Has anyone else noticed that the key differentiation that drove KINKO’s to market dominance has been eliminated by FEDEX since the merger?
The five FEDEX/KINKO’s closest to my office now close at 6pm.  The always open option that made KINKO’s the choice of entrepreneurs and students everywhere has been eliminated at least in my neighborhood.  Is [...]

I went shopping for tooth paste today.
As a human being, I hated it.  As a so-called brand marketing expert, I was disgusted.
The major brands and companies have so jumbled and confused this category that it is impossible to shop with either precision or brand loyalty.  Even if you found an individual sku that you liked, [...]

“You don’t need more sleep.  You need more coffee.” is a new billboard campaign for the am/pm convenience store chain.  This is an excellent example of using advertising to build behavior.  Unfortunately it builds category behavior rather than brand behavior.  You can respond to this ad positively and stop and get coffee at any number [...]

In the previous post, we talked about an excellent new sku (Butter with Olive Oil spread) within a broad line of products by Land of Lakes, and how the fact that it is hidden in a line mostly of “me too” items will keep it from ever being a big idea.
Here is an example of [...]

Land ‘O Lakes has a new spread, Butter and Olive Oil that is so good tasting it is just unbelievable.  Try it.  I am not exaggerating.  The taste will blow your mind.
There-in lies the enigma of modern marketing.  Land ‘O Lakes has so many sku’s that as a brand, they can stand for nothing specific, [...]

Brands die because their owners let them die.  If no-one is in command of the health and welfare of a brand it will go away.  If no-one seizes responsibility, good things rarely happen.
A friend made a statement to me today about the history of the Tango so I did some research and found a few [...]

Smucker’s has a sugar-free cherry preserve that is about the best tasting spread you have ever experienced.  This particular SKU is special.  It goes way beyond just good tasting for something sugar free.   George Washington could not tell a lie when he chopped down that cherry tree, and neither can I now.
If Smucker’s had chosen [...]

Is differentiating fluid milk a daunting task?  Maybe, but clearly not impossible.
One brand of milk, Mayfield™from Tennessee outsells other brands at TWICE the price.
Kroger™ milk sells at retail for $1.99 per gallon.  Right next to it, Mayfield™ milk sells, and sometimes outsells Kroger milk at $3.99 per gallon.  The same is true in other chains [...]

Well for starters,  you can rebrand a company like GEICO.  An anacronym for Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO began selling insurance to the public over 20 years ago.  In 1995, their ad budget was $31 Million.   Few had heard of them.
Then in 1996, Bershire Hathaway acquired 100% of GEICO and Warren Buffet, not usually known [...]

Rustoleum Universal is to me an under-marketed potential Killer Brand.
The promise of “covers any surface universally even” is new in the spray paint category, and the actuator over-cap on the aerosol can is just down right cool.
The commercial does a good job of demonstrating that the canister can be sprayed at any angle, including upside [...]