Branding

How do prehistoric oceans have anything to do with business in 2025? Because a story that played out there is repeating itself today. Here’s why: 66 million years ago, a creature called the ammonite filled the seas. These crustaceans had super-thick, tightly coiled shells that protected them against ghastly predators like dinosaur fish. They’d evolved over tens of millions of years to have these outstanding defenses. There were over 10,000 species of ammonite, ranging from...

Marketing is in trouble and has become its own worst enemy. Over the past few decades, the discipline has evolved into a trade, rather than a profession, focusing on managing and executing marketing communications. This trend is demeaning. The industry is in love with the increasing number of communication channel opportunities, such as social media, entertainment, events, online, and so on. However, communications channel management is distinct from marketing management. Marketing is about managing the...

Kraft Heinz recently announced a planned split into two separate companies with the goal of improving operating performance and accompanying shareholder return for each of the successor entities. This announcement has generated significant coverage in the business and financial press, with much of this coverage focusing on the challenges Kraft Heinz has faced related to changing consumer tastes and preferences. Additionally, many other companies in consumer products have lamented recent softness in consumer spending across...

How do we tell the difference between what we feel and what we know? Many of us fear this question, particularly in the workplace, because it reinforces the conclusion that there is a firm line between emotion and rationality. Emotion, however, is a form of knowledge as well as a barometer of intelligence. In a productive organization, emotion is an essential component in the formation of strategy. We’ve learned this from branding. Expressing feelings has long lived in the realm...

Where are you eating this evening? Where are you meeting friends for appetizers and a drink? Where are you having lunch? The buzz in the restaurant business is that casual dining (easy-going sit-down, table service, tip for the wait staff) is having a moment while fast food (ex., McDonald’s) and fast casual (ex., Chipotle) are in the midst of slowdowns. The problem may be that to protect margins, fast food, fast casual, and certain casual...

Ok. I’m going to hold my hands up and admit something. Until about a week ago, I had no idea who or what Cracker Barrel was. Now, I know that may come as some surprise to my friends over in America, but the Cracker Barrel brand really wasn’t a thing over here in the UK. It turns out, it was quite a well-known and well-loved brand over there in America. I say well-loved, but it...

From all my years in research and consulting, I think I’ve learned a thing or two about marketing worth sharing. Enduring fundamentals, mostly yet often overlooked. So, this year, I’m sharing some for your consideration. I hope they’re helpful. This week’s thought: Statistical significance is a perilous safeguard in marketing. Most marketing researchers don’t understand the concept of statistical significance. So, marketers — and planners and buyers — can be forgiven for misunderstanding it, too....

Luxury has always been built on discipline. Scarcity, heritage, and control transform objects and experiences into symbols of status. Social media, by contrast, is designed for ubiquity. It rewards repetition, frequency, and immediacy. The question for luxury leaders is not whether to participate, but how to participate without losing what makes them distinct. Why Content Defines Performance Most luxury journeys now begin online. Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat are the new shop windows. But in luxury,...

Nuuly, the clothing rental enterprise from Urban Outfitters Inc., also home to Anthropologie, Free People, and Urban Outfitters, is winning in a market that Nuuly did not create. Nuuly is the pioneer. But, right now, Nuuly is the possessor of the prize. There is history behind this sort of situation where the category creator craters and a fast follower flips to the top spot. As The Wall Street Journal’s Heard on The Street column described...

The rebranding of Cracker Barrel has been making headlines for the past few days and is widely criticized…