I’ve mentioned before my somewhat unfashionable admiration for the supermarket giant Tesco… …and lately they do seem to have slipped a little. From the US debacle of “Fresh and Easy”… …to lagging sales and profits. There are some serious concerns that they have ended up in the worst of all business positions…”stuck in the middle”. […]
Positioning And Marketing – The Joy And The Hurt Of It
“The tai-pan is always alone, that being the joy and the hurt of it.” – from “Noble House” by James Clavell One of the most powerful concepts in marketing is the idea of “positioning”… …put simply, “owning” an idea in the mind of the consumer. For example, in the world of cars, BMW for most […]
Perils Of Product Proliferation In Marketing
Wonderful cartoon from “marketoonist” Tom Fishburne to kick off 2012… “Product proliferation” or “line extension” is one of the biggest mistakes made in the conventional marketing arena… …and there are useful lessons for direct response marketers. Line extension sounds such as sensible and logical strategy. The justification is usually along the lines… 1. It’s a […]
Even Big Companies Struggle With Core Marketing Concepts…
…like positioning. I was in Hungry Jack’s the other day grabbing a bite to eat “on the run”. (For non-Australian readers Hungry Jack’s is the name Burger King operates under in Australia…that in itself is an interesting story.) As I was sitting there munching through my Double Cheeseburger, I noticed the ad copy on the […]
Copywriting Books That Shaped The Business – Take 1
Penguin Books in the UK have a “Great Ideas” series of books that they describe as… “…the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.” It occurred to me that it would be useful to have a similar list of the books that […]