The Wiglaf Journal

Price War Breaks Out in Online Books: How to End It

2009-11-08T18:14:15Z

In late October, Wal-Mart kicked off the most devastating book price war in a decade by selling its 10 most anticipated hardbacks for $10 a piece when pre-ordered online. Hours later, Amazon picked up the gauntlet and declared a defensive stance with matching prices. Wal-Mart lunged back on the offensive with a price cut to $9. Within a day, Amazon responded with a Prise de Fer by also moving to $9. The war is on. Read how it must end.

LinkedIn and Personal Branding

2009-11-09T12:01:24Z

Who owns your personal brand? What is driving the meaning of your brand to clients, partners, and employers? How is your online content being disseminated across the digital divide? For those who have yet to incorporate LinkedIn into their hierarchy of marketing objectives, these may be challenging questions.

What is LinkedIn and why?

2009-10-07T20:59:37Z

The question still comes up: What is LinkedIn? Once that answer is delivered, sometimes to the satisfaction of the inquirer; most often, not, the other question is sure to follow: Why LinkedIn?

Marketers May Find Gold on the Old Brand Junk Heap

2009-10-07T19:05:14Z

What do International Harvester, Fisher Body, Howard Johnson’s, E.F. Hutton, Mr. Donut, Statler Hotels, McCall’s and Marshall Field’s have in common? They are all magical brands of the past that sit on the junk heap of dead brands. Like products and product categories, brands follow a life cycle and eventually decline into oblivion. However, in some cases death may not be permanent and resurrection may be possible.

Hip, Hip, Hooray, the Recession Is Over … Long Live the (Weak) Recovery

2009-10-07T18:58:18Z

By most indicators, the major economies of the world are coming out of the deepest global recession a lifetime. Yet, the recovery is far from a return to pre-recessionary trends. Executives might be hoping for return to strong growth, yet most of should expect a tepid climate at best. How should they react? Read on.

Global Marketers Unclear About Obama’s Direction

2009-09-14T13:06:39Z

Global marketers looking for direction from the Obama Administration will have to wait a little longer. There are no clear signals as to whether Obama will embrace free trade, like his immediate predecessors, or revert to a more protectionist policy, favored by one of his primary bases of support.

Starbucks Price Action: Bloggers Respond Negatively, Will Customers Also?

2009-09-14T12:36:24Z

In late August, Starbucks (SBUX) raised their prices on several more complex beverages while lowering them for more basic drinks. Responses from bloggers have been overwhelming negative. Did Starbucks misjudge their pricing power or are the pundits punching thin air?

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE C-SUITE

2009-09-14T12:42:02Z

The Social Media tsunami has spawned a veritable army of evangelists, strategists, consultants, and would-be entrepreneurs in the fight for the Internet marketing dollar. They are marching to a subtle yet driving hymn of information overload, promising ROI, search engine domination and profitability at every turn. In the distance, tweeting, once faint, can be heard. The most ambitious of these soldiers, with laptops ablaze, have set their sights on the C-suite.

Epilogue: New Chapter on Pilgrim’s Pride?

2009-09-14T12:41:53Z

In September of 2009, JBS SA, a Brazilian beef giant, indicated intentions to purchase Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Perhaps this will write a new chapter on Pilgrim’s Pride.

Trying to Put the Toothpaste Back Into the Tube

2009-08-19T12:20:42Z

Now that the recession seems to be ending and the slow recovery process is under way, a new vision of the post-recession economic environments is beginning to take shape. And, the picture is a lot different than it was before the economy’s free fall.

Profiting with the Post Recession Customer

2009-08-19T12:17:30Z

The current recession has been longer, deeper, and generally more damaging than any other since the great depression. As we move past the recessionary scramble to survive and into some semblance of a recovery, no intelligent executive should expect things to return to the way they were. Research into customer behavior is showing two general trends: (1) Demand is not only generally lower, but also the demand that does exist is at a lower price point. (2) This shift in customer demand and preferences is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. If the world has changed, so must strategy:

Product Variety Management and Sales Volume

2009-07-23T08:11:03Z

Choice is good, more choice is better … or is it? Is it always better to offer customers more choices, or should companies restrict the choices available to customers in some situations?

New Paradigms Abound

2009-07-23T08:13:21Z

By any measure, conventional advertising is in the dumpster. However, advertising budgets are probably as high as ever with some recession adjustments. Where is the money – to results going?

