Consider the following two vignettes:

• In the book “Winning,” Jack Welch describes a tactic he used at GE to force himself to always enter a business situation with a fresh perspective.  Every time he travelled, he got off the plane imagining that the Jack Welch of yesterday had had no idea what he had been doing.  He felt that this ritual of taking a critical eye to past decisions helped him enter every situation as an opportunity for improvement.

• In a recent issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Laura J. Soave, a marketing executive at Fiat discussed details of Fiat’s ‘Return to North America’ marketing launch, adding that “My ultimate goal would be not to spend one dollar in traditional advertising.”  Instead, she says that she will focus on social media and other grassroots approaches to target likely buyers.

Now, consider the following:  If you were starting the marketing function within your business today, how would you choose to allocate your media mix?  In other words, if you had a zero-based planning process (rather than one based on the previous year’s plans), what would you choose to spend your money on? Read More »

What can moscato teach us about marketing planning and skillsets of socially-savvy marketers?   More than you might imagine.

This sweet wine sourced from the Muscat grape was a rounding error on annual wine sales in the US.

Until Drake came along. Read More »

Drum roll please… many of you noticed our recent poll asking where we should focus our research efforts in 2011.  Thanks to you (and particular thanks to those who offered up time to talk to us about your areas of interest) we have our major themes of our research for next year: Read More »

Seinfeld is one of the most popular shows in the history of American television, and is in many ways emblematic of the 1990’s. But have you ever considered that the show has a lot to teach about marketing strategy?

It’s true. Seinfeld was noted by critics for its unique focus on mundane human interactions, a large number of which included buying and selling stuff. From George’s Russian hat to the muffin tops to the famous J. Peterman catalogue, Seinfeld featured consumerism as a key element in the plotlines of many episodes, the result of which is a show that’s rich in lessons for marketers.

Here’s a look at a few key marketing strategies explored in Seinfeld: Read More »

Not too long ago, it seemed as though there was a must-have holiday gift every year, that inspired all sorts of slightly-depraved stories of grown men hoarding dolls and stampedes at toy stores. Remember Cabbage Patch Kids?

Remembering the toy crazes of our youth, the team here got to talking about whether this kind of frenzy over one product is even possible anymore. Clearly, scenes like the one above are a product of a less segmented society – one with fewer media channels, a smaller range of products to choose from, and more unified tastes.

Perhaps thankfully, it seems as though the days of mono-product consumer crazes are over. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t hot toys – for kids and grown-ups alike – that will be a hit this holiday. Looking at Amazon sales rankings, one thing we’ve noticed is that all the top sellers have one thing in common – they’re infinitely customizable, from Kindles and iPads to Sing-a-ma-jigs and Nerf N-Strike Stampedes, a Nerf gun that blows the pathetic pump-action gun of my childhood out of the water.

Here’s a look at a few of the top sellers: Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

When I think of Thanksgiving, I picture my family, turkey, mashed potatoes—and, on Television, enormous balloons floating down the streets of New York. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is so iconic that the Macy’s brand itself is practically synonymous with one of America’s biggest holidays.

But this branding feat is more than 80 years in the making, and we’ll probably never see anything quite like it again. Read More »

• Twitter’s launching its official analytics product this week [Mashable]
• Cable TV subscriptions drop again in the United States. More evidence of “cord-cutting”? [NYT]
• In more TV news, Google TV launched this week – but don’t get too excited about it, yet [AllThingsD]
• Google’s also moving into fashion e-commerce with it’s Boutiques product, which gives users a customized shopping experience [WSJ]
• Defining a good target customer in the digital age [AdAge]
• Consumers still cutting back – this time on small purchases [Adweek]
• Target will buy the hashtag #blackfriday next Friday [Mashable]
• Social game maker Zynga, of Farmville fame, is launching a game that’s even more brand-friendly [Adweek]
• How Procter and Gamble is targeting the high-end male shaver [NYT]
• New ad product prompts customers to “like” a brand on Facebook – is this a new kind of advertising? [Adweek]

On December 1, CEB will release our Executive Guidance for 2011, Achieving Intelligent Growth. In it, we argue that what separates stable from volatile enterprises is a relentless focus on “intelligent growth” – a long-term pattern of above-industry performance in both revenue growth and efficiency – that persists in all economic climates. Our research teams examined nearly 1,800 global companies across all industries, and found that only 143 companies fit the bill. The Executive Guidance report examines why, and how, those companies got there. Read More »

These are defining times for Latinos as their power, influence, and contributions continue to expand into all areas of American life. The U.S. Latino experience is shifting significantly—and so are the ways these consumers decide on what goods, services, and media they’ll bring into their homes and businesses.  For marketers interested in attracting this growing segment, it’s critical to have an in-depth, culturally-informed view of where Latinos are coming from, and where they’re headed next. Read More »

A lot of companies are experimenting with open innovation.  And as Anna wrote in a recent post, there is a spectrum of open innovation approaches and each serves different purposes. Per a recent Q&A post, many vendors exist to help you build an open innovation platform. These include Spigit, BrightIdea, BrainBank, Imaginatik, and others.  These systems are great at sorting through ideas, ranking them, and advancing the best ones. But they don’t really guarantee the best ideas are entering the system.

So, how do you get the smartest, most forward-thinking people submitting ideas? Effectively, you’re looking for people with a passion for your problem, product, or service because passionate people are more likely to be thinking of ways to solve a problem, prototype an idea, or use an existing product in a way that was not originally intended. If this sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve probably heard of it as the “lead user” principle developed by Professor Eric von Hippel of MIT. While it’s not typically associated with crowd-sourcing, considering the lead user when developing your platform may be valuable. Read More »