Consumer Brands
How Wells Fargo Lost Its Brand
Wells Fargo had an amazing reputation prior to the disaster that took down the CEO last summer. It was the friendly stagecoach bank with a historic legacy dating back to 1852. It was the main street bank with friendly service and great folks on the phone always there to help. Conservative loan practices protected Wells…
Read MoreWhat Donald Trump Can Teach Us about Branding and Marketing
The Not-A-Politician Brand So roughly a year ago, a bunch of friends and I could do nothing but make jokes about Donald Trump running for president. It seemed so silly! This self-promoter from The Apprentice who takes pride in saying he’s rich (very rich), who questioned Obama’s birthplace—he thinks he can run for president? Yes.…
Read MoreAmazon Go, a Store with No Checkout and No Customer Engagement
Amazon launched an amazing idea: a retail convenience store with no checkout. No cashier takes your money; you just get your stuff and walk out the door. As of now, you have to be an Amazon employee so you have access to the store, and the sensors know what you bought and charge your account.…
Read MoreOwning the outdoors – How REI’s brand was redefined by closing on Black Friday
REI’s decision to close on Black Friday this year was a revolutionary and actually anti-retail idea – don’t go shopping the day after Thanksgiving on Black Friday: go outdoors, do something with your friends and family. This move was so dramatic the CEO wasn’t quite sure about it at first. But think about it. What…
Read MoreVegan Nuggets: Consumers Like Things Their Way
The world of the customization is moving quickly. It used to be easy enough to satisfy a consumer just by offering a standard brand in a category of food or product they like: you’re a beer drinker or a wine drinker, you eat meat or don’t. Now we can customize, specialize and provide almost exactly what each customer desires. The…
Read MoreAsk a 10-year-old what your brand is about
I was driving my 10 year old son to school one day when he piped up and said that MacDonalds was a company that sold crappy food that made people unhealthy. I asked him why. He said that’s what everyone at school says—his friends, teachers, everybody. You see, we don’t go to MacDonalds, but he still has…
Read MoreCustomers’ values: the new branding tool
You may be paying more but look at all these cool things Whole Foods is supporting! You get the feeling that the extra amount you may be spending is going to something worthy and good, something that you may be connected to or are committed to and is a part of your local community.
Read MoreRedefining the Retail Experience
This shopping season I spent time in various insane store environments. It amazed me how some places are just piles of goods, inventory that must move. But when you think about it, these stores are the ones that can’t depend on you coming in to buythat specific Lego Star Wars set. It may not be available.…
Read MoreBerlin Wall: Now the Center of Shopping
Branding Retail Experience in the City Center Berlin recently opened the Mall of Berlin. It’s virtually in the center of Berlin on the site of what was an enormous department store formerly owned by a leading Jewish retailer who was forced to sell to the…
Read MoreConsumers and the Changing Face of Retail
Walking into the local coffee house can’t be duplicated online. The desire to experience smells, sounds and the human interaction of a physical place— the desire of customers to “be some place” —is more visceral than the act of acquiring something needed.
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