Multicultural Marketing: A Misunderstood Concept and Untapped Business Strategy

2009-06-13T14:50:30Z

Newly released census figures show that the nation’s minority population has reached 102.5 million people, or one in three Americans. This burgeoning population—and the buying power it represents—makes effective multicultural marketing imperative for businesses to succeed. Yet many firms in our businesses community lack both a clear understanding of these diverse consumers and a disciplined approach to investing in and managing multicultural marketing. So, how can companies begin or improve multicultural initiatives?

Success in Social Media

2009-06-13T14:42:49Z

How is success in Social Media defined? Is it an input-equals-output argument? Can expenditures by companies in this area be justified? With so many individuals and corporations unable to attach logic to the concept, let alone the possibility of payoff, how does the use of the Social Media translate into black ink on the balance sheet? These are the questions imposed on businesses that seek to advance and flourish in the Internet Age

If a Business Lets You “Pay What You Want,” Could It Survive?

2009-06-19T10:22:24Z

Come into most executives’ offices and say “I have a great promotional idea: Let’s let customers pay what they want. It will be great!” and your career there is all but over. Yet, experiments recently demonstrated that it was great, and more specifically, it was great for profits. How can this be?

Effectual Decision Making of Revolutionary Entrepreneurs

2009-06-19T18:01:26Z

Entrepreneurs are a different breed, but what is this breed? Recently, Reed et al. examined the decision making practices of highly successful entrepreneurs, individuals who have grown a company to $200 million or more in annual revenues. They found that entrepreneurs tend to use a more effectual logic rather than predictive logic. What is effectual logic versus predictive logic and how does it help entrepreneurs? … Read on.

Two Harvard Experts Provide Perspective On Building Entrepreneurial Businesses In Troubled Economic Times

2009-06-19T18:00:09Z

“Never let a crisis go to waste.” Two leading Harvard University entrepreneurial specialists provide some interesting insight into building entrepreneurial business during these troubled economic times.

What Can Business Learn from Nonprofit Organizations about Inspiring Customers?

2009-06-19T09:45:57Z

To inspire the consumer, you must help him believe in something that he once thought was impossible. This is where innovators will thrive and institutions will die. Innovators will think in quantum leap fashion. “Institutions” will think incrementally

The Social Media Tsunami

2009-06-19T09:45:44Z

Nobody saw this coming. A few hints were given that something was looming on the horizon, but not to this extent, to this fanfare. It struck suddenly and has pounded down on us with no quarter. In describing the impact of Social Media, the tsunami metaphor works—and mainstream business better be ready to accept it. Rather than being crushed under its immense force, individuals and companies must now learn how to surf—and very quickly. But what exactly triggered this tectonic shift in habit?

Is Starbucks in an Existential Wilderness?

2009-06-19T10:20:09Z

What is Starbucks? Is it a momentary retreat from the stress of work and life? Is it a fast-service coffee chain? Is it a snack shop? Is it a luxury coffee manufacturer? What is Starbucks reason for existence?

Recession Takes Toll on Brand Values

2009-06-19T10:09:23Z

If you want to see the winners and losers in the current economic downturn, look closely at the 2008 brand valuation numbers produced jointly by Interbrand and Business Week Magazine. Companies suffering on the stock exchange are also taking a beating the calculated value of their brands. Those in distressed industries that are holding their own in sales and profits are likewise holding their own in brand value. New growth companies are picking up the slack and are moving into ever higher positions on the brand valuation scale.

Opportunities starting to sprout as entrepreneurs pick up the pieces from shattered economy

2009-06-19T10:07:37Z

The funny thing about recessions is that only after you’ve been in one do you realize that it began nearly a year before. The same thing happens when you come out of it. Usually at the most depressing time, the subtle turnaround begins and six to nine months later the, the economic experts will announce the recovery has been here for nearly a year. Like the cliché – it’s darkest before the dawn.

Wiglaffs

2009-06-19T17:55:15Z

MEET WILL BANTER Meet Will Banter: networker extraordinaire, pay-it-forward specialist, Social Media rock star and purveyor of good karma. Will is the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Relationship Architect of Banter Connections. He is also the linchpin of The Handshake Club, a prominent Social Media and networking platform that, according to Will, “fosters network [...]

The ‘Dark Side’ of Entrepreneurship

2009-05-23T11:59:47Z

With the growing unemployment and the change in the employment dynamics, maybe downsized, right-sized, laid-ff and fired employees now are looking toward starting their own businesses. As one knows, some 90 percent of new venture fail primarily from lack of knowledge, start-up capital, working capital and lack of discipline. There are some other things that entrepreneurs must account for.

