Marketers such as Starbucks discover that simple sells

USA Today, October 28, 2009 — Simple is better.

This could be 2010's most powerful marketing mantra.

If 2009's hottest sales pitch was all about buying stuff on the cheap, 2010 marketing will increasingly stress less as more, as in fewer parts, additives or ingredients. While the trend is taking hold in many product categories, including health and beauty items, nowhere is it more apparent than with things we eat and drink.

Pepsi Sweats Over Gatorade†

CEO Nooyi Concedes Sports Drink's Growth Days Are Over; Redesign Backfires

Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2009 — PepsiCo Inc. is fumbling in its efforts to turn around sales of Gatorade, which weighed on second-quarter profits.

Sales of Gatorade, which PepsiCo snared in its $13.8 billion acquisition of Quaker Oats Co. in 2001, have slid this year despite a flashy new marketing campaign that simplified the product's label to "G."

Why won't Sony or Microsoft admit Nintendo is a competitor?

cNet News, December 2, 2008 — Whenever I read a Sony or Microsoft press release or meet with company representatives, they're quick to point out that Nintendo's Wii console isn't a competitor. Why? They claim it's because the Wii does gaming differently and is more of a "casual" platform than a "true" gaming console.

Snapple Introduces Snappier Look, New Formula†

Beverage Brand to Emphasize Tea's Health Benefits Amid Weaker U.S. Sales; Sugar Will Be Added to Improve Drinks' Flavor

Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2008 — Snapple, one of the original "new age" alternatives to soda, is getting a makeover as its owner grapples with sliding U.S. sales.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., the beverage business spun off from Cadbury PLC in May, is revamping Snapple's look and tweaking the formulation of its tea to try to revive consumer interest, saying tightened wallets and discounting by competitors have cut into sales. Far from the corny ads, ad hoc plugs from Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh, and other ploys that catapulted the drink to cultlike status in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Snapple's current owner plans a more homespun campaign for its teas, emphasizing the drink's health benefits.

Dell Lags in New Products†

Dell isn't launching a digital music player for the holidays, adding to concerns that it is lagging behind rivals in fresh offerings.

Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2008 — Michael Dell last year promised innovative new consumer products to generate "product lust" and spark his company's turnaround effort. But in the runup to the holiday sales season, Dell Inc. has been slow to deliver on that promise.

What Marketers Can Learn From Obama's Campaign†

Change -- and Positioning -- You Can Believe in

Advertising Age, November 5, 2008 — Nov. 4, 2008, will go down in history as the biggest day ever in the history of marketing.

Take a relatively unknown man. Younger than all of his opponents. Black. With a bad-sounding name. Consider his first opponent: the best-known woman in America, connected to one of the most successful politicians in history. Then consider his second opponent: a well-known war hero with a long, distinguished record as a U.S. senator.It didn't matter. Barack Obama had a better marketing strategy than either of them. "Change."

Will All-in-One Products End Their Reign?†

With Nothing Left to Add on, and 'Total' Items That Are Not All That, Marketers May Go Back to Single-Benefit Claims

Advertising Age, September 15, 2008 — When Procter & Gamble co. launched Tide Total Care and Downy Total Care in July, it sure sounded like laundry products had reached the end of their evolution, as it were. If these products did it all, what more could possibly be accomplished?

Will a Twist on an Old Vow Deliver for Domino's Pizza?†

Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2007 — ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It's been 14 years since Domino's last promised to deliver a pizza to someone's door within 30 minutes, but that pledge is still stuck in many customers' heads. Now, the chain is trying to hearken back to that hardy ad campaign — this time without getting sued.