Overview

Inflation. You can’t turn on the TV without hearing about it. You can’t go to the grocery store without seeing it. You can’t have a conversation with family, friends, or colleagues without the subject coming up. Today, there seems to be no bigger story or pressing concern — well, except…

Why Word of Mouth is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool

Overview

Recent research has shown an almost complete disconnect between what marketing execs think “works” and what really works to actually make consumers buy their products or services. Despite all the emphasis on new media and new ways of marketing, satisfied, talkative customers are still your best promotional tool today! …

A Unique Strategy Being Employed by Retailers to Hide Their Supply Chain Woes

Introduction

Nothing in the retail environment is random. When it comes to big box stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc., major chains arrange their stores in very purposeful ways. The goal, of course, is simple: To have you buy more! Decades of solid research into consumer behavior informs how most retailers —…

A Look at the Brand Proliferation Today Across the Hotel Industry

Across the Hospitality Industry, the Major Hotel Brands Have Been Proliferating Their Offerings Under New Brands. Is It Possible to Have Too Many Brands in Today’s Fast-changing Lodging Environment?

Overview

Your brand. There is no bigger resource for your company than its identity. And for most companies, their brand — singular…

Recent Research Ranks the Global Companies Working the Hardest Against Fighting Climate Change Today, with America’s Largest Energy Firms Lead the Pack. A Realistic — and Disturbing — Look at What This Means for the Path to a Renewable Energy Future.

Introduction

The evil corporate executive. Throughout the history of popular…

Wow! It is one tough time to be in charge of people in any organization today! Each and every day on your drive into work, one cannot help but see the signs of the times, as they are everywhere! Seemingly every business, small and large alike, not only has a…

What You Can Learn from Patagonia’s Marketing Fail

Overview

If you are at all involved in marketing anything, then you’ve been there. Whether you are marketing a product, a service, a hospital, a political candidate, or a university, you’ve been there. We’ve all been in a conference room with a group of people with a task of, well, creating…

Why the Sun is Rising on Solar Energy Today

Overview

As a strategic management professor and consultant, I have had the opportunity to be in “the room where it happens” on many occasions. Through the years, I have been in the conference rooms and board meetings where corporate leaders have worked through complex issues to make decisions that were far…