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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

I continue to be both astounded and embarassed.  I saw the advertising copy tonight for the New Gatordade.  This is beyond a useless piece of footage.  Someone is being given corporate permission to ruin one of the great brands of all times. Can’t wait to see the newest numbers released.  I am just disgusted. Over [...]

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 [...]

The signs in the baggage department at Kansas City airport say, “Welcome to Kansas City, the heart of America.”  Thirty years ago I would have agreed.  That’s the city P&G picked as the test market for Bounce. But now, I don’t know.  Kansas City hasn’t changed that much except for the good.  It is America [...]

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 [...]

In my career I cannot count the times that an agency brought in a storyboard with a big idea in it, but buried somewhere, or possibly as a non-associated tag line. Your job as a client is to FIND THE BIG IDEA even if they don’t.  Believe it or not, it is easier to see [...]