CoolMarketingStuff

by Tom Asacker Think about it: Brand value is all about distinction and scarcity. The brand appeals, in a particular way, to a particular group of people.  And that's why those people will: 1. Pay a premium for it (which results in increased margins); 2. Go out of their way for it (which results in increased margins; and/or 3. Talk about it and show it off to their family and friends (which results in increased margins). So this struck me as ill-informed (from Adweek, 8/31/2009): "Explaining that it ... Read More

According to Millward Brown's Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands of 2009 Report, the top 100 global brands have increased in value by 2% to $2 Trillion over the past year. Despite the global financial downturn, the top brands seem to be immune to the economic turmoil, if you trust Millward Brown's analysis. Some top brands seem to be excelling in the downturn like Apple and Amazon, while others have tumbled like Disney and Starbucks. One of the biggest surprises is Apple's success ... Read More

I once jokingly made the comment, "Starbucks is going to become the McDonald's of coffee". I don't think that is too far from the truth now based on recent events. Starbucks recently started promoting "value meals", a breakfast sandwich and a small latte for $3.95. They also started selling the instant coffee packets called Via for 3 for about $3. This may be part of a strategy to grow sales in response to the economic recession, but at what point does it ... Read More

Buyology explores the question of why we buy and this clip is of Martin Lindstrom explaining some of the things marketers do to persuade people to buy even though the individual might not even realize they are being swayed. ... Read More

Apple's Mac vs PC ads seems to be moving the needle on perceptions of the PC as evidenced by their significant growth in market share.  An article in Computer World states "According to Gartner Inc.'s preliminary estimates, Apple sold 1.64 million machines during the period, a 29% increase year-to-year over the same period in 2007, to put it in third place behind Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. For the quarter, Apple accounted for 9.5% of all the machines sold in the U.S, up from 8.1% a ... Read More

In a move that is not getting nearly enough bad publicity, Warner Brothers completely betrayed fans of the Harry Potter movie series. The sixth installment of one of the largest movie franchise of all time was delayed from its original theater release in November until July of 2009, a delay of 8 months! The problem I have with the move is that days before the announcement, they released the first teaser trailer of the movie which gave a November release date. The ... Read More

Be Ubiquitious Once a brand becomes too ubiquitious it loses a lot of its value. Starbucks density has been well chronicled in the media and even the Simpsons. The tradeoff with being everywhere is the loss of scarcity. A premium brand can not be everywhere because it becomes ordinary. That's when it becomes a commodity and is no longer worth the premium price. The thing that made Starbucks different was the experience, but that is exactly what they sacrificed when they tried to ... Read More