Never a Lack of Ideas

Newness and nostalgia.   Could there be more powerful forces in marketing?* And yet they’re polar opposites.   One says, “I’m undefined, different, and exciting. Check me out.”   The other says, “Remember how great I used to make you feel?”   Both are incredibly powerful. It’s quite the accomplishment to go from new to nostalgic. That doesn’t happen by accident. It takes years and years of excellence to get there.   The best brands consistently use both newness and nostalgia to excel. It may seem like an oxymoron, but I think of these forces every time I hear, “the all new Chevrolet” or “new at Disney World.”   It’s a slippery slope, though. Nobody asks, “what’s new at Marshall Fields?” any more.   For established brands, successfully tapping into newness and nostalgia is perhaps our biggest challenge and opportunity as marketers. How will you take advantage of both?   There’s never a lack of ideas.   *”...

Best Brands — The Remix Happy Halloween! Last year I presented my list of the top ten brands in the United States. After revisiting my list, I wouldn’t change anything, so I figured I’d present the next ten brands on my list. 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 of brands ranked 11-20: 11. Starbucks — Just missing the top ten, Starbucks put gourmet coffee on the map and showed the world how to create a company focused on the customer experience that happens to sell coffee. 12. Disney World — Millions of families make a pilgrimage to Orlando just to visit the theme park every year. I’ll bet your parents took you there when ...

X Marks the Spot My co-worker recently went to Disney World. Before she left, she was able to log onto www.disneyworld.com and view detailed maps of all of Disney's theme parks. She was able to choose which attractions within each park were most appealing to her and then Disney's website built her a customized map based on her selections. After entering in some basic contact information, Disney mailed her complimentary custom maps (see the image on the right), which included: Her name at the top of the map, "The McMillan Family Guide to the Magic Kingdom" A list of the attractions that she said were most interesting Recommended attractions based on her selections Stickers to put on the map in order to identify her resort and additional appealing attractions The maps are beautiful and my co-worker's children, ages 5 and 3, loved them. The maps got her kids really excited to go to Disney and gave them a way to imagine what their experience at Disney would be like. ...