2024-04-25 17:00
As the furniture industry reels from a dramatic drop in consumer demand, Lovesac overcame market headwinds to report 7.5% growth in revenue in fiscal year 2024, reaching $700 million from $6… Read More
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At The Blake Project we help organizations achieve brand insistence, using proven brand strategy techniques to create robust brands that build and sustain trust. Branding Strategy Insider is the global thought leader in brand strategy and brand education and is an extension of our efforts to help marketing oriented leaders and professionals build tangible brand equity. Through thought pieces from some of the world’s leading brand thinkers we strive to promote debate and conversation about the value and role of brand in today’s businesses, offer a 360-degree perspective of the rapidly evolving discipline of brand strategy, and advance the discipline of brand management.
2024-04-24 18:09
Brands do not always survive financial engineering. Sears is an example. Bed Bath & Beyond is another. Toys R’Us is still struggling after a bankruptcy and collapse. Quiznos surviv… Read More
2024-04-23 14:09
The growth of any brand will plateau if it is successful with its initial product range in its region of origin. Further growth must come from expanding the product range, extending geograph… Read More
2024-04-22 16:45
The biggest challenge brands face is standing out from the crowd.
Kantar’s BrandZ tracking of brands across all categories worldwide finds that year-in and year-out roughly eight-in-te… Read More
2024-04-15 21:43
Barron’s, the financial weekly, is suggesting that investors take a long look at convenience stores. Apparently, convenience stores, such as WaWa and Casey’s and others, have cap… Read More
2024-04-11 00:22
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 ne… Read More
2024-04-09 17:10
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… Read More
2024-04-03 22:45
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… Read More
2024-04-02 20:03
In some companies, brand-building is the sole responsibility of the marketing team. The brand is seen as a consequence of advertising. However, this mode of thinking gets in the way. Every e… Read More
2024-04-01 17:54
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 u… Read More
2024-03-28 15:29
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… Read More
2024-03-27 15:18
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… Read More
2024-03-26 15:15
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 roc… Read More
2024-03-24 17:25
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… Read More
2024-03-21 17:48
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… Read More
2024-03-20 21:27
Consumers face rising prices from many favorite brands. Insurance costs, fast food costs, transportation costs and the cost of stamps have all increased. The pushback from rising prices is n… Read More
2024-03-19 20:22
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 f… Read More
2024-03-18 19:17
Corporate growth often depends on a company building or buying multiple brands. These may exist within one or several product categories. Such a strategy can provide economies of scale. It a… Read More
2024-03-14 16:56
One of today’s biggest cultural dynamics is so ever-present that it is hiding in plain sight. It is the culture of Both-ism, or lifestyles populated by opposites. It’s a phenomen… Read More
2024-03-13 18:35
In 1957 there was a TV show called Who Do You Trust?. The host was Johnny Carson, pre-Tonight show icon. Who Do You Trust? was probably the last time that trust was considered comedic.
Trust… Read More
2024-03-13 00:26
The World Economic Forum launched a Lighthouse Programme in 2022 about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). This was a big deal. There is almost no forum with more visibility and gravitas… Read More
2024-02-29 22:57
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is all the talk in marketing these days. Yet, we are framing our conversation about it in the wrong way.
The critical shift underway is not with our i… Read More
2024-02-28 18:33
Once upon a time there was a durable goods company with a large staff of engineers. Management felt that the company would benefit from more creativity. Instead of hiring creative minds, the… Read More
2024-02-27 18:01
Is segmentation dead? No. Yet many think so. The supply chain snarls following COVID shrunk varieties, even brands, of foods, beverages, toys, furniture, HBAs, household goods and more. Pre… Read More
2024-02-26 23:24
Lifestyle branding is ubiquitous in marketing circles. Companies spent over $7 billion on lifestyle advertising last year and are expected to allocate some $10 billion by 2027, nearly a 10 p… Read More
2024-02-21 23:34
When you hear the word “influencer,” what comes to mind? Perhaps a YouTuber doing makeup tutorials? Or a 20-something streaming video games on Twitch?
Those are certainly good ex… Read More
2024-02-20 19:41
In 2003, McDonald’s was, as BusinessWeek stated, “In Hamburger Hell.” McDonald’s subsequent turnaround had many facets. One of McDonald’s critical strategies wa… Read More
2024-02-19 20:18
Rather than continually striving for technological advances, brands should shift their focus toward how their products and services can enhance the social relationships of consumers.
