What Home Brands Must Not Forget

July 23, 2009

Our Premium Brand Panel research suggests that home improvement brands lack differentiation...

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Minimizing the Risk of New Marketing Strategies

July 17, 2009

Are you gun-shy of using your brand's budget to do something innovative?

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Premium Brands and Pricing Wars

July 8, 2009

I’m observing some dangerous practices among desperate marketers these days—constant, deep discounts to the trade. While everyone is asking for great deals, there’s also danger in lax pricing. There’s a great risk that, unless a premium brand continues to communicate its brand value, the consumer who buys "on deal" all the time won’t be...

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Premium Commodities

May 18, 2009

What does it take to make a commodity premium? It takes more than differentiation, it takes differentiation that matters to the customer. Marketers deal every day with putting a message out there for consumers to bite down on, but the commodities that can demand a higher price—and even invoke brand loyalty—are the ones that...

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Hope for Home Improvements

May 1, 2009

For companies in the home improvement categories, the tight economy is especially painful. Home improvement projects have come to an immediate stop. Contractors who months ago had a year’s worth of projects on their plates have found themselves laying off staff and completely without work, all because people are cautious about funding that big...

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Even premium buyers like a good deal

April 20, 2009

One of the marketing dilemmas premium brands face in today’s economy is how much they should discount, if at all, in light of maintaining brand perception/value. A recent article in Advertising Age (you’ll need an account to access this article) warns that extended discounts can erode a brand’s value, yet last month Google searches...

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Established brands need to work harder

April 15, 2009

We all know that awareness is the first and necessary step toward getting customers to buy. But what about brands that already have awareness? They often lose at the point of sale because another brand is cheaper, has something new to offer, or (in the case of grocery products) they have bad placement in...

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Premium Brand Panel Launches April 6

April 6, 2009

I’m thrilled that our Premium Brand Panel launches today, April 6. This is something we’ve been talking about, strategizing for, and researching for nearly 18 months. Today is the launch of the first panel session. I can’t wait to post our first findings, which should be any day now.

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Will private label prevail?

April 2, 2009

In the grocery aisle these days, there’s a noticeable change in the placement of store brands. They’re getting the prime real estate. It seems grocers are trying to maximize their margins by pushing their private label brands, when it’s the name brand products that have brought the customer to the store. Consumers may appreciate...

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Clients

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