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...

With all of the talk about how the vast majority of traditional brands are struggling mightily to resonate with a massive cohort of fickle young consumers, it's nice to see one of your grandmother's classic brands emerge as a winner in bridging...

Celebrities are only human, and humans make mistakes. Sometimes we forget that, and when marketers use celebrities such as athletes as brand endorsers, the errors that humans have a propensity to make can exact fairly large consequences. This is true...

It seems like the music never stops when it comes to the NFL these days. In a significant move involving strategic alliances, the National Football League announced a partnership with Facebook to deliver NFL video content to users. Official highlights...

Over the past 50 years, marketers of natural and organic products up and down the supply chain have enjoyed a distinct luxury that most marketers only dream of -- a constantly expanding market consisting of consumers who are willing to pay a premium for...

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...

Vacationers who like to travel to Mexico for its myriad benefits are well aware of its reputation as a place with lots of drug-related gang violence, and unfortunately this reputation has been well earned. Mexico, which relies heavily on tourism for its...

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...

The Apple Marketing Machine is in full swing with the announcement that a new iteration of the iPhone is pending. Just when it will be released is still a bit of a mystery, but it will indeed be released eventually, and to much media attention, both social...

After a great deal of negative publicity caused by selling several batches of unintentionally "see-through" yoga pants as well as the CEO's assertion that the company's yoga pants "aren't for every (body type)", Lululemon...

In a new product development twist we would expect from the always-creative marketers at Taco Bell, coffee drink-retailer Starbucks has decided introduce a food-fusion product that is part burrito and part sushi. If you are confused as to why they would...

Unbelievably, RadioShack still exists. Long ago, most of us forgot what it is those folks actually sell, and back in 2015, the forgotten brand that dies hard filed for bankruptcy protection. It was rescued by Sprint which entered 1,400 RadioShack locations...

Apparently Amazon's proposed acquisition of Whole Foods Markets will face no opposition from the Federal Trade Commission, and so the deal will close on Monday. In earlier posts we have explored many reasons for this interesting acquisition, the biggest...

Twenty years ago Iceland, although a place with a great deal of natural beauty, was nothing more than an under-populated island backwater, prone to volcanic activity, and without much in the way of tourism. Ten years later the largely inhabitable island...

Most people under 40 have probably heard of the funny, improvisational TV show "Reno 911!" , which aired for seven years during the mid 2000's, and did not exactly paint Reno in a very good light. In fact, the show did much to shape American...

Supply chain relationships are necessary, and maintaining healthy strategic alliances with partners that add value to the exchange process is of paramount importance in marketing strategy. But in an environment wherein retailers and the brands they sell...

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...

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...

At this point in time it's difficult to consider Apple to be a major innovator in the true sense of the word. The company has invented a few things over the years, but for the most part, developers prefer to take an existing technology and then proceed...

In an industry rife with consumer unfriendly practices, Southwest usually emerges as one of the "good guys" in that the company at least listens to its customers and strives to improve. Marketers have opted to differentiate the brand from competitors...

The emergence of fast-casual rivals combined with an industry-wide over-reliance on sales promotions (like discounts and bundles) has put some serious pressure on fast food provider Subway. The brand has also lost some of its position as a healthier food...

So much has already been written on the negative publicity issues facing United Airlines, that the latest problems bear mentioning here in this column. It all began several weeks ago when employees refused to allow two teenage girls traveling on company...

What a movie franchise Fast and Furious has become! It all began as an American movie about street racing culture and now the eighth and latest installment has set a new box office record for global ticket revenue. The movie, called the Fate of the Furious...

On the heels of yet more sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, some advertisers have decided to pull advertisements from the very popular "The O"Reilly Factor" program. A report from ideological rival, The New York Times, reported...