Sunday, August 24, 2008

WHEN GREAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Have you been watching the coverage of the XXIX Olympic games from Beijing? If you are like me you may not be getting as much sleep as you'd like, or need for that matter. In the United States we get early morning coverage and evening coverage that goes very late into the night. But who can turn-off the TV and get to bed with all the drama and excitement inherent in the personal histories and world-class performances?



The DISPATCHTM for August 24, 2008 can be found here:

WHEN GREAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

It is also available in PDF here:

WhenGreatIsNotGoodEnough.pdf (PDF File)

Sunday, August 17, 2008

KEEPING AN EYE ON REASON WHY

Sometimes you can sense things in the wind. It seems that, lately, more and more brands are looking for ways to differentiate themselves better via their Reason Why. Actually, this makes good sense. In so many categories leading brands are parity-performing and cannot make hard benefit claims. Having a differentiated Reason Why (a feature, attribute, characteristic or endorsement/recommendation) can make a big difference ... can imply a superior performance. That's why we say that it's in the brand's best interest to keep a constant eye on the Reason Why!


The DISPATCHESTM for August 17, 2008 can be found here:

KEEPING AN EYE ON REASON WHY

It is also available in PDF here:

KeepingAnEyeOnReasonWhy.pdf (PDF File)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

AN IDEA THAT RINGS TRUE

We are more and more convinced that, in this "age of sameness" where we now live and market our brands, having an idea can be the deal-breaker. It might be a promotion idea, a merchandising idea, an advertising idea. But the more we study parity-performing brands across many categories and classes, the more we see brands with advertising ideas getting ahead of their competitors who do not. Oh, there's just one more thing: not just any idea will lead to this getting ahead. It typically takes an idea that rings true with the customer or consumer. This week we take a look at this all-important distinction.

The DISPATCHESTM for August 3, 2008 can be found here:

AN IDEA THAT RINGS TRUE

It is also available in PDF here:

AnIdeaThatRingsTrue.pdf (PDF File)