Back in the 70's, Al Ries and Jack Trout collaborated on a book called Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind, which has been widely praised for its innovative thinking. These days, they've gone their separate ways, and each has a column out this week, where you can see their divergent points of view. Al Ries contributes to Ad Age regularly, and invariably the point of every column is "I told you so" and "If only …
Virgin Reinvents Wheel
Net Imperative: Virgin has unveiled plans for its own digital music service to take on the likes of iTunes and Napster, set to go live in the UK on 2 September. Powered by technology from MusicNet, Virgin Digital will be promoted via a multi-million pound investment campaign covering advertising, in-store marketing and online spend. Working with the firm's entertainment retail business Virgin Megastores, the service …
Ranch Rules
Slate: There is a great Simpsons episode in which Homer, overcome by carbon-monoxide fumes, hallucinates that he is an Ottoman sultan. Though he is surrounded by gyrating concubines, the Simpson family patriarch is not satisfied. "I grow weary of your sexually suggestive dancing," he says. "Bring me my ranch-dressing hose!" Within seconds, the women are blasting him with a geyser of gooey ranch. Homer's tastes are …
Pineapple Baron Builds Spa
USA Today: A giant in the produce industry has planted the seeds for a ground-breaking California spa complex. Dole Food of pineapple and packaged-salad fame is building a wellness center, spa and 270-room luxury hotel on 20 acres next to its headquarters in Westlake Village, Calif. The complex, about 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles, is due to open next summer. The spa and medical facilities — a pioneering venture …
Spirit Of The Croc
Brandweek: French sportswear brand Lacoste this week will launch a global campaign via French agency BETC, Paris, that embraces the brand's connection to 1930's French tennis champion Rene Lacoste in an energetic, modern way. "This is a big campaign for us and we wanted to launch it in a really big way," said Sarah Penchansky, pr manager. Creative consists of two-page spreads with an image of a racquet-wielding Rene …
Atkins Goes From Low-Carb to Low Cash
From Bloomberg: Atkins Nutritionals Inc., founded by the late diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York as consumer interest in low-carbohydrate foods faded. What's interesting here is that the Atkins Diet has been around since the 1970's. But the company got huge amounts of press a couple of years ago, and rode a fad. Meanwhile, dieters looking for the latest thing got on board. They …
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Puma Born From Adidas’ Rib
Herzogenaurach, a 1000-yeal old village in northern Germany is home to not one, but two big time athletic brands …
Spraychel Takes On Butter. Butter Heavily Favored.
According to this New York Times article, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, a Unilever brand that has long used traditional advertising, primarily television commercials, to reach its target market of women ages 35 and up is shifting gears and eschewing TV. The new campaign, created by Byte Interactive in South Norwalk, Conn., is intended to be watched online, with four so-called Webisodes appearing on a dedicated …
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