Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Do You Know Who Your Customers Are? 7-Eleven Does

I found a great example of a brand that is learning who its customers are in a unique and indirect way. 

Did you know that 7-Eleven customers have projected the U.S. Presidential Election winner accurately for the past two elections and with uncanny accuracy in terms of how the votes were split?  Want to know how they did it?  Since 2000, 7-Eleven provides customers a choice.  Do you want to get your coffee in the Democratic nominee’s blue 7-Eleven cup or the Republican nominee’s red 7-Eleven cup? 

Turns out the coffee cup preference of 7-Eleven customers exactly mirrors the voting preferences of Americans.  In both the 2000 and 2004 elections, 7-Eleven Democrat blue and Republican red cups sold at a rate that directly reflected the final voting results from both elections.  Coincidence?  I think not.  [Read more…] about Do You Know Who Your Customers Are? 7-Eleven Does

The Case for Micromanaging Your Online Marketing Initiatives

Remember when marketers could put together programs and execute them with a carefully planned schedule?  There was time to get everything just right before rolling out new messages and materials. 

With the popularity of the social web in the 21st century, those slow-moving strategies and tactics must be replaced with flexibility, adaptability and ever-changing foresight.  Timeliness is more important than ever, and if you drop the ball, the members of the social web are standing by ready to point out your error for the world to notice and discuss. [Read more…] about The Case for Micromanaging Your Online Marketing Initiatives

Captive Brands – The Rebranding of Store Brands

Even though store brands have lost much of the stigma they held 10 or 20 years ago as cheap knock-offs, there is still a certain level of negativity surrounding them.  Apparently, the negative brand impression was strong enough that companies like Wal-Mart, CVS and Walgreens are now calling them “captive brands” in an attempt to make them more palatable to a broader audience.

Retailers make more money selling their own brands then they do selling products from other companies, so it makes sense that a push to rebrand store brands is a popular new trend that’s catching on quickly.  Manufacturers are noticing that the rebranding effort is working as captive brands slowly steal market share from brands that once controlled the vast majority of categories on retail shelves.  [Read more…] about Captive Brands – The Rebranding of Store Brands

Companies Responsible for Ads Displayed on Their Websites

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the U.K. has decided that website publishers are responsible for all third-party ads that appear on their websites regardless of whether those ads are served based on content (such as Google AdSense). 

Both large and small companies serve a variety of third-party ads on their websites, with Google AdSense being the most popular.  Have you ever visited a website and found inappropriate Google AdSense ads on that site?  For example, imagine you visit a blog about infertility and an ad for baby clothes displays.  That would be very inappropriate.  Not convinced?  Check out the picture in this post that shows actual Google AdSense ads displayed on a website courtesy of Flickr.  Imagine how inappropriate those ads could be. [Read more…] about Companies Responsible for Ads Displayed on Their Websites

Socially Responsible Brands Jump on Fair Trade Certified Bandwagon

There is a new wave of socially responsible brand labeling available for companies to slap on their products called Fair Trade Certified. In 2008, 284 Fair Trade Certified products were launched in the United States, up from 130 in 2007.  According to an article in Brandweek, Mintel reports that most of the products attaching the new label to their brands are coffee, tea, herbs, cocoa, chocolate, fruit, sugar, rice, spices, cut flowers and (coming soon) wine.

What is Fair Trade Certified you ask?  It’s a product designation handed out in the United States by TransFair USA out of Oakland, California to signify products from farmers in locations such as Ghana or Costa Rica who, “work in safe labor conditions, use environmentally friendly practices and are paid at least a minimum floor price for their crop. These family farmers may also belong to a co-op that democratically decides how to invest their profits in building schools, health clinics or developing better business and sustainability practices.” [Read more…] about Socially Responsible Brands Jump on Fair Trade Certified Bandwagon

Brands Embrace Gastrosexuals

Thanks to a study paid for by food company PurAsia, a new demographic has been named – the gastrosexual.  What’s a gastrosexual you ask?  It’s a new term used to refer to men who like to spend time in their kitchens, and it’s a term that brands targeted to the overall male demographic are embracing quickly.

Imagine the Porsche kitchen or Peugeot salt and pepper shakers.  Don’t laugh – both are already a reality.  German luxury kitchen maker Poggenpohl already created the new P7340 kitchen for the gastrosexual crowd complete with Porsche and Peugeot branded design elements and products. [Read more…] about Brands Embrace Gastrosexuals