Never a Lack of Ideas

106 Flavors Coca Cola has a new fountain that dispenses 106 different beverages out of just one spigot. After hearing about the machine, I was so excited that I dropped by Wendy's to check it out. While there, I whipped up a new drink — the Nick Scarpino. Check out the video to see how to make it. Add This to Your To-Do List If Coca Cola can innovate in a cool way after selling drinks for more than 100 years, then so can your business. How will you innovate your product or the way it is distributed? And what flavors would you combine in the Coca Cola drink named after you? There's never a lack of ideas. Thanks to Pastor Rob Douglas for inspiring this post.

Best Brands in the Land Happy Halloween! In what will hopefully become an annual tradition, I present to you my list of the top ten brands in the United States. To create this list, I relied heavily upon my opinion of the general perception of each brand versus its competitors, and how much of a premium the brand can charge because of that perception. I didn't get hung up on revenue data or market share numbers — I just went with what I see and hear every day and threw in my own opinion from a marketer's point of view. Here's my list, starting with the best brand in the land: Victoria's Secret — The brand became a household name by charging a premium for products that very few people see when worn; and then turned that brand equity into a complete line of clothing. Google — Do you use any other search engine? I'll bet you've even used the word "Google" as a verb. Apple — The iPod, iTunes, and iPhone have defined their categories. Facebook — The d...