David Lemley’s article, Henny Penny and The Recesionistas is featured at Popon.net in the site’s Insights section. In the article, Lemley discusses the art of leadership in tough times. He asserts that strong leadership today has the power to catapult average brands into tomorrow’s superstar brands. He begins by poking fun at those busienss leaders who would follow the herd mentality.
“The NY Times declares, “People are trading down, luxury is out, thrifty is the new nifty.” The National Retail Federation babbles, “The sky has fallen, now what?” Well, Adage is advising brands to hunker down, refrain from brand building and focus on promotional sales. Egad! Don’t they know what happened to Ducky Lucky and Goosy-Poosy?
During the last economic downturn I witnessed a handful of Foxy-Loxies reposition themselves to become market leaders. I would love to stand here and tell you that it was our great creative efforts that moved them to the top, but I would be lying. The truth is that much of their success came because they knew what to avoid.” (more…)
An updated version David Lemley’s article, How To Fail at Brand Revitalization is featured in the latest INNOVA, Food & Beverage Innovation Journal. In the article, Lemley breaks his silence on Starbucks since the return of Howard Schultz as CEO.
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David Lemley’s article Identity Crisis: The Divine Comedy of Brand Management is featured at Popon.net. In the article, Lemley discussed how brand stewards and marketers can avoid the fate of the damned during the recession by keeping a watchful eye over the Seven Deadly Sins of Brand. (more…)
The Packaging Diva has recruited David Lemley to participate as a guest author on the subject of design and brand strategy for her latest web project. (more…)
Last night I had the privilege of speaking to a group of students who are about to graduate from The Art Institute of Seattle, BFA Design Program. I suggested that pursuing a career in design is very much like the movie Groundhog Day. Here is the reading list I promised them might cure the “Self-Obsessed-Creative-Professional-Syndrome.” (more…)
David Lemley’s article Category Disruption has been featured at Popon.net as the lead article for the site’s retail section. In the article, Lemley discussed how consumer facing brands can use positioning as offense to increase customer loyalty.
“These Category Disruptors have another thing in common: they created positioning strategies to exploit the vulnerability of an established Category. These exploitations were not new technology-centric ones but, rather, new positioning. Each used positioning techniques to go on the offense and to transform a Category by removing its traditional boundaries.” (more…)
David Lemley to speak at AIGA Cincinnati Green Salon on Packaging March 24, 2009. Location: Academy of Art of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Format will be a panel discussion moderated by Marc Alt. More information available at AIGA Cincinnati
The worlds only online exchange about Branding, BrandChannel.com features an article by David Lemley as the paper of the week for December 2008. Lemley’s Brand strategy article, The Emperor’s New Brand: How to Fail at Brand Revitalization, has been republished with permission. It was first published in Lemley’s newsletter, BrandTail.
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Every marketer in America liked Branding a lot.
But the Recession, who loomed over them this year, did NOT!
The Recession hated Branding and thought it was manure.
Please, don’t ask me why, cause I’m not really sure.
It could be the school where he earned his degree.
It could be, perhaps, his longstanding obsession with pedigree.
But, I think that the mostly likely reason of all,
may have been that his ego was the size of a mall.
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The marketing halls of business schools across the land feature how-to courses on Brand repositioning; considered by many to be the Magic Mushroom of marketing. (more…)
