Articles

From time to time, we publish articles as a way of informing our clients and friends what we think about what's going on in the world of marketing and branding. If you'd like to receive our next article, just click the link above.

Over the past few years, community and regional banks have been facing an identity crises of sorts. Long known for high touch service, they have lost market share to larger banks that have replaced labor intensive processing with less expensive web functionalities. These small banks are also threatened by niche consumer and commercial banks that give special audiences even more high touch. The question is . . . view the article »

Michael Porter fingered the difference between pre and post Internet marketing when he said the customer's in charge. By giving customers access to so much information, they have become extraordinarily assertive shoppers, for everything from MRI machines to airline tickets. As a result marketers can persuade less and position more. Here are some of the implications of that transition . . . view the article »

In a recent Frontline program on consumer marketing, Kevin Roberts, the president of Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide, said Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, clocks an average in-store shopping time at 19 minutes, adding the company is "totally obsessed" with pushing that time upwards. That won't be the result of low prices or wider selection, Roberts asserted. No, retailers will keep consumers in-store by making it what Roberts called "a theatre of dreams. It's got to be full of mystery, full of sensuality and full of intimacy . . . view the article »

Everyone who starts a business and most everyone who runs one thinks theirs is the greatest business in the world. But ask them - do you have a great brand? - and they're likely to give an excuse, such as they sell services not products, their business is not large enough, or brands aren't important in B2B (or in South Dakota). Why? view the article »