Second To None

The Next Chapter in the Book-Price War

By Kerry Colligan

Amazon, Walmart and Target are now limiting purchases of discounted pre-release books. Two weeks ago, the retailers began selling heavily discounted pre-release titles from Stephen King, John Grisham, Dean Koontz and James Patterson. The latest move is designed to prevent other booksellers from scooping up discounted copies.

Off-Target

Amid the 68% discounts, I'm wondering who the winners and losers might be. Amazon and Walmart have long-standing customer relationships built on... Continue Reading

Expect Social Nooks

By Kerry Colligan

Barnes & Noble doesn't have a fanatical customer base. No camping outside stores (Harry Potter excluded) or online shenanigans designed to show off B&N pride.

The availability of the Nook on November 30 could change that. Hysteria may be an overstatement, but B&N could steal the show this holiday season.

The Nook will go social/viral/crazy.

Unlike the Amazon Kindle/2, the Nook e-reader allows people to share books for up to 14 days. Sure, sharing promotes sales of the books and the... Continue Reading

Why do other airlines hate your bags?

By Kerry Colligan

With it's "Grab Your Bag, It's On" campaign, Southwest—the jetway's arbiter of fun—is artfully repositioning not only itself, but customer expectations of the airline industry. While other airlines are adding new fees, Southwest is hammering home its price-driven value proposition. Bags fly free.

Personification of your bags and carnival music aside, Southwest stands on a laundry list of "Best-in-Class" awards for operational efficiency including the #1 ranking for "Most Reliable Airline"... Continue Reading

Christmas in August

By Kerry Colligan

On Aug. 18, Sears Holdings announced a Christmas Club card aimed at reducing consumer apprehension this holiday season. Consumers can set aside cash to earn 3%–up to $100–toward purchases at Sears and KMart.

Already, responses are mixed. There are a couple of concerns here:

1. Do we have to start the holiday season in August? It's not even chilly in North Dakota.
2. There's a gap in the logic. Why would a consumer start a short-term savings account that limits the very access to... Continue Reading

Customer Insight Expands Friendly’s Into Quick-Serve

By Kerry Colligan

Friendly's Express opened its doors in Massachusetts today. The quick-serve little sister of Friendly's Family Restaurants, "Express" serves a limited menu from a counter-style order process, reducing the average visit time by half.

The development of "Express" feels like a direct response to consumers trading down. Maybe. But it's also an example of brand co-creation. "Customers talked and we listened, delivering a new concept that we all believe in," says Jim Sullivan, VP Franchising &... Continue Reading

Blitz Your Customers

By Kerry Colligan

Yesterday, Krystal Burgers began selling the Krystal Blitz at its 400+ quick serve outlets in the Southeast. A branded energy drink aimed at the 16-24 year old segment, Krystal's entry marks an obvious departure from latte-laden offerings at other quick serve chains.

The Blitz could be a huge success for Krystal because it strengthens the connection between key customer desires and Krystal's brand experience–it makes an already unique experience more authentic by drawing on customer... Continue Reading

Retro Customer Experience

By Kerry Colligan

 From the New Beetle, to Star Trek, we’re consuming retro brands en masse.

Retro brands leverage what we think we know. Not Woodstock or Captain James T. Kirk, but what they represent: fond memories.

Retro brands work best when their brand story remains intact. Researchers have shown that what we like about retro is paradoxical authenticity [1]. Simultaneously new and old, complex and simple, digitally re-mastered surround sound and boldly going where no man has gone before.

What makes... Continue Reading

Drive Brand Value Through the Customer Experience

By Jeff Hall

Today's consumers enjoy the benefit of having more options for meeting life's needs than ever before. Explosive growth and expansion within the retail, restaurant, banking, wireless and grocery sectors, among others, has resulted in intense competition between brands and a more discerning customer with higher expectations.

Leading brands have come to recognize how changing their focus from the three P's of price, product and place to that of the overall experience can result in uniquely... Continue Reading

No Two-Bit Cup of Joe

By Kerry Colligan

A lasting effect of the current recession may be a predisposition toward saving. Like the generation that emerged from the Great Depression, many consumers are expected to be cautious about spending.

Many brands are already feeling the pinch; reference the current battle for latte supremacy. Deutsche estimates McDonald's new-coffee sales at about $500M, 6-6.5% the size of Starbucks' total coffee sales.

The potential for high-margin sales drew McDonald's in to a 1,300 location latte... Continue Reading

‘S’ Word Revival

By Kerry Colligan

Throwing tradition to the wind, Ad Age recently published an article stating segmentation is dead. It seems one-to-one techniques are pushing segmentation to the fringes of marketing strategy.

Well, not really.

To arrive at a one-to-one relationship with a customer, companies need to understand customer perceptions, behaviors, demographics and psychographics; the stuff of segmentation. Once a baseline understanding is in place, it is possible to begin to address an individual customer on... Continue Reading