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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: Price is the most important P. When E. Jermone McCarthy first articulated the “Four Ps” in his 1960 textbook as the best way to organize a managerial approach to marketing, he put primary...

Chaos is a recurring condition of civilization. Whether caused by an outside force or the enemy within, chaos can put people and organizations into response mode and, worse, lead to disorientation within the organization. The good news is that strategy is born of chaos. Carl von Clausewitz (pictured), Michael Porter, Richard Rumelt, Margaret Heffernan, Jay Barney, Jack Trout, Al Ries, and Peter Drucker — among others — have addressed the corners of chaos through their...

Cracker Barrel has relented and returned to its original brand proposition. At the same time, we learn that Jaguar, the iconic British sports car, is completely redefining itself including a vehicle overhaul redesign. Is the choice of a single-dimensional solution the answer? Are marketers still tethered to the “tyranny of the OR” as Jim Collins and Jerry Poras pointed out in Built to Last (1994)? Have marketers and corporate executives not learned anything over the...

A few months ago, the French sports fashion company Lacoste made its debut in the hospitality sector with…

If you glance below the cover page of most brand strategies, you’ll find the usual suspects: the brand’s…

Why do some brands spark passionate debates while others are quickly forgotten? The answer lies not in what they embrace, but in what they boldly reject. The best brands aren’t built by trying to be everything to everyone. They’re built by drawing a line. In a crowded marketplace, it’s not enough to say what you stand for; you need to be bold enough to say what you stand against. This is the power of a...

It’s always important to have a deep, unvarnished understanding of your brand. This clarity is what allows leaders to make smart decisions, inspire confidence, and build trust inside and outside the organization. One must: Know its qualities and strengths. Acknowledge the organization’s accomplishments. Nourish a positive vision of the business’s future. However, at the same time, the pathway to sustainable growth can be unwittingly compromised by the absence of unflinching, critical, self-examination and regular reality...

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...