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Majorska With A Twist
What the hell is this? We work ourselves to the bone to build premium brands and consumers don't care--all they want is a good deal? What a nightmare. At the Grove Liquor Store in Montclair, N.J., the manager Anthony Singh said bottles of Grey Goose, which sell for $36.99, are gathering dust. The big sellers, he said, are Majorska and Laird's. They sell for $9.49 and $7.99 a bottle, compared with $10.99 for …
Burger Replaces Apple As Object of Original Sin
So Good brings us this image of Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef. If you look carefully, you'll see she is about to lovingly bite into a burger. Starting this month, Lakshmi is promoting Hardee's Bacon Western Thickburger in a commercial directed by Chris Applebaum, who memorably brought a babe and a Carl's Jr. burger together in a 2005 ad starring Paris Hilton. Carl's Jr. parent company CKE Restaurants owns and …
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Change Is The Real Thing
We don't just have a new President in the White House, our culture is changing. Pepsi, for one, wants to "Refresh Everything", and they're not shy about borrowing equity from the Obama brand. "We're not interested in following political tailwinds," says Nicole Bradley, a Pepsi spokeswoman. "But we are interested in cultural change." Michael Scherer of Time Magazine endeavored to discover if the people in the Obama …
Whole Lotta Moanin’ Goin’ On
I learned many moons ago not to build your brand on word play, because that's what the brand becomes known for--the word play, not the service or product offering at hand. FindYourGSpots.com clearly hasn't heard this line of thinking, or the decision makers at the company don't buy it for they're coming to market with a social application named for a female erogenous zone. Sexy, huh? …
Top Brands Are The Land of Real Value
There are times when Mad Men let doubt creep in. Times when they wonder if their investment in advertising is well spent. If you're suffering from such thoughts, maybe this will help... According to Market Watch, America's Top 100 brands (as ranked by BusinessWeek and InterBrand) generated a 31% return from 2000 through 2008, while the S&P 500 left you with losses to the tune of 28%. This, despite big losers in the …
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Cash Is King
John Malone, the media mogul living in Colorado, has cash. That makes him king. According to The Wall Street Journal, Malone used that cash to swoop in at the last minute and save Sirius XM from the clutches of bankruptcy. By lending Sirius $530 million, Liberty receives a 40% stake in the satellite-radio operator, plus at least two board seats. The loan will also bear an interest rate of 15%. A cable executive for …
Simplifiers Want Instant Coffee, Starbucks Will Provide
Starbucks is about to introduce instant coffee. Is this a way for the Seattle-based conglomerate to grow income, destroy a brand, or both? After all, would a premium coffee company ever touch the instant category? It's like Odwalla offering its customers a Tang-like substance. In a Huffington Post advertorial, Howard Shultz of Starbucks quotes John Quelch, the Harvard Business School professor and marketing guru: In …
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