If you're like me you carry at least one loyalty card in your wallet. I have about six of them: grocery store cards, gas station point cards and frequent flyer program cards. The question becomes: should these brands count on me as a Continue Reading
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10 Reasons to Adopt Socially Responsible Marketing
In April 2013 the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh caused international consumer outrage. Brands from around the world were in damage control mode after it has been revealed that many of their products were made at that factory where the working conditions could be labeled as “modern day slavery”. A few weeks earlier Royal Bank [...]
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Is Brand Differentiation A Strategy Worth Pursuing?
While publishing various articles on the topic of brand differentiation and positioning I became involved in some very interesting and intensive debates on the merits and even the relevance of this concept with the modern consumers. The discussions can be summarized into a single question: is brand differentiation still a valid strategy worth pursuing, or [...]
Continue reading...How to Perform A Competitive Landscape Analysis
Most strategic marketing projects require a thorough competitive landscape analysis. If you have been involved in the development of a new brand positioning, re-positioning an existing brand, creation of the yearly marketing plan or multi-year strategic plans, then you probably used one as a backup for your recommendations. In the not so distant past competitive research was [...]
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Business Etiquette Tips: 5 “Old-School” Habits That Still Matter
Have you ever waited an important email reply to move a project forward that never came? Have you experienced the anxiety, uncertainty, that come with the wait? Have you had a meeting re-scheduled at the last minute, after you spend many hours preparing for it? I am sure you all experienced these frustrations at one point in [...]
Continue reading...Book Review: “The Luxury Strategy” by Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien
During the month of March I decided to focus on luxury brand management. As the final chapter of my “luxurious” journey, today I am reviewing “The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands” by Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien. The second edition of this book was published by Kogan Page USA [...]
Continue reading...Luxury Branding: The Difference Between Premium and Luxury
An article on the NBC News website announces the new 2014 Hyundai Equus, with a price tag of over $70,000: “At next week’s New York Auto Show, Hyundai will spotlight the 2014 Equus, the mid-cycle update of its premium-luxury sedan. The sedan will compete with high-end makes, such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series.” [...]
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Marketing a Luxury Brand-Part 2
The first article in this series listed the unique ingredients of the true luxury brand: selective ownership, timeless design, a unique brand story and of course, a high price tag. It’s now time to address a fundamental brand management question: can traditional marketing principles be transferred to the luxury market? Can a luxury brand be managed using the [...]
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Marketing a Luxury Brand: Part 1
Today I am starting a series of articles on marketing a luxury brand. It’s sometimes hard to believe there are brands for which the words “Sale” or “Limited Time Offer” are not part of the vocabulary. In fact, the higher price tag only adds to the myths these brand managed to create over time. I [...]
Continue reading...How To Market a New Small Business Against Big Corporations
Many great ideas fail to translate into profitable business opportunities. Often the reason is the perceived lack of opportunity to compete with large, established brands that dominate a category. However, real life facts shows that the small, independent, family owned business can successfully survive and thrive in mature categories. In Fact small businesses are at the core [...]
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