In a recent Mintel presentation on Consumer Trends for 2010, there was an emphasis placed on the concept of Balance, and specifically our need to find balance between the low-end necessities we purchase and those few indulgences we still allow ourselves despite the recession- because we’re only human after all.
Right?
I recently read the Nancy Gibbs column in Time magazine entitled ‘The Happiness Paradox” and it sort of got me thinking. From a quick look online, there are literally hundreds of books on the uplifting subject of happiness and hardly a day goes by without the results of another study being launched on the topic.
But the basic question posed by the Time article remains – namely, why is it that Americans appear to be happier in this recession than they have been in previous ones? (more…)
This Friday, as one of our trusty strategists (thanks Doug!) was heading out on an early flight to focus groups, he happened to catch a live segment being done by the Today Show on the rapidly successful service called Groupon.
Back in September, Sterling Brands released our annual Cultural Pulse, highlighting the hottest cultural trends for the upcoming year and (more…)
Recently, Sterling Brands marketing buffs and all around Branding and Design aficionados- Rochelle Fainstein and Anna Roseberry- were published in the online magazine: Shelf Impact!
“…RRP’s implications for brands in terms of consumer loyalty are huge. Consumers will come to admire brands that follow the RRP suit, regarding them as good for the environment and good for their wallets.
Brands that think inside the big box will be scooped up more exclusively by retailers, thus pushing individual-pack competitors off the shelves, or at least to the side. Free-standing packaging that often comes in display-ready form makes it a no-brainer for retailers to place RRP products on aisle end-caps, increasing a brand’s visibility.”
The performance of the three major US automakers over the past 12-18 months sees the companies arranged neatly into the good, the bad and the ugly. And considering that all of them were confronting the same extreme marketplace conditions, it’s more than interesting to see how the three are coping.
In today’s complex world, it’s always refreshing to write about simple brands and this description is meant in a very flattering way. Subway is a beautifully simple and successful brand that is confronting a very un-simple problem. (more…)
The hallmarks of fashion brand American Apparel have always been “Fashionable Basics. Sweatshop Free. Made in the USA.” To this I’d like to add: And Super Fun to Buy.
It is a wonderful thing when a brand stands up against the horrible practices of sweatshops around the world, declaring itself as truly American-made so appropriate labor-laws can be maintained whilst the product is manufactured. But You know and I know that it is American Apparel’s position as the number-one go-to source for apparel layering basics that keeps anyone age 35 or under as loyal to and almost dependent on the brand. American Apparel recognizes the increasing desire for consumers to ‘self-brand’ using apparel as the expression of their own brand. (more…)
If you had told me in 2002, eight loss-making years after the company was formed, that one day Amazon would become one of the biggest brand successes worldwide, I simply would not have believed you. (more…)
It’s coming up to that time of the year when we have to start thinking about buying toys and games for our kids, families and our friends. And I don’t know about the rest of you but even the thought of it fills me with fear and trepidation.
As part of my preparation, I spent some time over the last three days visiting a number of Toys R Us and Wal-Mart stores as well as both their websites to see what’s going on. And the news from the front is that both of these titans are winding themselves up for another massive battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of holiday consumers nationwide. (more…)
