Tipping for food service isn't unique to the United States, but overall, the practice of shifting most of the cost of labor onto the customer in the form of a "gratuity" (expected, but not mandatory) is something that most people around...

It was just a matter of time before direct-to-consumer delivery reached the fueling industry, and with the widespread adoption of apps among the buying public, it appears that consumers will soon have the ability to order up just about anything. Gasoline...

In the movie Field of Dreams, t he protagonist puts a baseball field in the middle of a corn field and attracts a bunch of ghosts to play one final game. The famous line "If you build it, they will come" seems especially appropriate when it...

Facebook and Google handle about 80% of the advertising that exists online, and this duopoly certainly isn't good news for online advertisers. And Facebook became even more dominant this year with a 79% leap in third quarter profit. That's quite...

As the oldest Millennials settle into middle age, growth in the $24 billion "club" industry has begun to slow down. And while most clubs are focusing on the youngest Millennials and the emerging age cohort just now entering college, some savvy...

In my Sports Marketing class, we often have a brief debate as to what and what should not constitute a "sport". To what degree should competition be a factor? If it is a factor then what about Jogging? Should physical exertion be a factor? How...

The Nielsen Ratings have been a fact of life in advertising for many decades. This periodic sampling of TV viewers across the U.S. is the primary factor in how prices are set in the advertising industry since it reflects how many people are watching a...

The U.S. soccer team recently suffered a remarkable defeat at the hands of a tiny island nation off the coast of Venezuela and consequently will miss its first World Cup since 1986. Fans of U.S. men's soccer, and there are many of these, will have...

Is there really a need in the marketplace for more chicken nuggets? That's the important product question marketers at both Wendy's and Burger King think they have already answered, but interestingly, the conclusions the two have drawn aren't...

In our ongoing quest to transform what we learn through social media about attitudes towards our products into some form of actionable marketing strategy, we marketers have a tendency to overreact when we hear something negative. And when it comes to...

The National Football League, an already-popular spectator sport product that has been boosted by the explosive popularity of fantasy football over the past two decades, is finally facing some harsh realities. Fan interest is waning, characterized by...

In advertising, the "what" and "how" of the message marketers wish to convey is known as "creative strategy". The NFL has launched many ad campaigns over the years, but this season the league is making efforts to repair an...

After a very disappointing summer and a year that has seen the movie industry continue along the lackluster path it has taken over the past decade or so, the adaptation of Stephen King's 1980's horror novel, "It", broke a number of box...

Regional fast food chain In-N-Out Burger has cried "foul" and as a result has filed a trademark infringement suit against the national fast food giant, Smashburger, claiming that the rapidly-growing, upstart chain's "Triple Double"...

Have you ever wondered what drives the some of the suggestions that music and movie sites make for their users? Of course, some of it is based on past preferences, but the Wall Street Journal published a fascinating article several weeks ago about streaming...

The NFL and other major professional spectator sport leagues have all made significant efforts to expand their respective global footprints, but expanding the physical product has been limited to playing a handful of games on foreign soil in the hopes...

Public transportation advocates often aren't the ones who actually take public transportation. Suffice it to say that if you have any connections to make or have to pay full price, you are probably better off finding another way to get where you want...

Just as the automotive sector's recent announcement that consumer demand for vehicles of all kinds has peaked is beginning to sink in, there comes some unnerving news from rental car giants Hertz and Avis suggesting that the car rental market might...

By now, those of us who don't fly Southwest Airlines have become accustomed to the "a la cart" model of pricing, one that a formerly unprofitable airline industry has been successfully implementing for the past decade. Indeed Southwest stands...

The price of attaching a brand name to a major spectator sport facility just keeps on rising. This isn't exactly big news to the average sports fan, but even the most casual observer is probably aware that stadiums and arenas are fetching sums that...

I am about to embark on a 10 day trip, and I'm always reminded of how tempting it is to purchase tickets from one of the low-cost carriers like Frontier or Spirit. But I remind myself of the old adage that involves getting what you pay for. In other...

By now many of us have cottoned to the idea of having a co-branded credit card and are probably earning airline "miles" or hotel points with each purchase. After all, these cards have become a very effective way to help establish and maintain...

It is no secret that Chipotle is struggling to regain the "best burrito" status it only recently held among the burrito-eating public as well as investors. Health scares have severely damaged the company's reputation (and stock price), and...

Overall, I don't think that golfers are a very optimistic bunch. I am learning to play the game at present, and it seems that the majority of opinion is that I will probably never be as good as I'd like to be, and that I should try not to let...

Founded in 1984 by a group of 20 street performers in Montreal, Cirque du Soleil Canada is now a company of nearly 4,000 employees with 18 simultaneously touring shows in 2017. Not bad for a bunch of former "buskers". And it's appeal doesn't...