Frozen Pizza & America’s Hunger for Luxury Brands

I’ve always been a fan of Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske’s book, Trading Up: The New American Luxury. The text, in part, is about Americans’ growing hunger for luxury brands and indulgences. We live in a world where consumers seek out premium products, and are willing to pay a premium, in order to meet [...]

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Going Green: How Much Do Consumers Care?

On September 23, my weekly Research Brief from The Center for Media Research, included information about a recent Yankelovich survey: Going Green. According to the study, 34% of consumers feel much more concerned about environmental issue than they did a year ago. Less that a quarter feel they can make a difference.
The Yankelovich [...]

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What’s Going On With The Airline Industry?

As a frequent business traveler I’ve watched and experienced the airlines attempt to deal with the financial strains on their business. Last week, on my most recent trip, I paid United Airlines $15 to check my one bag. That’s $15 for a single bag – not an extra bag. And you know what, I didn’t [...]

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Starbucks’ Shared Planet and Good Healthcare

You may have noticed in your neighborhood Starbucks location a POP display containing small square pamphlets. Every Thursday, Starbucks distributes a new issue of The Good Sheet. This non-partisan series of small publications explores major issues facing the electorate as we prepare to cast our votes in November. The expressed goal of the Good Sheet [...]

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Are the Masses Unwise? SHSMD Conference Update 9-19-08

One of the statements that I clearly remember from Andrew Keen’s presentation yesterday at the SHSMD Conference was: “The masses aren’t necessarily wise.” He said this in the context of arguing against the Web 2.0 phenomenon and its democratizing effect.
As I pondered this statement last night, it occurred to me that this is something that [...]

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Is Web 2.0 Assaulting Our Culture? Today at the SHSMD Conference 9-18-08

I attended the opening presentation this morning (at the SHSMD Conference), a general session featuring speaker and author Andrew Keen. The title of the talk was <i>Web 2.0: How today’s Internet is Assaulting Our Culture</i>. A pretty provocative title! Andrew is a well-known technology critic – although he points out that he is not critiquing [...]

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The Social Networking Generation

Recently my firm has been working on a marketing and branding strategy for an institution of higher learning. Given that the primary target audience is composed of high school students, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at how these individuals gather information, communicate with one another, interact with brands, and connect. The obvious answer [...]

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The Implications of Newspaper Layoffs

Across the country newspapers are laying off employees in record numbers. In North Carolina, both The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer (Raleigh) have announced significant staff reductions. The News & Observer is offering volunteer buyouts to nearly 40% of its staff. This comes on the heals of the newspaper cutting 70 positions in [...]

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The McCafe Brand Experience

My feeling about McCafe is that it is no Starbucks, but it is darn convenient. It will do in a pinch.
Well this morning I was heading out on a business trip and pulled into McDonald’s at 5:57am to get a skinny latte. When I placed my order at the drive-thru, I was told by the [...]

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