“Is having a sacred playbook an asset that companies should preserve at all costs, or does it become a liability holding companies back as the world around them changes? Is there a point at which a company’s size, growth, and industry-spanning tentacles make a unified culture of decision-making and inventing impossible?” These questions, posed in […]
Your core values can’t simply be words on your website or on a poster in your office; they must be used. Learn how Amazon uses its core values in my new post on LinkedIn: Do You Use Your Core Values Or Just Talk About Them? related: Do Your Core Values Have Teeth? Fusion: How Integrating […]
The problem at Amazon is not simply that its culture has gone awry; more importantly, it has become disconnected from the company’s brand. Amazon’s brand has always been grounded in its aspiration of becoming “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.” And its leaders have used the organization’s core values, “Leadership Principles”, to guide the company in service […]
My “brands to watch” post was such a hit last year, I thought I’d share who I will be keeping my eye on in 2014. Some of these brands are sure to grow in the coming year, the future of others is less certain – but I’m pretty sure we’ll be hearing a lot about […]
If we all don’t die falling off the fiscal cliff, 2013 will prove to be an interesting year for brands and businesses. The following are five (well, actually six) brands I’ll be keeping my eye on next year. Importantly, these are not necessarily brands that I think will fare well (predicting the future is not […]
My Black Friday was a bust! A big let-down from all the hoopla about doorbusters and flash sales — a complete disappointment. But more than a personal sob story, I think my experience holds some important lessons for retailers and e-tailers. […]
brand-as-business bit: In a recent feature, Bloomberg Businessweek detailed “The Battle for Best Buy, the Incredible Shrinking Big Box.” It was an informative piece about the retailer’s challenges but what caught my eye were the stats outlining key retail metrics: first, real estate — Costco leads the pack of featured retailers at $1,031 and GameStop […]
brand-as-business bit: Have you seen the latest TV commercial for Amazon? It’s terrific! Why? It talks about what Amazon has already done. Unlike many technology ads that make promises about great things companies are working to make possible, this ad is basically a review of all the great things Amazon has already done. It conveys […]
A journalist recently posed some questions about free shipping. With the holiday shopping season upon us, there’s a debate between those who say free shipping is imperative, […]
