Whoever invented the curved shower bar introduced by Westin Hotels and now used in hotels everywhere should be awarded the Nobel Prize. Great improvement in an everyday habit.

I learned this morning that new products guru Margot Chapman jumped off the Golden Gate bridge ending her brilliant career.  I will miss her.  We were friends for almost 35 years. Margot first made waves back in the late 60′s inventing Warm Fuzzies, the very first sheepskin bedroom slipper with the wool inside.  Yes, all [...]

Once in a while I see an item in a store that could be a big idea if advertised, at least in my opinion.  Sometimes it is the concept.  Sometimes it is the industrial design as with the photos below.   First of all, this is the most functional dust pan I have ever used, [...]

What if you are sitting at your desk and someone says, “let’s brand fragrance.”  You reply, “you mean a certain fragrance?”  “No” they say, “let’s brand all fragrance.”  Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well consider what Muzak did years ago when they created the idea of using music in the background in the workplace.  Muzak is [...]

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 [...]

In one of my favorite all-time marketing books, Macy’s, Gimbles and Me, Bernice Fitzgibbons (“It’s Smart to be Thrifty” for Macy’s, and “Nobody, But Nobody Undersells Gimble’s”) is interviewing a new writer for one of her copy departments, probably back in the 40′s or 50′s, at least during the heyday of Department Store advertising before [...]

The following advice comes from Fawzia Gulsha, a friend in Dubai, who is both a royal princess and a very successful real estate agent in Dubai. “The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Why not? Can you differentiate a drinking glass in a compelling and ownable way, and become famous for it? Well, the Tervis Tumbler™ is just that.  Except they are not a Killer Brand, because as successful as they are, very few people know about them by name, even when they are drinking from one.  Are [...]