Archive for May, 2004
Wednesday, May 12th, 2004
Is "Made in the USA" worth anything nowadays?
I think it’s a valid question.
In her article in last week’s Ad Age, Hillary Chura reported on the NOP World study that warns of declining consumer interest in US brands. In their infinite wisdom, some researchers are calling this a “warning sign.” In my opinion, that’s kind of like noticing the bow of a sinking [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Brand Central Station, Marketing America by Mike Bawden
Tuesday, May 11th, 2004
Creating a brand advantage. (Hint: It helps to be quick and small.)
You have to hand it to Al Ries. In his latest column in this week’s Ad Age, Ries continues to expand on the point of view he and his partner Jack Trout established in their now classic Positioning. If you have a franchise, you might as well leverage it, right?
For once, Ries’s point is insightful [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Brand Central Station by Mike Bawden
Wednesday, May 5th, 2004
There’s a reason why they call it "Crack-berry"
I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of wireless e-mail or SMS. Just like Karen von Hahn in her column in Saturday’s Globe and Mail, I’ve been around people who can’t seem to put the damn things down and find it flat-out rude.
Hopefully, it’s all part of an evolutionary process. As humans, we’re [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Brand Central Station by Mike Bawden
Tuesday, May 4th, 2004
What’s really going on with reality television?
An interesting story in this week’s edition of Television Week points out that ratings for shows in the Reality Television genre are off about 12 percent over last year. What’s hidden inside this story is a much more scary story about television viewing habits that, I think, are telling us much more about the American [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Brand Central Station by Mike Bawden
Sunday, May 2nd, 2004
Is a virtual handshake all that effective?
Okay, I’m a member of LinkedIn and who knows how many other “social networking” sites. I participate in a number of newsgroups and even include strategic partnering among my consulting services.
But is a virtual introduction as effective as really going someplace to meet someone face-to-face? Of course it isn’t. But if that someone is in [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Brand Central Station by Mike Bawden
Sunday, May 2nd, 2004
If Iraq were our account, would we handle it this poorly?
I so rarely write political screeds … and this doesn’t really count as one, I think.
But you just have to wonder with the latest release of photos of mistreated Iraqi prisoners, exactly what is going on here? Isn’t someone thinking about how all this must look to the rest of the world? I suppose the [...]
