It’s a beautiful day outside, you just got back from a nice vacation and to you, the world and your business seem fine.  Then someone tells you about a website called Glassdoor.com.  You go to the site to see if your company has any comments and lo and behold, your ‘good day’ could just become a very ‘bad day’.

It seems that many companies struggle to understand their brands and especially, how to use their brand to support corporate strategic initiatives.  For many companies, the first step in enhancing and strengthening the brand is to conduct a Brand Audit.  A brand audit provides a comprehensive view of your brand, your market and your competitors' brands, and helps to identify opportunities you have to differentiate your brand by better meeting unmet consumer needs.

If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably realized that the world did not end on Saturday, much to the dismay of Harold Camping, an 89 year-old California evangelical broadcaster, and his followers.  Camping’s California-based radio network, Family Radio Network, is not small since it broadcasts to over 66 U.S. stations and is heard in more than 30 languages through international affiliates.  In fact, some of his more fervent followers believed his doomsday prediction to the point of spending their life savings on billboards warning of Judgment Day and giving their pets to “non-believers” to care for once the “followers” are gone. 

Remember the old marketing axiom about not confusing your customers with multiple brand images?  One company has thrown that rule out the window and currently has several public brand images they use in their marketing effort.  Who is it?  Geico!

First off, it’s no easy feat to have greatness, power, and luxury associated with your name, especially when it comes to real estate. The Trump brand in real estate is synonymous with luxury, quality, and style. If you’ve ever been to New York City, Donald Trump has numerous high rise buildings that compose the skyline of the city. His real estate empire has expanded wherever money talks in the US- Hollywood, Las Vegas, and Miami to the likes of Seoul, Istanbul, and Dubai. For many middle class Americans, his empire is representative of the American dream. And those who can afford it want to own a piece of that dream.

There is a story that is often told about marketing researchers and how they communicate - or perhaps don't communicate - with marketers:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding in London last Friday was covered live by eleven television networks in the US, with an average audience of 22.8 million viewers.  Attendance figures for the wedding are estimated to be more than 600,000, based on the fact that the capacity of Westminster Abbey is 2,200, and outside, since the 1981 wedding between Charles and Diana had an estimated crowd of 600,000, similar numbers were posted.

This morning on the way into work I was listening to National Public Radio, which is sponsored by Delta Airlines (among others) when I heard for the first time, Delta's new slogan:  "Delta.  Keep Climbing."