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McDonald's Marketing Misery

McDonald's Marketing Misery

Since the mid-1990s, McDonald’s has been chasing after consumer trends. That’s probably why it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant.

How Disney Has Inspired Loyalty and Love

How Disney Has Inspired Loyalty and Love

Why do people insist on Starbucks when Second Cup is right next door? Or buy Apple products instead of Dell even though they make the same technologies? Why do people love Disney? To most, the answer is simply, they “just do.” So how do we justify the irrationality of our choices? The answer lies in the brand itself and how they have effectively moved in to the “lovemark” territory, inspiring action and loyalty beyond reason and coming out as the only choice.

Boutiquification Strategy

Boutiquification Strategy

Do you remember when the best part of waking up was hearing the sound of the dripping and percolating Mr. Coffee coffeemaker preparing for the blissful moment of Folgers in your cup? For many coffee drinkers today, this is just a faint memory of their parents coffee habits in the 1980’s and 90’s. At that time, coffee was a bipolar product: regular or decaf.

Customer Experience is the New Marketing

Customer Experience is the New Marketing

Steve Cannon, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA

Putting the Magic in CMO

Putting the Magic in CMO

Rich Karlgaard, in his Innovation Rules column in Forbes, suggests that two C-suite roles that are sure to change are the chief information officer (CIO) and chief marketing officer (CMO). “The CMO will spend less time communicating to the outside world and more time shaping the inside story,” writes Karlgaard. “What else can hold a liquid organization together, but purpose, values and story?”

The Power of Objects in Customer Experience Design

The Power of Objects in Customer Experience Design

Ever thought about why there is a nicely decorated table in every Pottery Barn? Objects have been traditionally marketed through the marketing mix using the four Ps to make products more appealing to consumers. However, objects can be more than something that is leveraged through product, price, promotion and place.

Love (and the Market) Actually

Love (and the Market) Actually

“Love, Actually” exemplifies a remarkable transformation from a society that understood female empowerment as a systemic concern to one that interprets all feminist concerns about empowerment through the ideological lens of market-based morality.

CX Design: Strategy Beyond Theatrics

CX Design: Strategy Beyond Theatrics

Why not all business is show business.

How Music Became an Experience (Again)

How Music Became an Experience (Again)

Once upon a time, the process for creating a record breaking band was very simple: find a talented artist, release an album, get it into heavy radio rotation, reach platinum sales, and stage a world tour. In 2014, however, for the first time in history, only one artist reached platinum sales: Taylor Swift.

'Alex from Target': Can I Do This With My Brand?

'Alex from Target': Can I Do This With My Brand?

As #alexfromtarget is fascinating the Internet and creating a ton of brand buzz for Target, marketers may be asking: Can I do this with my brand? The answer lies in marketing's knowledge about diffusion and market creation.

How Marketers Made (and Remade) Diamonds a Girl’s Best Friend

How Marketers Made (and Remade) Diamonds a Girl’s Best Friend

Diamonds – universally recognized as a token of status, wealth, power, and above all romance. It’s absurd actually, considering their lack of inherent value, but the intrigue around diamonds, or rather the myth market, has made them an inseparable and indispensible part of courtship and love. 

When Brands Banter: Designing Doppelgänger Images

When Brands Banter: Designing Doppelgänger Images

From stories about Walmart as a corporate villain and pink slime at McDonald’s to jokes about Starbucks as “Starsucks” and Apple’s Bendgate. A brand’s meaning is not only created by the brand’s owner but rather by multiple stakeholders including journalists, celebrities, bloggers, activists, scientific experts, and consumers.

Why Brandy Melville Should Listen to Its Plus-Size Fans

Why Brandy Melville Should Listen to Its Plus-Size Fans

Brandy Melville offers fashion for "diverse California girls." And in Brandy Melville's opinion, this diversity is reflected in one size: small. "I don't think it causes a negative effect on the body image of any one of our shoppers because anyone can come in the store and find something. At other places, certain people can't find things at all." 

Teaching Consumers How to Rationalize on Your Behalf

Teaching Consumers How to Rationalize on Your Behalf

Focus group: Why are you using Botox? I use Botox because it’s so much cheaper and more effective than makeup, but also less painful than plastic surgery. Right? Probably wrong.