Category: Marketing

Posts on advertising, branding and marketing

NotOKmart 1

The Slow Death of Sears and Kmart

Businesses come and go like anything else. Like living things, they adapt or die. I wrote about this a couple of years ago when I wondered why Sears wasn’t more like Amazon. Starting in...

Sorry Ubuntu Logo 2

Corporate Contrition and Course Correction

It’s never easy to say you’re sorry. This is as true for large corporations as it is for individuals. In the past week or two, I’ve noticed several examples of corporate contrition, some done...

Sears Amazon Logo 4

Sears vs Amazon

Why isn’t Sears the world’s leading online realtor? A hundred years ago, Sears, Roebuck & Company was Amazon.com of its day. At the turn of the 20th century, Sears’ mail order catalogs were everywhere,...

Mall Logo 2

The Fall of the Mall

Remember when shopping malls were the center of American life? During the 1980s and 1990s, the shopping mall served as the hub of commerce and culture in the United States. Just watch any movie...

KFC Honey Sauce Packet 4

Bean Counters and Brand Decay

Branding is not an exact science. In fact, is much more of an art. The most successful brands, like Apple and Starbucks, rely on emotions, rather than rational thinking. And like a personal reputation,...

Monopoly Money 1

The Prepaid Debit Card

A couple of weeks before I moved, I called up AT&T and asked about transferring my DSL service. The guy on the phone told me that they were phasing out my type of DSL....

Decline and Fall of Borders 1

The Golden Age of Bookstores

Back in the 1990s, a lot of book lovers bemoaned the death of the small, independent bookseller. They thought of the big chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble as the enemy. This was...

Wrigley Field Sign for Rent 1

Effective Naming Rights

I’ve always been fascinated by naming rights. Nowadays, most stadiums and arenas are named after corporate sponsors. A lot of events are too. Let’s take a look at the history of this phenomenon, and...

Snowy Fountain in Dallas 2 2

Apartment Amenities

Have you ever noticed how shallow ads for apartment complexes are? They always promote things like swimming pools, gyms, crown moulding and chair rails. These are all nice things, don’t get me wrong, but...