Steve and I are among those teaching the upcoming Marketing Profs University course, Marketing Your Small Business, we decided to address retailers’ issues and opportunities in these […]

01.05.12

learning at lego

brand-as-business bit:  Businessweek’s piece on Lego‘s attempts to crack the girl code describes how the company used anthropological research methods to understand its users: “You could say a worn-out sneaker saved Lego. ‘We asked an 11-year-old German boy, ‘what is your favorite possession?’ And he pointed to his shoes. But it wasn’t the brand of […]

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2012, according to the Chinese calendar, is the Year of the Dragon.  In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal and predictions for 2012 are for a dragon-like year of excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration, and intensity. With this expectation in mind, I’ve selected several brands to keep my eye on.  They’re likely to […]

“All that matters is you have harnessed the indomitable power of being ready, willing and able.” — Sekou Andrews Last week, nearly 500 people gathered to envision — and experience — “the world in our grasp” at TEDx San Diego.  It was an energizing, inspiring, and challenging day as we discovered ideas worth spreading. This year I […]

DLYohn taste of tedx midwest View more presentations from Denise Lee Yohn, Inc.. I had the opportunity to sit in on a part of TEDx Midwest while I was visiting Chicago last week.  It was a little like a sampling a few bites from a bountiful buffet — here are a few of the nuggets […]

I just read Andy Stefanovich‘s book, Look at More Stuff:  A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change, and had to share some of the best bits with you: DLYohn Look at More Stuff   View more presentations from Denise Lee Yohn, Inc. […]

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Kick it off. Drop the ball. Setbacks. A free pass. Take it over the finish line. Follow-through. The vocabulary of sports penetrates the business world. Due to the highly competitive nature of business, the concept of teams meeting on the playing field for a fierce contest has clear application to business as we’ve known it. […]

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06.21.11

say cheese

What do cameras and sandwiches have in common? A lot, Jonathan Kaplan hopes. The creator of Flip Video, the super-simple camcorder device that provided a lot of the initial fuel behind YouTube’s early growth, has gotten a lot of press lately about his latest aspiration: The Melt, a nationwide chain of restaurants offering gourmet variations […]

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David Aaker, author, brand guru, Vice Chairman of the brand consulting firm Prophet, and professor emeritus at Berkeley’s business school, joins me for a provocative interview on the state of brands today. Providing color and context for his latest book, Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant, Dave explains: why the only way for brands to win is to […]