P&G Dry Max Diaper Drubbing Offers Lesson for Others†

Group of Grousers Bashes Pampers Breakthrough Before Ads Are Launched

Advertising Age, January 18, 2010 — Pampers' breakthrough new Dry Max diaper is 20% thinner and way more absorbent than its predecessor or the competition in tests, leading Procter & Gamble Co. executives to hail it as the iPod of baby care. But a vocal group of internet critics compares it to another marketing milestone: New Coke.

For Tiger Woods's Sponsors, It's Wait and See†

If Scandal Looks Likely to Create Long-Term Fallout, Deals Could Be Allowed to Lapse

Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2009 — As the din over Tiger Woods's car accident and alleged extramarital affairs grows louder, most of the golfer's corporate sponsors appear to be taking a page from the sports-marketing playbook: Wait to gauge any long-term fallout from the scandal and consider letting contracts lapse when they come up for renewal.

The TGIF 'Revolution' Is Nothing Without a Marketing Strategy†

Social Media Isn't Enough to Save a Weak Brand

Advertising Age, November 9, 2009 — If you were a first-time visitor from Mars and you happened to drop into a marketing meeting somewhere in the United States, you might assume that marketing people do nothing but talk about "TGIF."

That's Twitter, Google, the internet and Facebook.

There's no question these four revolutionary developments have forever changed the marketing function. Word-of-mouth has now become word of finger.

No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund

New York Times, October 24, 2009 — Parent alert: the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses.

Crowdsourced branding, a disaster for Kraft?

idsgn, October 15, 2009 — When Kraft launched a spin-off of their uniquely Australian Vegemite spread, they turned to consumers for a name… and it was dropped four days later. Last week another name was announced, can Kraft make it right this time?

Pepsi's Apology for Amp IPhone App Heightens Furor†

Social-Media Debate Over Energy Drink's Allegedly Sexist Marketing Spurs Criticism of Entire Company

Advertising Age, October 13, 2009 — PepsiCo has inserted itself and several of its brands into a heated debate surrounding an iPhone app launched by its Amp Energy brand. By introducing a Twitter tag #pepsifail, the company has spread the news further and associated its flagship brand with the sexist app. So is it a savvy, transparent social-media move or is it simply exacerbating the damage already done?

Toyota, Saatchi Sued for 'Terror Marketing Campaign'†

Online Effort for Matrix Had Woman Afraid for Her Life

Advertising Age, October 2, 2009 — Toyota Motor Sales USA and its ad agency of record, Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, engaged in a bizarre, online "terror marketing campaign" that frightened and harassed thousands of consumers via e-mails, according to a lawsuit filed Sept. 28 in Los Angeles.

Does Klein's Temporary Leave Herald the End for the King?†

BK Insists All Is Well With Ad Efforts, but Franchisees Are Hungry for Change

Advertising Age, September 21, 2009 — An unusual Burger King memo stating that chief marketing officer Russ Klein is taking a leave of absence sent tremors through the organization last week and prompted speculation from franchisees about the future of the company's advertising.

How Starbucks lost its 'fidelity'

Exclusive book excerpt: In the trade-off between quality and convenience, the coffee juggernaut fell into the trap of becoming too familiar.

FORTUNE, September 16, 2009 — In this adaptation from his new book, Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't (Broadway Books), author Kevin Maney explains the tension between two key qualities and how a great brand got caught in a no-man's-land between them.

We constantly, in our everyday lives, make trade-offs between fidelity and convenience.

Those trade-offs, and how they affect business, help explain why Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) hit a wall in 2007 — and why CEO Howard Schultz is still struggling to get his company's mojo back.

Pfizer Pays $2.3 Billion to Settle Marketing Case

The settlement is the largest fine ever levied for fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs

New York Times, September 3, 2009 — The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal allegations that it had illegally marketed its now-withdrawn painkiller, Bextra.

It was the largest health care fraud settlement and the largest criminal fine of any kind ever.