Brand Humanity
Trader Joe’s and the Slow Death of Brand Personality
Update – Two weeks after this post was originally published, Trader Joe’s issued a new statement sharing that they do not consider these brand names to be racist and instead will be keeping them intact. I believe brands should act in human ways and have a personality. In fact, I wrote a book on it … Read more
4 Big Trends From The 2019 Super Bowl Ads That Explain Our Culture
The best part of the Super Bowl experience is always the advertising. That was particularly true this year thanks to another joyless victory by the Patriots in quantifiably the most boring Super Bowl ever. As a lover of marketing strategy, the big game always offers a chance to dissect the best and worst of how … Read more
Why More Millennials Are Uncovering Their Tattoos At Work
For the past several years the debate about tattoos at work has gone back and forth between those who think a tattoo is taboo in the office and those who feel it is a modern expression of individuality and may even help connect with certain people. The view of this article is that more millennials are uncovering their … Read more
Victorinox and How To Use Powerfully Ordinary Videos For Marketing
One piece of advice I am fond of sharing from the stage is about the importance of showing your work – something we are told to do in school but often forget. This brand video from Victorinox is a twelve minute journey behind the scenes into how their iconic Swiss Army Knives are made. The … Read more
What British Grocery Chains Can Teach Us About Delivering Retail With Empathy
British supermarkets are quickly becoming the unexpected pioneers in adding more empathy into retail. In January, Tesco introduced a “slow checkout line” for customers who have dementia or otherwise need more time to check out. This week, Morrisons, another British supermarket chain, announced it would have “quiet hours” to help autistic shoppers to have a … Read more
Cadbury Is The First Brand To Get Banned From Advertising To Kids
Cadbury is the first symbolic advertiser to have ads banned, but the real target may be sugary processed foods that pretend to be healthy snacks.
How To Reinvent A Brand: Lessons From Kodak, Blackberry and Crayola
This week Crayola branched out in a new direction by launching its own line of colorful beauty products. In the same week, Blackberry continued their own quest to maintain relevance and resurrect their fading brand by announcing the KEY2 (a new phone featuring a full keyboard) and Kodak showed off the first photos taken on … Read more
Why Everyone Wants To Sell Everything As A Subscription
This week AirFrance became one of the first airlines to experiment with subscription pricing by announcing a new pre-paid travel product called Le Pass which allows frequent travelers to purchase pre-paid coupons to lock in pricing. A few days later, Mercedes-Benz followed BMW, Porsche and Cadillac by launching their own monthly all-inclusive subscription model, at … Read more
How To Sue A Robot And What The TED Conference Is Really Like
Should technology be a source for hope or fear? That was the question that seemed to emerge this week as I read several stories offering a recap from the TED Global conference as well as new initiatives in natural language search from Google and a legal debate about how and if people should be able … Read more
