Newsletter

One of the biggest challenges any marketer faces is knowing how swiftly or strongly to react when the competition introduces something new. This article will provide you with a simple framework for how to respond to innovation and the disruption it can cause for your business.

Category enthusiasts are critical to specialty brands, and we have been studying them and why they’re so important for quite a while. Years in fact. This article will first explain what the category enthusiast is and then let you know why they are so important to specialty brands and specialty retailers. 

I had the privilege recently of helping a local non-profit art center think about their brand and develop a strategy for increasing the support and use of their facility. They were facing a significant problem: despite their 35 years of service to the community, funding sources and participation were not...

As technology and mobile devices march ever forward, brands out there – the big and the small – are coming under increasing fire. After all, within moments of hearing about something a company or retail brand has done or not done, or experiencing the actions of a brand for yourself...

The number of products on shelves, the number of options we have in our daily lives is beginning to paralyze us. Shoppers are walking out of stores or leaving websites – frustrated, unsatisfied and without buying anything. This has big implications for retailers and marketers.

I have been amazed at the speed and breadth of the change underway in mobile devices. Truth be told, as a marketer I’m quite worried about this rapid change because of its potential influence on shoppers, particularly specialty store shoppers. Think about it: the iconic value propositions of...

I recently read an advice column by Carolyn Hax (yeah, I know) that contained a remarkable suggestion. The subject had cheated on his girlfriend, yet through hard work regained her trust to a point where she accepted his marriage proposal. His conundrum? He still had thoughts about...

Improving retail performance is on everybody’s mind these days, what with the economy and lots of stores, restaurants and retail outlets struggling or even being shuttered. So how can you turn your own fortunes around? You could use specialized marketing and advertising programs that...

"Think globally and act locally." It's a catchy and wise-sounding phrase one hears thrown about and seems to be a good thing for any company to do. Most businesspeople understand and desire the 'think globally' side of the equation, but just what does 'act locally' really mean?