Despite… Read More
2024-02-14 00:01
The outcry faced by Delta Air Lines over proposed changes in its SkyMiles and SkyClub programs last Fall is a good reminder of the risks faced by brands looking to take value out of their pr… Read More
2024-02-12 23:38
UPS ditched its CMO. And, UPS eliminated the CMO role completely. While it is true that marketing does not solve every organizational problem, it is also true that the CMO role, when execute… Read More
2024-02-07 18:26
Imagine yourself in this situation: You sell a product that’s essentially identical to competitors’ offerings, at similar pricing. You have a massive core business serving a mark… Read More
2024-02-06 20:13
The biggest challenge in marketing is indifference. Because convenience is the most powerful factor in the marketplace, bar none.
People don’t want to change their minds. Not because… Read More
2024-02-05 22:00
Local continues to be a driver for customers. Grocery stores like Publix and Whole Foods label items that are locally produced. Farmers’ markets are a draw for shoppers wanting produce… Read More
2024-02-01 22:00
We know that social causes are good for brands — reputation, recruiting, and community relations. But are brands good for social causes?
More specifically, are brands the right advocat… Read More
2024-02-01 16:59
As a B2B marketer, do these words seem familiar?
“We keep trying to articulate our difference, but it feels vague compared to our competitors.”
“Our positioning sounds just… Read More
2024-01-31 00:41
In theory, there are four ways to grow your brand.
Get more people to buy it
Charge more for it
Get existing buyers to buy it more often
Retain more customers than previously
In practice, l… Read More
2024-01-30 07:27
Marketing has some important evergreen principles. One principle is this: just because a brand-business is customer-focused does not mean that customers come first. Customers come second. Cu… Read More
2024-01-26 20:24
Why people don’t shop sustainably, when all the data suggests they want to?
We are aware of the poor state of our planet – and we have been for a long time. Most of us know that… Read More
2024-01-25 23:08
There is no debate about the value of brands and other intangible assets. Brands are generally thought to account for more than one-third of the value of businesses listed on the Standard an… Read More
2024-01-23 16:21
Based on the business press, you might believe that subscription services are booming. And, for many subscription services, there is an upward trend. Netflix is doing well. Amazon Prime is d… Read More
2024-01-22 16:57
Professor Jean-Noël Kapferer has literally written the book, or many books, on how luxury brands must behave to retain their luxury brand status. He calls them the “anti-laws of m… Read More
2024-01-18 15:58
A theme of recent business press writing is brand-business turnarounds. For example, Barron’s, the financial newspaper, points to the successful turnaround at clothing retailer Abercro… Read More
2024-01-17 18:15
The Home Depot’s “How doers get more done” is a customer empowerment promise akin to Nike’s legendary “Just Do It.” The brand is itself a “doer&rdqu&hell…Read More
2024-01-16 20:20
Money—it’s top-of-mind for any aspiring entrepreneur. No matter how much you’ve put aside or how confident you are about reaching your sales goals, you’ll never feel… Read More
2024-01-15 21:21
Strategy is “Future Competitive Advantage”.
This definition works both at the level of the firm and at the level of the individual.
What will the future look like?
How will the m… Read More
2024-01-11 19:50
One overlooked area in brand-business learning is the necessity for creating and implementing a brand-business architecture policy. Why is a brand-business architecture policy necessary?
A… Read More
2024-01-05 00:33
As designers and marketers, not to mention consumers ourselves, we admire great product packaging, but it’s almost always an afterthought to a great product. How often do you see a who… Read More
2024-01-03 20:31
There were brand-businesses that did not survive in 2023. Bed, Bath & Beyond, Rite Aid, SmileDirectClub, Lordstown Motors to name a few. There are several reasons for the demise of these… Read More
2024-01-02 19:22
Soon after you arrive at work, you have a meeting in the boardroom with potential clients.
When you enter, the room is full. Your boss is struggling valiantly to load up the slides. So, to f… Read More
2023-12-28 04:33
Brand “purpose” has been all the rage in recent years. The notion of brand purpose rests on the assumption that a brand, product, or company should stand for something more impor… Read More
2023-12-21 00:33
Hollywood’s A-listers flocked to Balenciaga’s Fall 2024 fashion show earlier this month in Los Angeles, its first in the city. It was held on South Windsor Street with the iconic… Read More
2023-12-19 19:23
Let’s talk about “Brand Essence.”
