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The adage that history repeats itself is no more apparent than the current state of affairs at Nissan North America. The Wall Street Journal’s interview with Christian Meunier, head of Nissan NA, is so frighteningly similar to 1999 that I had to catch my breath. \u{2026}

In the early 1990s, two Russian artists, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, took the unusual step of hiring a market research firm. Their brief was simple. Understand what Americans desire most in a work of art. Over 11 days, the researchers at Marttila & Kiley \u{2026}

Jack Welch, renowned CEO of General Electric, used to say that your business should be #1 or #2 in your market. If not, get out. This belief was derived from the famous PIMS work begun in the 1960s. Initiated at General Electric, PIMS, Profit Impact \u{2026}

AI can create content. It can analyze markets. It can generate ideas, optimize campaigns, personalize experiences, and increasingly act on behalf of customers. But it cannot decide what a brand should stand for. It cannot determine which opportunities are worth pursuing, which promises should remain \u{2026}

In 1967, the song “San Francisco” by Scott McKenzie described “a whole generation, with a new explanation.” The line still captures a central challenge for brands today. Customers continually redefine what they want from the products they choose: more health, less sugar, greater functionality, better \u{2026}

Some of the most consequential decisions a brand makes never arrive looking consequential. They appear as cost decisions. Growth plans. New operating models. Policy changes. Shifts in KPIs. Over time, these choices accumulate into patterns that shape what is rewarded and what is overlooked; what \u{2026}

The buzzword in marketing right now is AI. Well, acronym, that is. But either way, AI is all the rage. Every firm of every sort is working hard to incorporate AI into every process, every output and every pitch. It’s AI or bust. It’s not \u{2026}

Perhaps the most interesting thing about AI is that it is new yet nothing new. AI is certainly new to marketing, and bringing all sorts of new challenges with it, although it may not be as big as headlines would have us believe. Last year, \u{2026}

With audience attention becoming increasingly fragmented across platforms and formats, visibility alone is no longer sufficient to ensure meaningful engagement. Brands continue to produce a high volume of content and activations, but the gap between output and audience response has widened. Exposure does not guarantee \u{2026}

Most leaders understand positioning. They know their brand needs to stand for something clear, relevant, and defensible in the minds of the people most important to its future. That is clear. However, problems arise when an organization drifts from its core strengths or when those \u{2026}

The criticism was predictable. A revered luxury watchmaker partners with Swatch, introduces a colorful US $400 pocket watch, and collectors immediately worry about dilution. But the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop Collection is not simply a less expensive expression of Royal Oak codes. It \u{2026}

Alongside category design, messaging, storytelling, and thought leadership, positioning is where your company claims its strategic seat within the market’s mental map—and, when engineered deliberately, this seat is one competitors cannot easily take. When business leaders talk about winning a market, they often think first \u{2026}

Ferrari’s recent introduction of the Luce, its first fully electric four-door model, has sparked exactly the kind of controversy one might expect from an iconic brand. Just as the Jaguar rebrand did, and many others before it. Watching the debate unfold, I was reminded of \u{2026}

Each year, research firms such as CB Insights analyze why both startups and new products from mature companies fail. On average, about 80 percent of VC-backed startups fail (and those are the best of the startup world), and somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of new \u{2026}

Visual communication is now one of the primary ways buyers judge credibility, understand value, compare options, and decide whether a brand deserves attention. In a market crowded with claims, strong visual assets make value tangible. They reduce uncertainty. They show how a product works, how \u{2026}

Think about the last time you stared at a loading spinner. The irritation arrives quickly. You count to three, sigh, and hit the back button. You do not think about server latency, database queries, image compression, or code bloat. You simply feel that your time \u{2026}

Most mid-market leaders are not short on ideas. They are short on confidence. They are being asked to move faster with less certainty, make bigger bets with less room for error, and separate useful AI-enabled opportunities from expensive distractions. They have growth initiatives to evaluate, \u{2026}

Claire’s, the tween accessory retailer, is in turnaround mode. Again. Claire’s is hoping to pierce the boredom barrier among its target audience of not-yet-teenage girls. The Wall Street Journal wrote a glowing review of Claire’s new CMO and her laser-focused approach to meeting the needs \u{2026}

Never confuse the customer. Once, at an advertising agency meeting with our IHG client, one of the agencies admitted that their commercials for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express were confusing. The stated benefits for both brands in the ads seemed too similar. When asked \u{2026}

The recessionary mindset we see in society and the marketplace is a significant reset of aspirations and expectations, but it is not the explanation for everything. It is, however, a big shift in how consumers are engaging with brands. Consumers have become more vigilant and \u{2026}