Winning in Russian Roulette Type NegotiationsManaging Pricing Opacity in Business Markets

2009-03-24T20:50:15Z

Templeton would go into the customer’s negotiating room with a metaphorical gun on the table. Customers would force him to place the gun against his head and ask him to drop prices or pull the trigger. Templeton didn’t know if the gun was loaded or not. For four years, Templeton managed this challenge, and the bullet never fired. Templeton’s method of managing this struggle over prices reveals a key to pricing in opaque business markets. (True story account.)

Wiglaffs

2009-03-24T20:53:07Z

Pilgrim’s Pride: Failure to Communicate

2009-06-19T19:07:41Z

Price signaling is always a touchy subject. Managed right, it can improve profits and avoid any negative legal or ethical implications. Managed poorly, it can either be a missed opportunity to correct poor pricing practices or create a legal nightmare. Fortunately, there are both business case studies and legal precedence to guide executives and chairpersons through this challenge. If we read the signals right, Tyson Food is attempting to communicate in a legal and ethical manner, but there appears to be a failure to listen by Pilgrim’s Pride.

Are you trustworthy?

2009-03-24T20:40:06Z

Do you act authentically for your brand? Honestly...sincerely? And importantly, does what you do instill consumer confidence?

Wiglaffs

2009-03-24T20:28:54Z

Special Guest Author Angela Hribar, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of GlobalSpec, Inc.

2009-03-24T20:22:25Z

For many companies, 2008 has been a challenging year. The new realities of our current market and economy have impacted many sectors, and even more expect to feel the effects in 2009. This makes it even more important than ever to plan smarter, more effective ways to market to industrial and technical buyers in the year ahead. Based on research into market trends, here are strategic recommendations to achieve marketing success in 2009. All of these recommendations have something in common: better decision making when it comes to marketing choices.

Six Months Later Pilgrim’s Pride Still Has Pricing Problems – What Went Wrong?

2009-06-19T19:07:57Z

Pilgrim’s Pride rose from humble beginnings as a feed store to become the world’s leading chicken supplier. Yet, 2008 proved to be a year of stumbles, eventually leading to bankruptcy filings and the ousting of CEO J. Clinton Rivers. Business press cites a rise in the cost of chicken feed and oil and the lack of a concurrent increase in price, however many other companies went through similar fluctuations in input costs without the same disastrous results. So, what went wrong with pricing at Pilgrim’s Pride? To answer this question, we will examine Pilgrim’s Pride pricing at the industry level, market level, and transaction level.

Empathy – The Missing Element in Relationship Marketing

2009-03-22T12:09:19Z

In this winter of our discontent, where survival seems to be what everybody’s trying to do, it seems remarkable that for lack of empathy - people and companies are jeopardizing valuable relationships. One wonders if it’s simply lack of feeling, plain stupidity or incredible arrogance.

OPEC Loss is Grocers’ Gain: Precima National Survey Shows Grocery Store Is Most Likely Place for Americans to Spend Savings from the Pump

2009-06-19T19:10:40Z

Groceries are the top item on which U.S. consumers are spending their savings from lower gas prices, ahead of putting the money in savings, holiday gift buying and paying off credit cards, according to the results of nationwide research from retail analytics firm Precima.

Wiglaffs

2009-03-22T12:43:32Z

Learning from Berkshire Hathaway Part 2

2009-03-22T11:02:28Z

The Marketer’s Eye™ looks at mortgages, railroads and Carnival Another in a series of white papers for M&A Professionals In this white paper we take a look at how several recent investments by Berkshire Hathaway and some decisions not to invest are the result of the skillful employment of the Marketer’s Eye in areas where one [...]

Introducing: Wiglaffs

2009-03-22T12:49:12Z

A business professionals comic strip.

Musings from a Marketer On the Economic Crisis

2009-03-18T23:42:06Z

While I never lived through the Great Depression, I studied it. If you are looking for parallels between then and now, there a very few. When I was in college in the early 60s, I remember we studied, in economics, that was considered “full employment” was an unemployment rate of 7 percent. The most dire predictions [...]

From Homes to Appliances and Autos: Hovnanian, Corning, GM, Ford, and Chrysler Each Must Manage Lower Demand

2009-03-18T23:52:09Z

It is no secret that our global economy is in a downward funk. When will we get our groove back? A debate I will leave to the politicians. But for now, durable goods companies such as Hovnanian and other housing suppliers, Corning and other home appliance suppliers, or GM, Ford, and Chrysler and other auto [...]