Brand Essence derives from a brand-business’ Brand Promise. To be relevantly differentiated, every brand-business must have a Brand… Read More
2023-12-18 22:40
Business leaders often confuse pricing methods with pricing strategies, so it is important for us to distinguish sharply between the two. Pricing methods yield a price number as a finite out… Read More
2023-12-14 16:36
Do ads wear out? The short answer is no. If they do, it takes a lot longer than most brand/agency teams think.
Creativity is the biggest variable when it comes to ad effectiveness so if an… Read More
2023-12-13 13:36
In 2017, pre-pandemic, Starbucks founder and Chairman, Howard Schultz, said that the way forward for brand-businesses is making your branded space an “experiential destination.”… Read More
2023-12-08 00:47
Want to inspire others to innovate? Here’s a short excerpt from my book coming in April, The Innovative Leader, on how to do it:People look to their leaders to learn what is acceptable… Read More
2023-12-06 23:50
One of my mentors, Chuck Young, once described brand growth to me using the metaphor of how trees grow.
Here’s the idea:
Like trees, brands take time to grow and require key nutrient… Read More
2023-12-05 23:18
What is strategy? Strategy is Future Competitive Advantage.
What will the future look like? What will people need and expect? How will demographics, technology, and other global shifts… Read More
2023-12-04 22:54
CEOs have become adept at saying “Sorry.” Most of the time the apologies are because some untoward or unexpected event occurred, such as an E. coli outbreak or rats in the store… Read More
2023-11-30 23:00
Today let’s focus on ingredient branding, an effective growth strategy under the right conditions.
Ingredient brands are well-known brands with well-known qualities that are included a… Read More
2023-11-29 16:05
Recently, I took what felt like a fairly expensive Uber ride from the San Francisco airport. Ridesharing used to be far less expensive than taking a taxi, but that is not the case anymore; i… Read More
2023-11-28 15:33
We live in an uncertain world. We have become more skeptical and distrusting. Our environment seems unsettled, unpredictable and unstable. And, then, to magnify these feelings, we experience… Read More
2023-11-27 19:25
Current hot-button issues for consumers are genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the overemployment of pesticides, and the overuse of antibiotics in dairy. There are haters. There are skep… Read More
2023-11-22 15:53
A company with a truly great product – the InstaPot – is bankrupt.
The InstaPot is a pressure cooker for the digital age. It’s programmable, versatile, durable, and won&rsq&hell…Read More
2023-11-21 16:12
When you teach someone how to throw a baseball, you tell them to look where they want the ball to go, step toward where they want the ball to go, and then throw the ball where they want it t… Read More
2023-11-20 16:03
Higher education marketing and communication seems harder than ever. Generational disinvestment, demographic headwinds, political dynamics, and never-ending angst over cost and affordability… Read More
2023-11-16 16:18
Content production becomes a brand-building machine when you overlay the matrix of Primal Branding®. The role of the Chief Content Officer is not only to outline the communications that… Read More
2023-11-15 17:12
Most businesspeople would be pleased to own a profitable business that was a pioneer in its category, had a stellar brand reputation, and generated more than a billion dollars in annual reve… Read More
2023-11-14 17:02
Change happens all the time. Today, it is almost impossible to keep aware of everything that changes around your brand. Customer behaviors change. Attitudes change. Competition changes. Comp… Read More
2023-11-13 15:47
Whether the role of brands in people’s lives is for the better or for the worse is a long-running debate. The most influential anti-brand voice of recent vintage is journalist and soci… Read More
2023-11-10 16:32
Today on Branding Strategy Insider, we’re sharing ten of the most beneficial books for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs). These titles hold significance due to their ability to help shap… Read More
2023-11-09 18:44
Standing still means shrinking. Brands must grow. And not only to grow the business. Brands must grow for the business to remain steady. Like the Red Queen—running as fast as possible… Read More
2023-11-08 17:49
Recently, the research and marketing community quietly lost one of its brightest, most innovative thinkers and practitioners.
Kevin Clancy was a pioneering giant. One of only two ‘thre… Read More
2023-11-07 17:38
It is always distressing when an iconic, cultural brand-business declines. It is especially distressing when the brand-business is an ingrained part of American history. But, this seems to b… Read More
2023-11-06 21:34
Much has been written about the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Industry data suggests CMO tenure is short and becoming shorter. Some firms have experimented with eliminating the… Read More
2023-11-02 14:22
It’s hard to tell if something is good or bad unless we have something else to compare it to. A standard of comparison. A reference point.
