I’ve always been fascinated by movie trailers – not for how they entice people to see movies, but for the insights they provide into how to make great ads. After all, ads and trailers serve a similar objective: convert viewership into action — buy a product or go see a movie. […]
brand-as-business bit: Tucked away in last week’s New York Times automotive section was a great piece about advertising. The subject was Ed McCabe (of Scali, McCabe, Sloves fame) whose iconoclastic approach to advertising etched into our brains safety as Volvo’s brand identity. Three points about Mr. McCabe’s strategy really resonated with me: “Volvo’s reputation for crash […]
New York Times’ Stephanie Clifford asked me for reactions to J. C. Penney’s recent presentation about the vision and path forward for the venerable chain. […]
In recent weeks, both the New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek ran stories on the booming music concert business. The Times piece, A Front-Row Seat, to Go? Rock Fans Pay for Perks relayed the success of VIP packages which give concert goers special perks like face time with the artists at thousands of dollars a […]
Once again I find myself writing a post triggered by a New York Times article on the mobile category. Last Monday it was about the different strategies brands are taking with their mobile application offerings. Today this post introduces some thoughts based on the piece, “AT&T Takes the Blame, Even for the iPhone’s Faults.” […]
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’ […]
I’m taking a break from the series on brand value creation for a post on a topic I’ve been reading a lot about lately — saying “thank you.” […]
Rarely does Ben Stein write something that I don’t agree with and really appreciate — his column in this past Sunday’s NY Times is no exception. The piece, Don’t Blame the Business Trip, […]
Yesterday’s New York Times article entitled, “Do You Want to ‘Friend’ a Detergent?” provides a vivid description of what’s wrong with marketing these days. […]