We live in an era that increasingly values immediate gratification over sustained fulfillment. As David Brooks notes in his recent New York Times opinion piece, our culture has evolved to prioritize distractions—small, momentary hits—over meaningful engagement.
Brands are essential to decision-making. For those who believe that brands are just about image or messaging, please consider this: in a world of increasing choice, brands are One-Think shopping.
McDonald’s recently announced that the $5 Meal Deal will be extended past its initial 4-week period. According to Bloomberg, McDonald’s hopes the $5 Meal Deal will “lure” in customers. This seems to be happening. McDonald’s believes that this $5 Meal Deal is an opening to “bolster its (McDonald’s) affordability plans through the rest of the year… including the potential to extend the current meal deal for an even longer period of time.” Offering a McDouble...
Here’s one of the most popular and least effective management methods: a strategy template that starts with a company’s Vision and Mission and cascades down to Strategies and Objectives. This strategy template has many problems, such as not mentioning customers’ priorities or your competitive strengths (these should be foundational!). It often produces vague, generic results that avoid making difficult choices.
Strong brands produce significant, sustainable value for the firm. There is no real debate about this fact. The value of a brand can also be readily measured: it is the price premium the brand commands relative to a comparable unbranded product. And, unlike other easily imitated product or service differences, like quality and price, a brand is unique to the firm that offers it. Thus, it is not surprising that Boards and CEO’s seek to...