For all the turmoil in social psychology rela… Read More
2023-11-01 15:23
What consumers want most from a brand is a good product or service. Nobody wants to do business with the devil, though, so values are important. And people pay attention. But the bottom-line… Read More
2023-10-31 14:24
One of the most important issues for brand-business leadership today is navigating the intersection of global, local and personal. One brand-business that has found its way in this marketing… Read More
2023-10-30 14:48
The Kantar BrandZ world’s most valuable brands report is out, and it’s sobering. The world’s top 100 most valuable global brands lost 20% of their value in 2023, and across… Read More
2023-10-26 14:55
Ask a Chief Marketing Officer about the challenges they confront in their organizations and the relationship with the CFO is frequently near the top of the list. The same conversation with t… Read More
2023-10-25 15:03
Enterprises struggle with disruption. Their records of dealing with major disruptive technologies – such as the advent of the web, smartphone, and cloud – are generally not encou… Read More
2023-10-23 19:16
Here is a marketing truth: it does not matter if there is a recession or inflation: the best value wins. Value is a virtue. But, brand-businesses do not just wake up one day and have v… Read More
2023-10-23 14:30
The results here come from a 2016 Kantar Knowledge Point report about five situations in which Kantar data show bad advertising can help competing brands. In other words, spending your ad do… Read More
2023-10-19 19:26
There are moments when world events overtake brands. Moments when the macro forces in a scenarios workshop or the market risks that are bullet-pointed in a strategic plan become all too real… Read More
2023-10-18 17:41
1. Meaningful Difference. Kantar’s singular BrandZ database of 20,000+ brands across 50+ countries is based on research tracking brand equity since 2006. It’s a leading resource… Read More
2023-10-17 05:14
Pearls for men are having a fashion moment, but many wonder if it is a trend that has staying power. Mikimoto, a name synonymous with pearls, is counting on the men in pearls trend to last… Read More
2023-10-15 18:28
Effective communication is crucial for every organization and every leader. My experience is that great communication is often a proxy for general excellence and strong leadership. My experi… Read More
2023-10-12 15:26
Selling the category rather than selling your brand is brand-business mismanagement. Selling the category means the brand-business leadership does not know what is relevant and differentiate… Read More
2023-10-08 19:34
I am a loyal Delta Airlines customer and have always been a points junkie. So when Delta Airlines recently announced a major overhaul of their SkyMiles loyalty program, I paid close attentio… Read More
2023-10-05 16:08
Some things just never work. At least not for building brands or value propositions. Yet, over and over again, we keep trying to make a go of these things. So, today, I want to share my list… Read More
2023-10-04 22:04
Not even COVID-19 changed the trajectory of demographics. And, although data in The New York Times indicates that global population growth may end in 2080’s, we are currently living in… Read More
2023-10-03 16:03
When my wife and I moved cities in 2018, I purged some of the stuff I’d been keeping for years, and in the process, I ran across an essay that my 16-year-old self had written for a col… Read More
2023-10-02 16:15
Something interesting is happening in brand management. Increasingly, we read about brand-businesses that are focusing on Brand Equity. It has been decades since the topic of Brand Equity wa… Read More
2023-09-28 14:40
In an effort to bring more of the rigor and discipline of financial analysis to marketing decisions, a number of scholars and consulting organizations have attempted to apply financial inves… Read More
2023-09-27 17:30
While shopping for party clothes for his daughter, Shridhar Marri had his epiphany about where e-commerce should head.
His daughter had just graduated from Syracuse University, and she had v… Read More
2023-09-21 00:12
Brands and businesses are talking more than ever about the environment. The percentage of ads tested by Kantar LINK with some sort of social or environmental message (SEM) held steady at 2 p… Read More
2023-09-19 18:01
Market segmentation is fundamental to marketing. Segmentation is evergreen when it comes to building and managing brands.
J.M. Smucker, purveyor of jams, jellies, Jif peanut butter, Folgers… Read More
2023-09-18 18:29
Most firms, and the managers who operate them, seek to grow. Indeed, a review of most CEO letters associated with annual reports, finds growth to be one of the two most frequently identified… Read More
2023-09-14 00:05
Recently, Ian Schrager, entrepreneur, hotelier and co-founder of famed Studio 54, decided to create hotels that are luxury but without the services and amenities. Mr. Schrager’s hotel… Read More
2023-09-12 23:54
In 1994, when Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras wrote Built to Last, they were referring to Visionary Habits of Successful Companies. Their highly influential book focused on the res… Read More
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