Σοκολατένια Πρόκληση

Η αμερικάνικη Lacta , (Modelez),θα πρέπει να επικεντρωθεί στη δουλειά της , δηλ να ανακατεύει γάλα και κακάο και να φτιάχνει σοκολάτα και ..κέρδη. ( ο Freedman / Σχολή Σικάγου ήταν απόλυτος σε αυτό). Όμως με τις αμετροεπείς διαφημίσεις της, νομίζει ότι έχει μετεξελιχθεί σε θεσμό (institution) του κράτους , κάτι σαν «υφυπουργείο έμφυλης ταυτότητας» για την επανεκπαιδευση της Ελληνικης κοινωνίας στην καταστροφική , αμερικανόφερτη, ακραία και φανατική πολιτική ορθότητα. Αν κοιτούσαν την κύρια δουλειά τους ίσως είχαν και καλύτερα οικονομικά αποτελέσματα και όχι να συμβάλουν με αστείους φόρους μόνο 0,007% του τζίρου για 2020(0,8 εκ φόρος σε 120 εκ τζίρο )! Την ίδια στιγμή ένας ιδιοκτήτης με έσοδο από ακίνητα πχ 15.000 ευρώ θα φθάσει σε φόρο ακόμη και 30% σε τμήμα του «τζίρου» + ΕΝΦΙΑ !!!  Επίσης, μεταξύ άλλων, αντιμετωπιζει έρευνα της ΕΕ για αθέμιτες πρακτικές antitrust, ενώ στις ΗΠΑ δικαστήρια για εκμεταλλευση παιδικής εγασίας, child slavery σε φυτείες κακάο στην Αφρική και αλλού.

A New Era of Leadership in the Best Global Brands 2013

Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, publishes Best Global Brands on an annual basis, identifying and examining the top 100 most valuable global brands. With Apple claiming the top position this year, Google jumps to #2 and Coca-Cola, the brand that held the #1 position for 13 consecutive years, moves to #3. This year, the total value of all 100 Best Global Brands is USD $1.5 trillion -- an 8.4 percent record increase over the total value of the 100 Best Global Brands in 2012.

In addition to identifying the top 100 most valuable global brands, this year’s Best Global Brands report also examines the evolving role of leadership as it relates to brands. Interbrand contends that leadership must now be shared. CEOs, CMOs and consumers all have the power to drive the value of the brands they manage or admire.

“In today's global and social media-obsessed marketplace, brand leaders recognize the need to be highly collaborative,” notes Frampton from Interbrand. “The top 100 most valuable global brands are unlocking their value by participating, listening, learning, and sharing – and not just with leaders from within their organization, but with consumers too. Brands that learn to think differently about the role they play in consumers’ lives – and how to fulfill that role – have an opportunity to change the world in ways they never imagined.”

Building A Futureproof Brand? What You’ll Need In 2013.

(By Marc Stoiber). I help clients build futureproof brands, so a predictions article seems a natural fit. And because collaboration with my network of global experts is part of building those brands, I’m blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants when looking ahead.

So without further ado, let’s launch right into it.  My futureproof brand 2013 predictions (with a little help from my very talented friends).

1. The Implosion Of ‘Greed Is Good’ Brands

I leaned on my friend John Marshall Roberts for this one. John is a best-selling author, behavioral scientist and founder of Worldview Thinking. When I asked him to polish the crystal ball he told me “The individualistic worldview, focused solely on profit, is continuing to decay. Obama’s re-election gave it another kick – expect continued collapse of this worldview, and the brands it represents, in 2013.”

But will we suddenly be inundated with brands that put the humanistic worldview first? Not necessarily. “There is going to be a rise of companies that succeed against all status quo wisdom” Roberts says. Think Tom’s Shoes, with its ‘buy one give one’ philosophy. Or Zappos, selling insane service to build a shoe business…   Read the full article here .  

10 trends that will shape consumer behavior in 2013 and their implications for MarCom people

JWT recently released the eighth annual forecast of key trends that will shape or significantly impact consumer mindset and behavior in the near future. No need to elaborate why such trends have considerable impact in the MarCom strategy of every company in our times.

In this year’s report, new technology continues to take center stage, as we see major shifts tied to warp-speed developments in mobile, social and data technologies. Many of our trends reflect how businesses are driving, leveraging or counteracting technology’s omnipresence in our lives, and how consumers are responding to its pull. However, what should be noticed in the 2013 report, is the fact that MarCom people are for the first time pay attention  on happiness and  well-being and how businesses are addressing it for marketing and real good purpose. Happiness  was a favorite  theme in the book  ‘Nice’ Capitalism four years ago ( you can also download for free ) and a popular topic of many posts in this blog. See more about the ten trends, here . For  stories about the new breed of superior brand species, ie Nice Brands, follow us also in Twitter .

What corporations like Unilever could learn from Darwin ?

In 2011, the Unilever CEO Paul Polman   launched the “Sustainable Living Plan” integrating every aspect of Unilever’s business. The plan called for Unilever to double its sales and halve its environmental impact within a decade; “It’s a realistic and difficult business model… but in a world where increasingly people feel that the system is unfair to them or where they feel excluded, where there is an enormous resource stress, companies that don’t more actively become part of the solution will become obsolete.”,  he said recently in the INSEAD Knowledge.

“We are increasingly more successful in what I call a VUCA environment – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.” Polman  says. Perhaps that’s why he also understands that in today’s interconnected world, social media is a powerful tool in the hands of the people, and the consumer is not afraid to say what he wants. “In the digital age we’ve seen the power of the consumer coming up and I always tell our people here that if they can bring down a regime in Egypt in about 17 days they can bring down an irresponsible company in nanoseconds…The consumer is really the boss and there is no bigger power than the power of the wallet.” , he said.  A very pragmatic and Darwinian paradigm from a global firm and his forward looking CEO. You can see more  about  this new paradigm for sustainable growth here.

What Makes an Iconic Brand?

Brands are an accepted part of our daily lives. But some brands seem to transcend their product or service categories to become part of the popular culture. What distinguishes these iconic brands from the rest of the pack, and what can marketers learn from them?

In today's world, brands are everywhere, a familiar part of daily life for most people. But a few brands, such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and McDonald's, have set themselves apart. These brands have come to represent something more than a product or service. They are embedded in our culture and our consciousness. They are icons.

Iconic brands inspire an enduring form of affection that any marketer would want for his brand. But iconic status, which has traditionally been built over decades, is enjoyed by relatively few brands. What can we learn from these brand icons that might be useful to all brand marketers today? Read the full report by WWP :

http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/branding/whatmakesaniconicbrand.htm