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Change is good.  It’s more than good – it’s necessary for growth.  Companies need to evolve their offerings in order to keep things fresh and their customers interested. But what happens when a company changes its business model in a way that strips away a valuable element of its brand equity?  Is it able to […]

Between spring break, March Madness, and primary season, there’s been a lot going on outside the brand world this month.  But there’s also been a flurry of new brand-building content going around.  Here’s a handy recap of what I contributed to the conversation: brand-building: Steve Jobs on Brand-Building — a slide show of what Walter Isaacson’s […]

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Last week, the Wall Street Journal featured a piece about Lululemon Athletica’s “secret sauce.”   Although many stories have been written about the retailer of yoga-inspired athletic apparel, this one succinctly relayed the elements that distinguish Lululemon from other brands. […]

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The folks at Deloitte recently released, The Next Evolution: Store 3.0,  a report on the readiness of retailers for the store of tomorrow.  Although the report offers a somewhat limited and biased perspective since it is based on a survey of only 39 current retail executives, it raises some important questions about the requirements of […]

On the eve of a special Apple event, it seems the allure of the Apple brand is as strong as ever.  “We have something you really have to see. And touch,” declares the invitation to the March 7th media event.  Quite a buzz has been building up! I don’t know if tomorrow’s announcement will impress […]

03.01.12

retail tensions

brand-as-business bit:  There’s been a lot of reporting on the rankings from Interbrand’s Best Retail Brands 2012 report — but I’ve been spending more time on the consultancy’s commentary that’s sprinkled throughout the report. The comments have made me aware of the tensions that now define retail: efficiency vs. responsiveness – “Now that consumers decide how, […]

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brand-as-business bit:  My latest Brand New Perspectives column in QSR Magazine answers a QSR operator’s question about keeping customers coming back. The piece outlines my thoughts on increasing purchase frequency — an objective of practically every marketer — I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the effectiveness of a heart-felt ‘thank you.’  Said with […]

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Hi folks!  Trying a new feature this year — a monthly round-up of my published content. It’s a mental buffet of ideas that may seem schizophrenic at times (I do work on fast food restaurants as well as fitness brands, after all!), but it’s all in the service of helping companies understand and apply the […]