Marketer of the Year: Hyundai†

The Carmaker Won Handily in Our Reader Poll, Besting Walmart, McDonald's, Lego and Amazon

Advertising Age, November 9, 2009 — Consider the state of affairs when viewers tuned into the Super Bowl in February: Banks had failed, a stimulus package still hadn't been announced, and unemployment was surging toward 8%, up from 4.8% the year before. Escapism was the order of the day, and most advertisers played right along, with brands like Coke and Pepsi offering saccharine happy-happy joy-joy visions that jarred with the bleak reality.

True Marketing Doesn't Just Sell the Story†

To Achieve Top-Line Growth, CMOs Must Design New Businesses

Advertising Age, September 2, 2009 — As the global economy emerges from recession, regardless of when or how quickly, the focus in the executive suite is already shifting from cost cutting to recovering top-line growth. What role can the CMO play? If CMOs are truly to be growth champions for their corporations, they can't simply rely on traditional marketing and brand-building techniques.

In nearly a decade of research, my colleagues and I have found that established companies increasingly are successfully building new businesses on a repeated basis, a process we call corporate entrepreneurship. Marketing — true marketing, not just selling the story but helping create it — must play a central role. True marketing is about understanding current and potential customers better than anyone... continue reading

Why America Is Addicted to Olive Garden

Fast Company, July 1, 2009 — On a Tuesday morning in April, the presidents of three of the largest restaurant chains in the country slip into an unmarked white van in Orlando, Florida, and embark on an unprecedented mission — sharing their latest trade secrets.

You know their brands: $3 billion — plus Olive Garden, with its heaping bowls of pasta and all-you-can-eat breadsticks; $2 billion — plus Red Lobster, which introduced middle America to the wonders of fried shrimp; and nearly $1 billion LongHorn Steakhouse, whose variations on a theme include steak stuffed with fontina cheese and wild mushrooms.

You probably don't know they're part of the same company, Darden Restaurants. It's the country's largest full-service restaurant operation, the 29th-largest employer in the United... continue reading

General Mills, Target Play on Consumers' Nostalgia†

Retro Designs of Their Youth Appeal to Stressed Shoppers' Desire for Comfort

Advertising Age, March 3, 2009 — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — If food can be comforting, how about packaging? With consumers embracing old-world classics such as casserole, some marketers are trying to get on the bandwagon by trotting out some old-school style. General Mills has given Target a month-long exclusive on retro box designs for some of its best-selling cereals, Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Trix.

No Offense, but This Guy's Got Your Number†

BK's Russ Klein Promises More 'Edge,' Premium Products in '09

Advertising Age, March 2, 2009 — Burger King chief marketer Russ Klein, the man who brought you "Whopper Virgins" and Facebook's "Whopper Sacrifice," says he's not out to offend people; he wants to forge emotional bonds with consumers based on areas of tension.