Five Days Later, Which Super Bowl Ad Brands Still Resonate?

February 8, 2013

The commercials that air during the Super Bowl have become almost as iconic as the game itself. So here’s the question: It’s five days after Super Bowl XLVII – which brands still resonate with you? Mind you, I’m not talking about the entertainment value, i.e., "Oh yeah, the ad with Willem Dafoe playing the devil. [...]

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Call It a Comeback: The Ray Lewis Brand Rehab

February 1, 2013

My note: Mike Carrozzo is a guy I used to work with back in the day, and we recently caught up at a Starbucks. We covered a lot of ground – sports, brands and the blog, which led to his guest post that follows about a fascinating, and timely, topic – the rehabilitation of the [...]

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How CEOs Build Corporate Brands Through Their Brand

January 19, 2013

"Here’s what I think: Communication is not what the speaker knows – to a large extent, it’s not even what he or she says. Communication is about what the listener takes away and what happens as a result of that takeaway." Virgil Scudder, author, World Class Communication: How great CEOs win with the public, shareholders, [...]

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We Have Fueled the Rise of the Anti-Brands

January 13, 2013

A guy I knew back in my undergrad days at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater used to have a phrase that stuck with me: Never get caught up in the moment. In other words, we can get caught up in the euphoria about something, or someone, and get carried away, putting our better judgment aside. Think [...]

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Social Media is a Force for Influence – For Brands, For People

January 5, 2013

I’ve always been of the opinion that social media channels – for brands and individual users alike – are a force for influence. In other words, I believe that every post has the potential to influence, no matter how banal it might seem at face value. That influence creates the opportunity for change, hopefully for [...]

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Some Skyfall Product Placements Make Sense, Others Don’t

December 30, 2012

I literally just got home from finally seeing the new James Bond 007 thriller Skyfall. You might remember that this film got a lot of publcity – and not all of it positive – before it came out due to what many felt were excessive product placements. Product placements, of course, tie a brand to what [...]

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College Fooball, Hoops Players Builld Brands; They Should Be Paid

December 22, 2012

Since it’s college football bowl season, and men’s college basketball is just starting, I’d like to impart a few words on why players in both sports need to be paid a stipend. In the 2010-11 school year, the University of Texas football program reported more than $95 million in revenue and a profit of more than [...]

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Brands Must Avoid Assumptions When Targeting Millennials

December 7, 2012

I ran across a great infographic this week about Millennials that has plenty of food for thought for brands. Millennials are people in the 18- to 29-year-old age range that make up 20 percent of the adult U.S. population, according to Scarborough Research, author of the infographic (which is a free download). What strikes me about [...]

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Australia Errs by Banning Cigarette Package Branding

December 1, 2012

Wow … out of Australia comes this story, which discusses a new law that goes into effect today banning branding on cigarette packs. See the photo? (Credit to Reuters, BTW.) That’s what a cigarette pack will now look like in Australia. Some packs will have "pictures of ill babies and diseased body parts," the story [...]

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Are Retail Brands Immune to Negative Black Thursday Perception?

November 22, 2012

It’s Thanksgiving today, and I was brought up to believe that this was the day where we pause and reflect on the good things we have and express gratitude for them. For that reason, the whole concept of Black Friday has always seemed a little counterintuitive to me. But this year, Black Friday has essentially [...]

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