In yet another example of a new packaging design trend that turns “Branding” into “Blanding”, Sierra Mist has changed their logo and bottle design. As with other packaging redesigns I have seen recently, there is nothing “New and Improved” about the drink, no special promotion, no advertising campaign or any other reason I can see […]

In another brilliant example of throwing design and branding out the window, Tropicana has decided to genericize their brand and the packaging of their top selling product. And so, I will go on a rant…. Having lived in Florida for over a decade, and graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), I know something […]

There is a big transition happening on February 17, 2009 when all over the air TV broadcasts move from analog format to digital format. Do we think the average person knows the difference, or really cares? For those of us who consider ourselves “digital internet marketers” it’s a great time to remind yourself that most […]

There is a fascinating new study that statistically shows zero correlation between the star power of a box office movie and the film’s profitability. In other words, just because you hire a big “A Lister” to star in your film, you are not guaranteed any profits. From the article (which you can read here): “S. […]

It’s time for a rant. Some genius at General Mills has decided that the Raisin Nut Bran box needs an extreme makeover. There is no change to the cereal itself, and no large advertising campaign to drive more consumers to sample the product, no in store merchandisers or big end cap displays. Not as far […]

Despite all the excitement surrounding social media, blogging, microblogging, Tweets, and all the other fun stuff going on the web today, I find that many marketers are having a hard time getting executive level buy in for their efforts. When asked “How many sales are we getting from Twitter?”, you probably aren’t going to have […]

I recently attended a conference where Guy Kawasaki challenged the audience to create meaningful “Mantras” for their companies. He explained how the standard corporate “Mission Statement” really wasn’t cutting it anymore. In describing the process of conducting a two-day offsite meeting with a highly paid consultant to facilitate the flip-chart discussion, he revealed that the […]

There was a great question posed to the CMO group on Linked In today: “What are, in your opinion, the top five Marketing Key Performance Indicators, that a CEO should always pay attention to?” For me, the premise of the question really asks a more fundamental question – do the CEO and CMO have agreement and shared […]