USA Today reports that KFC has big plans for its new Fish Snacker--a filet of 100% Alaskan Pollack topped with tartar sauce and served on a sesame bun. In an unusual move, KFC sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, asking him to lend his personal seal of approval for the item "as a way for members of your flock to keep a holy Lenten season." Vatican officials confirmed they received KFC's request, and the company is …
Feed Them On Your Dreams
I'm partial to brands with an intriguing story--even more so, when the CEO embodies that story and shares it successfully. Nancy Traversy of Barefoot Books is one such CEO. She says imagination is more important that information. I like that kind of thinking. …
JetBlue CEO Apologizes On YouTube
If you've been following JetBlue's problems this past week, you know they have some work to do from a logistics and organization standpoint. But from what I can see, they have handled PR crisis management perfectly. Here's the CEO, David Neeleman (who's already been on the Today show, among others): If they follow through, they'll be an even more admired brand than they already were. …
Consumers Speak. Retailers Listen.
BusinessWeek says retailers are learning from social networking sites like MySpace and are now busy weaving the functionality found there into their own sites. Customer reviews have long been part of cutting-edge sites like Amazon.com and Netflix, but the practice is spreading dramatically these days to a broader array of retailers. By the end of 2006, 43% of e-commerce sites offered customer reviews and ratings, …
Put JanSport’s Narrative In Your Pack
In 1967, Skip Yowell, his cousin Murray Pletz, and Murray's wife Jan founded JanSport with nothing more than a sewing machine and a fierce determination. Today, Yowell is a Vice President at Jansport and he's author of a new business book, The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains. Yowell recently spoke to The Conference Board about his role at the company. Q. I find it strange that a …
Continue Reading about Put JanSport’s Narrative In Your Pack →
Making Enemies Every 30 Seconds
BBC naturalist and documentarian, David Attenborough shares his disdain for advertising. I hate advertisements, virulently and with ferocity. If that [TV] set has any damage it’s likely to be because I have thrown something at it when it came to an important point in the drama and they showed a picture of a chocolate bar. I hate advertisements everywhere. I know all the arguments and I know I’m being quirky and that …
Disabled Veterans Are Also Overlooked In The Ad Biz
Normally, I wouldn't have had my radar too high on this issue, but as I read about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center this weekend, it reminded me that all too often, we simply don't, as a society, offer as much support to our veterans as they deserve. Neither does the ad industry, apparently, as I learned flipping through Ad Age this morning. In a letter to the editor, (I can't find the …
Continue Reading about Disabled Veterans Are Also Overlooked In The Ad Biz →
A Content Driver
Los Angeles writer, Mark Haskell Smith, cerated a serial novel--Black Sapphire Pearl--for Lexus. According to the Washington Post, he was paid "more than a modest book advance but less than what he would get for an episode of Grey's Anatomy." Call it a fictomercial, a literatisement, branded entertainment. Lexus doesn't really care. As long as it makes people lust after its new top-of-the-line car. The story arrives …