Marketing executives should have a pulse on shifting consumer preferences, macro-economic conditions and emerging competitors. However, in forecasting the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond, most marketers (and economists for that matter) failed to accurately "call" the collapse, even though signs of catastrophe were Does marketing have a leadership role ... more

For many years now, I have bellowed a mantra to anyone who will listen. In order to succeed, charities must operate with the head of a business and the heart of a I can't count how many times I've seen nonprofit professionals cringe at the thought of adopting a business ... more

As the principal of a design firm with package design as a core competency, these are exciting times. We are seeing greater sustainable packaging innovations and they're coming at a faster clip these days. I recently blogged about SunChips new biodegradable . Now, on the heels of the recent SunChips ... more

As the principal of a design firm with package design as a core competency, these are exciting times. We are seeing greater sustainable packaging innovations and they're coming at a faster clip these days. I recently blogged about SunChips new biodegradable . Now, on the heels of the recent SunChips ... more

As the principal of a design firm with package design as a core competency, these are exciting times. We are seeing greater sustainable packaging innovations and they're coming at a faster clip these days. I recently blogged about SunChips new biodegradable . Now, on the heels of the recent SunChips ... more

Throughout the last 24 hours, word has spread quickly that the New York appointed Jennifer Preston as the news organization's first Social Media Editor. As usual, the reaction to a positive and courageous first step forward into social media by a large corporation Reasonably My personal opinion is that the ... more

This post was composed in collaboration with Mike . - The production and distribution of informative content has been part of marketing for a long time, particularly in the B2B space. Today, however, every aspect of content-based marketing is undergoing a radical Broadly speaking, this transformation has content moving Promotional ... more

When it comes to innovation we often get hung-up on creating something completely new. While this approach is usually the most exciting, it isn't the only way to launch an incredibly successful product or brand. In other words, innovation doesn't have to come from invention. It can also come from ... more

It all started with niche companies like Seventh Generation and Method. A move to clean up the cleaners, as it were. To take the toxic chemicals out of cleaning products and replace them with natural surfactants that would do the job. Those entrepreneurial companies, and others, pioneered environmentally responsible cleaning ... more

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As consumers shift from a "I want" to a "We need" buying philosophy, your marketing needs to adjust, too. Here are a number of statistics and trends to get you thinking along the right News Enormous change has taken place in the US and global economies over the past few ... more

By Deborah There are three "R" words–retention, repurchase and referral–that can help your company survive and thrive during the "R" word that's plaguing our economy, the recession. As costs are chopped and expenses shrunk, companies must understand more than ever the importance of customer loyalty, word-of-mouth and the profitability associated ... more

By Lou I recently entered the world of weekend-fishing warriors during a side ethnographic project. The business parallel between the strategy behind the fisherman's lure selection and an organizations approach to effectively initiate change became immediately evident. My intrigue hovered around the success factor of each situation, catching a fish ... more

Walt Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was a project of grandiose scale and lofty ideal. And while Disney passed away before his project became reality, EPCOT offers marketers four key takeaways (maybe more) in how to define problems, build on success, maintain flexibility and overcome Walt Disney was ... more

TJX–parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshall's–has cleverly launched its first joint marketing campaign, per MediaPost's Marketing Daily article, TJX to Launch Joint Marketing for T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Seek Shopping The advertising fashionistas chase down errant friends and admonish them for paying full price on their latest clothing purchases. In ... more

Oprah tweets, Ashton bests CNN, and even my hometown cops have an account. I'm talking about , of By this point, you are likely well aware that Twitter is a big deal. You know that it is more than a bright and shiny new toy. You know that it's a ... more

Here are some takeaways on a speech by C. K. Prahalad speaker at the World Innovation So we are beginning to see the impact of current economic crisis. The bad news is there is going to be significantly more regulation in the future but the good news is there is ... more

Community .... the cultivated group of loyal users that you've built your platform around and equally, have helped you get your site to where it is today. Many of them have been through the same ups and downs that you have gone through; the outages, feature releases, issues, and the ... more

Whether it's due to constant stability or tweaking the site's functionality, Twitter has constantly found a way to irritate it's unusually loyal users. This week's dustup over Twitter suddenly changing which replies you can see has me wondering, how much longer will Twitter's loyal user base stick with the I've ... more

The hospital gown has been around for centuries. It's no news that the ill-fitting, dignity-stealing flimsy covering clearly needs an The problem is, the way products are designed and redesigned needs an over-haul as well. In the case of this hospital gown, The Wall Street journal, in this , outlines ... more

If anybody missed it, a few days before Earth Day last month, Pepsico FritoLay gave an interesting glimpse into its new packaging for its SunChips brand in a splash of TV ads. An empty SunChips bag slowly deteriorates on the ground before the viewer's eyes. The biodegradable bag is SunChips ... more

Takeaways on a speech by Dr Vijay Govindarajan speaker at the World Innovation When you visualize your strategic plans visualize your plans in 3 Box 1 - Managing the Box 2 - Forgetting the Box 3 - Creating the Most organizations over focus on Box 1! And strategy is really ... more

A business can easily charge more when a person super-sizes their meal. Yet it's not so easy for companies that charge more due to a person's size. And a company can charge higher fees for users needing more bandwidth when hosting multiple Web sites. But it becomes very tricky when ... more

Companies are still struggling to determine social media ROI. There are some quantifiable metrics that are being used to determine ROI such as keyword rankings, site traffic, conversion rates, sales, etc. However we're still missing a piece of the The reason why it's difficult for a lot of companies to ... more

As China slowly transforms its economy from dependence on exports to one driven by consumers, the emphasis will shift to retail sales. Indeed, with nearly $9 trillion lost in Western stock and housing markets since 2008, the world urgently needs a new consumer. Marketers–will the Chinese middle class be the ... more