In some categories, a major component of the brand experience comes from human interaction, such as at premium hotels, restaurants and retailers, to name a few. Brands in these categories need their client-facing employees to be emotionally intelligent, attuned to customers’ needs, knowledgeable about the brand’s offer and motivated to look after customers. Having committed employees kick-starts a chain of benefits. The cycle starts with careful employee selection. If client service is crucial, client-facing vacancies should be filled by applicants who show not only the right skills but also ..read more

Don’t let demographics scare you. You’ve seen the alarming headlines. Sure, the ominous trends are ominous, worthy of headlines. But not determinate. There is more to the story. There is always room for growth. There are two scary trends. Declining fertility rates and an aging population. In other words, a population that is growing more slowly and skewing much older. Which adds up to alarming prospects for growth, for labor, for interest rates and for brands. For growth, it’s a story of inputs—population growth times productivity growth. A straightforward algebra. More people able to produce ..read more

Lately, there has been a lot of hand-wringing over the sales of EVs. EVs are not generating as much interest as expected. US automotive giants, except for Tesla, have backtracked on their EV plans, even going so far as to say that hybrids may be in their futures, just like Toyota. Mercedes is pulling back, too. This is sad because late last year…Mercedes pledged to build 2500 charging stations in the US. The Atlantic described the plight of EVs, “Without the enormous sales they’d anticipated, carmakers have walked back hasty electrification proclamations and grown cagey about the inevitability ..read more

These guys turned eggs, dates, and almonds into a $600M payday. And they did it in 5 years. Peter Rahal and Jared Smith created RXBAR. This is the protein snack that went from obscurity to ubiquity in 17 minutes. Or at least it felt like that. But it was actually a grind. And there’s a serious lesson from how they did it. Here’s what happened. 1. Early Days It’s 2012. Peter’s an athlete — playing Rugby and doing CrossFit. He’s also following a Paleo lifestyle. No grain, no sugar, no dairy. And he notices something weird. There are tons of products serving the Paleo crowd. But no protein bars ..read more

There are many reasons why Americans do not feel positive about the economy. Even though we read and hear that inflation is easing, many Americans do not feel secure and financially stable. A significant portion of Americans are being left behind. One reason for the bummed-out view of the economy is the continual price hikes on all sorts of products and services. The Wall Street Journal pointed out, in two separate stories, “We Still Don’t Believe How Much Things Cost” and “The American Dream Left Some in the Dust” how continually higher prices affect customer-perceived value Put the blame on ..read more

Trust in traditional institutions has plummeted. Trust in corporations, government, and media are at all-time lows. And, of course, people still don’t trust advertising. People don’t believe what you have to say. They believe what others have to say about you. We have to retrain people to understand that in the digitally generated worlds (including social, w3, VR) marketing as a practice no longer exists. People exist. Products themselves are merely objects intertwined within people-populated moments shared across social, digital, and traditional platforms. Sometimes these produ ..read more

When companies are formed, the founders often have a clear reason for starting the business. This often defines what the brand stands for and shapes all the decision-making. Accomplished rock climber Yvon Chouinard founded Chouinard Equipment (later Patagonia) in 1957. He had the ambition to produce sports equipment that would allow people to enjoy the great outdoors but have a minimal impact on the environment. How consumers saw the brand and what made it appealing stemmed from Yvon’s vision and how he and his like-minded colleagues ran the business. Company founders often provide this clari ..read more

Price is about perceptions. It is also about reality. Which is to say that price involves both perceptions of value and the reality of affordability. The former is competition, expectations, benchmarks and benefits. The latter is what’s actually in the wallet. Value comes into play only when affordability is no barrier. Most of the time, value is the salient pricing issue. Meaning that the typical task is managing brand perceptions. To build growth and equity, pricing power is critical, which is perceptions. A big part of locking that in is framing price properly. We have studied these pricing ..read more

In 2013, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, T-Mobile CEO John Legere confidently stepped onto the stage, prepared to place a bet. But this was no ordinary Vegas gamble. It was a high-stakes wager on the future of his company—this was a Big Bet. With a captivating blend of humor and audacity, Legere declared war on his competitors and the mobile industry’s tarnished reputation. His rallying cry signaled a radical new strategy: No Contracts. No Data Plan. No Overages. “We are the Un-carrier!” The impact was electric, igniting the audience, stirring the media, and inspiring his ..read more

Another season of Super Bowl advertising has passed, and with it has come criticism of the lack of creativity exhibited in the advertising. More than 50% of the 2024 Super Bowl commercials featured one or more celebrities, continuing a trend that began a decade ago. To be fair, celebrities can be a great vehicle for attracting attention and can increase the entertainment value and liking for a commercial. Entertaining and well-liked ads can also increase “buzz”, talk about ads among consumers and in the media. On the other hand, it is less clear that celebrities sell more product, create great ..read more