How Misperception Can Hurt Your Business Whether you’re a health nut or hate the thought of eating anything green, you’ve no doubt noticed a growing awareness of organic foods. What was once reserved only for the specialty health food stores catering to the granola community are...
There's never a bad time to be a winemaker—or so we have been assured by vineyard owners—but some years are better than others. Champagne, in particular, has been enjoying a great year, with sales up a reported 5.2% over the first half of 2011. That's an...
All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the Burger Wars again. Nothing's actually changed yet—McDonald's is still the undisputed leader of the pack, with Burger King in the number two spot. But things are about to change. The Wall Street Journal revealed that Wendy's is...
If there's trouble, look to the top. Brand Modeling teaches us that the force most responsible for a dominant organization's success is the enthusiastic support of its best customers. So what force is most responsible for an organization's failure? A not-insignificant portion of the time, the...
For most organizations, the news that the company inadvertently sent a cannonball careening out of the safe confines of the firing range and through a private home would be a nightmare. Most organizations aren't Mythbusters. For this wildly popular Discovery Channel show, a ballistic blunder...
Talk about a tidal wave of change! Starbucks recently made headlines with its decision to close the public restrooms in many of their New York locations. Too many people are using the Starbucks' bathrooms, not all of whom are paying customers, and this makes it difficult...
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! It is our hopes that everyone reading these words has enjoyed many blessings this year. We're certainly grateful for those of you who have made this an interesting, thought-provoking, and productive year: you have made a difference in our...
Becoming the dominant player in any industry is tough. Holding onto that premier position is even harder. Brand Modeling teaches us that it is the leaders of any organization who must have a clear, fully articulated vision of what success means for their company—as well...
On September 29th, Bank of America announced that they were going to start charging debit card users $5 a month for the privilege of using their debit cards. It was a move intended to offset the impact of new limits on swipe fees. Swipe fees...
If you have to explain the joke, it might be that the joke's just not funny. This is conventional wisdom (at least for comedians), but it seems to have escaped the marketing team at Dr. Pepper. Their latest offering, a campaign for Dr. Pepper 10,...