Funny how quickly things change. Remember when a prominent speaker at Cannes this past June declared, “The era of the brand is over!” and escalated the debate about how to invest marketing dollars? Flash-forward to December, though, and over a third of marketers told WARC they planned to significantly increase their brand marketing while lowering
Have you ever wondered about the significance of Aaron Paul’s “no half-measures” tattoo? Rewatch Season 3 of “Breaking Bad” (great show, by the way), and you’ll encounter a powerful story with tragic consequences, told by Mike, who ends it saying, “I chose a half-measure when I should have gone all the way. I’ll never make
Remember when Coca-Cola first came out with mini cans? Who doesn’t? A significant, strategic re-architecture of the packaging mix, it “reinvented” the business at a time when consumption had tanked. The Washington Post labeled them “Coca-Cola’s clever new trick,” but health-conscious consumers drank them up, willing to pay more per ounce, driving sales and profitability.
Have we taken agile too far? HBR (Harvard Business Review) first asked that question. I ask it again, knowing we all must be agile to thrive and survive in today’s omnicommerce marketplace. The concern? That agility too often equates to a short-term sprint in planning — especially when it comes to innovation launches. No time
We’re in the home stretch now, pushing to deliver on our holiday and year-end objectives. And get off the ground running for 2024. But we’re running lean. Very lean. And crossing the finish line is getting harder and harder. With inflation pressures and high interest rates, cost-cutting is the direction in every company. Remember the
I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Southern Region Minority Supplier Development Council — all about helping businesses set themselves up for growth in a changing retail landscape. My topic? The importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. The audience? Small-to-midsize businesses and startups, keenly focused on the essentials that would make
A few years back, when I was with Dollar General in the chief merchant’s seat, Fortune saw us as “a crafty mix of 7-Eleven-like convenience and Walmart-like low prices.” Yeah, but that description doesn’t begin to do justice to the strong value-and-convenience proposition of the value channel — a proposition that’s put Dollar General and
“Innovate by starting with the customer and working backward.” That’s what Jeff Bezos says. Who wouldn’t agree? From new products to packaging to consumer experiences, you’ve got to walk in your customer’s shoes. Dig deep to understand what they really want and need. How they think. Why they act. Essentially, design thinking. Given today’s super-charged,
First, there was the “great resignation;” then came “quiet quitting.” And now we’re seeing the “quiet hiring” and “fractional hiring” trends build momentum as companies continue to struggle to fill critical talent gaps, and scale up or down as needed to meet changing business needs in a dynamic marketplace. The good news is that the
“Change before you have to,” former GE CEO Jack Welch always urged. Sound advice. I don’t have to tell you we’re in the midst of some seismic shifts that will drastically change the way we do business over the next decade. It’s already clear we need to shake up much of our current way of
Recently, I asked a mass retailer DMM, “How many of your buyers first took on that responsibility during COVID?” The answer … about 60%! During that chaotic time, they quickly learned to virtually chase in-stocks and supply consistency, and virtually responded to new buying patterns. They — and their suppliers — became highly proficient at
A little while back, a report from FMI – The Food Industry Association caught my eye. It provided some pretty compelling data on how hybrid grocery shopping is completely transforming the food retail landscape. Maybe you saw it, too? FMI noted that seven years ago only 7% of surveyed shoppers reported ordering groceries online within