This is one of my favorite topics, or should I say favorite rants. Will  your grandchild know what an OREO is, or was?  How about a Reese’s?  Our experience is that a brand has one single pivot foot and that it can move one step from the pivot foot only, much like a power forward [...]

For many years, I have meant to visit Columbus, Indiana.  You know that’s the town that is differentiated based on the architecture of its companies and buildings. I went yesterday. If it is possible to overdo branding for a city, Columbus may have done it.  The reason for the differentiation is real.  The logo is [...]

Awhile back, I wrote about James Bond Island in Pha Nang Bay in Phuket. Today, let’s look at a different destination that was re-branded closer to home. In the late 1970′s The Herschend family purchased a small, Smoky Mountain theme park called Gold Rush Junction. It had a steam train ride, a few general store [...]

I discovered Ira Koretsky today, not a very compelling or memorable name is it?  How about if I said that I discovered The Chief Story Teller™ today?  That is how Ira brands himself. In fact, if  you go to the website of The Chief Story Teller, you will note that he does not use his [...]

A few years ago, certain bakeries started selling the top of muffins because so may people prefer them.  Problem was, no one could own the idea. That brings me to the Edge™ brownie pan, where an entrepreneur figured out how to make a pan that would bake brownies all of which had at least two [...]

A young mother in Atlanta, Britt Menzies started a company based on her children, which she called Stinky Kids.  She created the characters and gave them a Mom-desired reason-for-being.  The focus of her brand is “teaching good.” Stinky Kids always make the right choice.  Stinky Kids do the good thing. Britt was wearing a Stinky [...]

I  love this business.  Yes, I must suffer through the Gatorade fiascos, and the Tropicana near disasters, but every now and then, you stumble across something wonderful,  Today, I discovered Whistle Creek walking sticks and canes out in Estes Park, Colorado. I have a heath nuisance that might force me use a cane, and I [...]

I guess when we are looking at ways to create compelling differentiation, we have to include in our mental check lists, “upside down.” I am of course speaking of Topsy Turvy, the new tomato plant that grows upside down out of the bottom of a hanging basket.  Everything about this product fits the principles of [...]

I ate the other night at the Montgomery Inn in a surburb northeast of Cincinnati. The Montgomery Inn is actually a KILLER BRAND. People from all over come there just to have their barbecued ribs. This is a great example of focus.  The Montgomery Inn is a full-service full-menu restaurant.  Very upscale, in a very [...]

Animal crackers with which we are all familiar were not a brand.  Animal crackers are a commodity with many different manufacturers over the years, even a few now, but the niche category has been all but owned since 1902 by Nabisco with its Barnum Animal crackers.  WHY?? In 1902, Nabisco created a special package of [...]