The new Rubbermaid FastTrack organizing system is a great example of making a new item in a branded line of products behave like a brand itself.  The advertising shows a man with everything in his garage organized on the walls with the FastTrack system.  You immediately sense the benefit of organization and that you too [...]

McDonald’s is airing almost great advertising at the moment for its dollar menu list of items. Two points are worth learning from this advertising. First, there is a potential big idea in one of the spots where two men in an office are bantering about how much certain things cost, their haircuts, one’s tie, etc., [...]

I’ve been out of the US for over a week now, and being out and about always changes or clarifies my viewpoint on the World. I ran into an interesting quote from the Dali Lama that I think pertains not just to politics, but to business as well. “Wars arise from the failure to understand [...]

Keep It Simple Stupid. How many times have we heard that? Enter Hannaford Supermarkets, a chain out of Maine, with a whole new way to simplify. Hannaford has differentiated itself by rating products on the shelf (25,000 so far) as to their nutritional value. No nutritional value, a product gets zero stars. Most nutritional value, [...]

My book, KILLER BRANDS, makes the point over and over that you do not have to be blessed with a massive budget or dominant resources to compellingly differentiate your brand. You just need to choose a focus that creates a differentiated and compelling expectation for your brand, align everything to deliver that focus, and make [...]

Watch the new campaign for Clearasil.  “Could Cause Confidence.” This is good example of a brand focusing on a compelling expectation.  Research shows that having acne is the opposite of confidence.  Linkage not strong for Clearasil, but very good focus.

Deutsche Bank has a new campaign that is a perfect of example of “empty” advertising with no chance for compelling differentiation or success. Ads feature artistic surrounding shots of a physical prototype of their logo. Nice photography. But meaningless. Tag line is “Deutsche Bank, A Passion For Performance.” NO exampless, no permission to believe. Just [...]

Here is a potential Big Idea that just misses because the theme chosen is overused in my opinion. Prudential investments have created the idea of a Retirement Red Zone defined as five years before or after retirement.  Having a critical time zone before and after retirement seems like a legitimate idea but calling it a [...]