The Sociology of Annoying Xmas Songs
McDonald's Marketing Misery
How Disney Has Inspired Loyalty and Love
Why do people insist on Starbucks when Second Cup is right next door? Or buy Apple products instead of Dell even though they make the same technologies? Why do people love Disney? To most, the answer is simply, they “just do.” So how do we justify the irrationality of our choices? The answer lies in the brand itself and how they have effectively moved in to the “lovemark” territory, inspiring action and loyalty beyond reason and coming out as the only choice.
Re-Envisioning Marketing: One Chocolate Bar at a Time
Boutiquification Strategy
Do you remember when the best part of waking up was hearing the sound of the dripping and percolating Mr. Coffee coffeemaker preparing for the blissful moment of Folgers in your cup? For many coffee drinkers today, this is just a faint memory of their parents coffee habits in the 1980’s and 90’s. At that time, coffee was a bipolar product: regular or decaf.
Customer Experience is the New Marketing
Marketing the Moon: Four Strategies
Putting the Magic in CMO
Rich Karlgaard, in his Innovation Rules column in Forbes, suggests that two C-suite roles that are sure to change are the chief information officer (CIO) and chief marketing officer (CMO). “The CMO will spend less time communicating to the outside world and more time shaping the inside story,” writes Karlgaard. “What else can hold a liquid organization together, but purpose, values and story?”
The Power of Objects in Customer Experience Design
Ever thought about why there is a nicely decorated table in every Pottery Barn? Objects have been traditionally marketed through the marketing mix using the four Ps to make products more appealing to consumers. However, objects can be more than something that is leveraged through product, price, promotion and place.
Love (and the Market) Actually
Designing Retail for Women
CX Design: Strategy Beyond Theatrics
How Music Became an Experience (Again)
Once upon a time, the process for creating a record breaking band was very simple: find a talented artist, release an album, get it into heavy radio rotation, reach platinum sales, and stage a world tour. In 2014, however, for the first time in history, only one artist reached platinum sales: Taylor Swift.
'Alex from Target': Can I Do This With My Brand?
How Marketers Made (and Remade) Diamonds a Girl’s Best Friend
Zombie Brands: The Science Behind Undead Market Icons
When companies and products die, their brands often live on. From Napster and Pan Am to Woolworth and Mister Donut - zombie brands abound. They have been resuscitated, redefined, or kept alive by unusual means. However, zombie brands are not all made from the same cloth. Some are brought back as nostalgic fashion icons, others have been sustained by passionate fans. Yet others simply continue exist in other parts of the world or in our imagination.
Apple Pay, CurrentC, and the Normalization of Credit/Debt
Paying for stuff has just gotten easier with Apple Pay - or so it seems. Apply Pay is a wireless payment system that lets owners of iPhone 6 pay for goods at retailers with wireless payment terminals. Users put their phones near the payment terminals, put their thumbs on the Touch ID button, and the transaction is complete.
When Brands Banter: Designing Doppelgänger Images
From stories about Walmart as a corporate villain and pink slime at McDonald’s to jokes about Starbucks as “Starsucks” and Apple’s Bendgate. A brand’s meaning is not only created by the brand’s owner but rather by multiple stakeholders including journalists, celebrities, bloggers, activists, scientific experts, and consumers.
Why Brandy Melville Should Listen to Its Plus-Size Fans
Brandy Melville offers fashion for "diverse California girls." And in Brandy Melville's opinion, this diversity is reflected in one size: small. "I don't think it causes a negative effect on the body image of any one of our shoppers because anyone can come in the store and find something. At other places, certain people can't find things at all."