Mr. Whipple Left It Out: Soft Is Rough on Forests

The soft toilet paper that Americans love uses millions of trees, because recycled paper does not have the same feel.

New York Times, February 26, 2009 — Americans like their toilet tissue soft: exotic confections that are silken, thick and hot-air-fluffed.

The national obsession with soft paper has driven the growth of brands like Cottonelle Ultra, Quilted Northern Ultra and Charmin Ultra — which in 2008 alone increased its sales by 40 percent in some markets, according to Information Resources, Inc., a marketing research firm.

But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada.

Hot Food, and Air, at Bus Stops

New York Times, December 2, 2008 — CRITICS claim that advertising is just a lot of hot air. For the next month, at certain bus stops, they will have a point. In the latest example of a trend that is becoming increasingly popular on Madison Avenue, heated air will descend from the roofs of 10 bus shelters in Chicago, courtesy of the Stove Top brand of stuffing sold by Kraft Foods.

P&G Charms N.Y. Visitors, Residents With Restrooms

Marketing Daily, November 24, 2008 — The Charmin Restrooms are back. For the third year, Procter & Gamble is promoting the toilet-tissue brand with a grassroots effort that offers what New York desperately needs, if only in Times Square and only for a brief period: clean public restrooms. The loos, in Times Square between 45th and 46th streets, were launched with an official first flush Monday by former N'Sync singer Joey Fatone, who serves as Charmin's "King of the Throne."

Make Your Marketing Useful, Like Samsung and Charmin†

Take a Small Chunck Out of Those Billion-Dollar Budgets and Help Provide a Free, Helpful Service

Advertising Age, May 26, 2008 — After about half an hour of staring at the space where a plane should've been, we're granted the announcement we knew was coming: The 3:30 p.m. out of LAX is now the 4:50 p.m., which we all know means it's really the 6-something p.m. There's a brief period of eye-rolling before everyone goes back to their business, which in my case means huddling with a dozen other worshippers around the Samsung totem pole to which our BlackBerries and laptops are attached.

If you have the misfortune to run the gauntlet of America's airports with any regularity, you're all too familiar with this scene and may even know the totem I'm referring to. It's an eight-foot, electrical charging station with a little shelf about halfway up its length where devices rest and... continue reading

Learn to Use Communication's Negative Space

Prophet, November 1, 2007 — In the environment where you can reach your customers 24/7, success at building a brand—at solidifying and growing your relationship with customers—is really all about being selective. You need to pick the right time and place or, better yet, let the customer pick for you.

The best new business ideas we've covered in 2006

Springwise Newsletter, January 16, 2007 — Over the past few weeks, we've picked our favorites from the new business ideas we covered in 2006. Not because we're particularly fond of reminiscing, but because we're convinced these innovative concepts still offer plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs seeking to start something new in 2007.

Times Sq. Ads Spread Via Tourists’ Cameras

New York Times, December 11, 2006 — Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens.

Charmin to New York: ‘Go in Style’

New York Times, November 15, 2006 — A rendering shows what a toilet paper will do to get noticed over the holiday season in New York. Twenty stalls will be available