What goes around comes around. How true it is, especially in distribution and retail circles. There never has been a retail/distribution that hasn't been redone and or recast in a different concept. As we grow older, we often yearn for the days of our youth. It has been said that it takes twenty years for something to become nostalgic.
Let's face it; branding is a challenge in whatever category you find yourself working. It's why we're all in the business that we are - we've chosen to work in the peak of elation and trough of despair world of the communications business. It's what drives us. Being a student of branding is a fascinating pass time for me, especially when you see an unexpected ad/brand campaign that leaves you questioning why they did what they did and what is the message? This happened recently while eating lunch and reading the Wall Street Journal. A full-page ad from Harman with the headline "Sound Matters" literally jumped off the page at me.
It hardly received nary a mention, but the America's Cup was held a couple of weeks ago in Valencia, Spain. Call it the race of the billionaires. Oracle Corporation founder Larry Ellison was victorious in BMW Oracle over the defending champion, Alinghi, led by Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. You had to look far and wide to find any coverage, an average of about five lines of agate type in local newspapers.
There once was a time when Amway was a household name in product marketing and branding circles. It seems as if Amway disappeared from my brand consciousness over the past decade or so. That is why I was so curious about the multitude of Amway commercials that I saw over the holidays. They dominated sporting events from NCAA Bowls, the NBA, and ESPN's ubiquitous SportsCenter.
As a marketer and brand strategist, it has been fascinating to watch the complete unraveling of the Tiger Woods brand. You would be hard pressed to find a more disastrous brand case history equivalent in size and scope. Maybe Tylenol back in the eighties would rival it for speed of brand dissent. All the brand pillars and tenets of Tiger have proven to be as phony as he is as a person.
It is often said that logos are what we see and brands are what we feel. Face it, brands are an extension of who we are and what we want people to think about us. They control us in many ways, both emotionally and rationally. It's all about reaching both the heart and the mind. The greatest example of exercising power over our collective psyches and wallets is Nike.
There is big money to be made with convicts today, not just by attorneys, but also consultants who are living the age-old adage of following the money. Based on the surge of convictions for federal crimes over the past decade, a new consultant niche is upon us - prison consultants.
A fascinating war is shaping up in the retail book selling category. The stakes are being raised as the prices fall just as far. The bidding is bold and fast - the price for pre-ordered bestsellers is now $8.98 at Wal-Mart. Amazon matched the original $9.00 price tag, but Wal-Mart, always low-price leader, dropped it to $8.99. Target entered the fray, matching the $8.99 price. Wal-Mart countered with $8.98. It was like watching gas station wars in the 1970's, stations dueling by being a penny lower. All of this follows the fanfare of $9.99 eBooks for your Kindles and Sony Readers.
Two marketing events struck an emotional chord with me this week. Many brands die, day in and day out, but just as many get pulled out of the brand deathbed and are brought back to life. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the beer, wine and spirits category. College students across the country are probably rejoicing at the news about the $10 Million revitalization effort for Genesee Cream Ale. I don't know about you, but I know lots of people, including myself, who enjoyed Genny Creams in their college years. Ah yes, the glory years for me and Genesee Beer. Why? Because, it was cheap! Genesee Cream Ale owned the college crowd. In recent years, that position was usurped by Pabst. PBR's were the brand of choice for the college set. In fact, Pabst rode many years of sales growth based on the nostalgia craze. It was the ultimate fad brand. Ten million dollars buys a lot of visibility, but can Genesee Cream Ale accomplish the same results?
From an overall retail channel perspective, there has been nothing more fascinating than watching the home center and hardware retail category battle it out over the past couple of decades. It's a channel anomaly that the big boxes haven't destroyed the local hardware store entrees and offerings. I'm talking about Home Depot and Lowe's and their continual battle to crush anything in their way. In fact, they're losing their way these days.
