Harvard Business Publishing

Older Internet users may remember the battles over the commercialization of the web in the early 1990s, when the first Mosaic browser was introduced. Back then, pioneering adopters passionately condemned the first web advertisers and tried to bring down their sites with "flaming" attacks. The fight was lost as consumers voted for free information supported by advertising over subscription services. Ironically, online advertising and the commercialization of the web achieved important goals of the resisters: to preserve the web as a medium for free publishing and communications. A recent TNS study reported the leading activities of Internet users as: used a search engine to find information (81%); looked up the news (76%); used online banking (74%); looked up the weather (65%); researched a product or service before buying it (63%); visited a brand or product website (61%); paid bills (56%); watched a video clip (51%); used a price comparison site... Keep Reading »

Countless books advise how to build your personal brand. Michael Jackson was so unique that he cannot realistically serve as anyone's role model in that effort. Yet Jackson was unquestionably a brand icon and there are lessons to be learned. Here are the top ten factors that explain his icon status. Start early. Michael began entertaining at the age of four. His career as the uniquely young lead singer in The Jackson Five began with the Motown label at the age of 10. National recognition came with his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Let go. Jackson went solo in 1972 at the age of 13. As with Diana Ross and the Supremes, there came a point where the group constrained rather than aided the further development of his talent. Break out. Jackson was a multidimensional entertainer. His expert dancing could be showcased via the new medium of music videos.... Keep Reading »

Recession-challenged consumers are buying less, looking for deals, or switching to different brands, product categories, or stores. Some are even changing long-held attitudes toward consumption. To many folks, filling the home with more stuff or keeping up with the Joneses is no longer appealing. As a result, the degree of uncertainty in business and consumer markets has soared. Yet, to conserve cash, most firms are reducing spending on the market research that would help manage that uncertainty. In the U.S., spending on market research has dipped for four consecutive quarters, and chief marketing officers don't expect the situation to turn around soon. Most big consumer marketers are seeking to shave 10 to 20% off of research budgets. In flush times, a rising tide of consumption can compensate for less than optimal branding, positioning, pricing, or segmentation. That is certainly not the case now. At the same time that marketers must... Keep Reading »

Governments are prolific marketers. The armed forces advertise to recruit volunteers. Health agencies advise us to buckle up and quit smoking. In addition to information and persuasion, governments have long used the tax code to nudge us to change our behavior: tax free investments to save for retirement, tax credits on the purchase of energy saving products. When persuasion and price incentives prove insufficient, governments can go one step further than commercial marketers: regulate and legislate compliance. The current recession has caused many consumers to cut back on consumption and increase savings, especially in countries where social safety nets are underdeveloped. Governments are responding with programs both to increase the availability of bank credit and to promote consumption. Nowhere is this more evident than in China where the savings rate has been 50% and domestic consumption must be stimulated to compensate for the fall in overseas demand for Chinese-made goods.... Keep Reading »

Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change from AIG to AIU at the failed company's New York headquarters reminds us that a brand is a precious asset. The value of any brand asset depends upon whether it has delivered on its past promises and is believed likely to do so in the future. It takes years of effort to build brand trust but only a few months--or minutes--to squander it. A brand that has lost consumer trust is no longer a brand; it is merely a name. Merrill Lynch is no longer a brand. Both before and after the collapse of the Internet bubble, Merrill and its commission-based executives were challenged by investors and government regulators for hyping stocks and other questionable practices. The last CEO spent over one million dollars to redecorate his office and pushed through $3.6 billion in executive bonuses the day before he agreed to... Keep Reading »

A recent Economist magazine includes a special report on entrepreneurship which recites the customary litany of reasons why America spawns so many entrepreneurs. There is barely an acknowledgment of what Amar Bhide has appealingly termed "the venturesome consumer." Yet this willingness to adopt new products, new processes and new services more rapidly than consumers in other countries may be the most important of all enablers of entrepreneurship and innovation in America. Why is the American consumer more venturesome? Six factors come to mind. Wealth. The average American consumer has more disposable income than his counterparts in most other countries. There is therefore money available, with easy credit historically fueling the fire, to risk on new things and new experiences. And the secondary market, from the flea auction to eBay, is well developed so the consumer does not necessarily lose everything if disappointed. Mobility. American consumers relocate more than most. What... Keep Reading »

Congratulations. Your business is surviving the recession. You made the necessary adjustments, weeded out under-performing distributors, shed unprofitable or unreliable customers, deleted poor-selling products from your portfolio, and concentrated your marketing dollars on media and channels that you could prove delivered a strong return on investment. You may have downsized, voluntarily or involuntarily, since the recession began but at least you're still in business. Now, you are waiting for the recovery, the chance to again have some fun and make some money. Here are my seven top recommendations for marketers looking to plan ahead: Focus on high-potential customers. Make sure you focus on building relationships with ambitious customers in growth industries where pent-up demand is going to be unleashed once the economy turns the corner. If you're running a B2C business, focus on cash-rich or long-term-oriented consumers to lead you into recovery. But don't forget to stock up to take... Keep Reading »

Some good news for marketing heads: Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are holding on to their jobs longer. Spencer Stuart's annual survey of CMO tenure at the 100 most advertised brands in the USA reveals average time on the job has risen to 28.4 months from 26.8 months in 2007 and 23.2 months in 2006. The popular interpretation of this data is that CMOs are aligning better with CEOs. The latter are no longer expecting instant rainmaking and the former have learnt to be humble. CMOs have learned not to pontificate about brand values before researching the issue, and they no longer fire the incumbent advertising agency the day after being appointed. The best CMOs stay low-key and aim to make the CEO, who is often from a non-marketing background, comfortable becoming the chief cheerleader for the brand. The economic recession has, perhaps surprisingly, elevated the standing of the CMO. It... Keep Reading »

Starbucks' launch of Via shows great commercial courage. And commercial courage is what consumers need in the face of this recession. The courage not to lower prices on existing services, but to innovate, to provide new solutions that offer unprecedented value. Instant, soluble coffee has long been the unspeakable wasteland of the coffee business. Conventional wisdom would be that no premium brand should go near it. But Howard Schultz's vision from day one has been to bring quality coffee to the mass market. Via continues that effort. Look at the packaging. Taste the product. Via is going to redefine and reenergize the instant coffee subcategory. It will offer time-strapped Starbucks loyalists a chance to stretch their dollars and sustain their Starbucks brand consumption frequency. It will also offer non-Starbucks users an affordable entry point into the Starbucks world; after trying Via, they may want to visit a store for the... Keep Reading »

Many dismiss marketing as manipulative, deceptive and intrusive. Marketing, they argue, focuses too much of our attention on material consumption. More recently, Benjamin Barber, in his 2007 book, Consumed, claims that marketing is "sucking up the air from every other domain to sustain the sector devoted to consumption." He is correct. Coca-Cola, Nike and Starbucks command more loyalty among many consumers than any political party, trade union, church or mosque. Indeed, Starbucks founder, Howard Schultz, sought to make his coffee shops the "third place" in our lives, after home and work. Marketing is an American success story. No country on earth is better at marketing than the United States. The latest Interbrand listing of the most valuable global brands reveals seven American brands in the top ten and sixty in the top hundred, more than twice the expected numbers based on the United States' command of 28 percent of the... Keep Reading »