Entries by Jay York

Amazon Prime: The Bundle Is Better

Which is better for the brand? Asking users to pay for individual services? Or asking users to buy a bundle of services? There is a lot behavioral psychology involved in this choice that affects brand perceptions. There are inherent risks whichever approach a brand employs.  Research shows that individual fees feel more personalized as a […]

Building Immersive Brand Experiences: American Girl and RH Restaurants

Prior to the pandemic, Starbucks’ founder, Howard Schultz, stated that the way forward for brands is making your branded space an “experiential destination.” At that time,   Starbucks’ CEO, Kevin Johnson said, “To survive, merchants need to create unique and immersive in-store experiences.” Covid-19 changed things for Starbucks as the company post-pandemic focuses more on […]

Walgreen’s Bets Success On Segmentation

Walgreen’s’ CFO told The Wall Street Journal that the pharmacy’s almost two-year focus on Covid-19 was at the expense of its established customer base. While selling hand sanitizer rubbing alcohol, masks and dispensing vaccinations, Walgreen’s lost relevance with its core customers’ other needs. Walgreens’ is clearly unhappy about this situation. Now that the urgency of […]

Harley-Davidson’s Brand Family

Bloomberg Hyperdrive, a newsletter on the ideas that are reshaping the automotive industry, interviewed the CEO of Harley-Davidson, Jochen Zeitz. The subject of the interview was the spinning-off of Harley’s electric bike division – LiveWire. Within a discussion on finances, stock prices and the rationale for the spinoff, the interview turned out to be a […]

Brand Choice And The Impact Of Too Few Choices

Recently, an article appeared in the journal Behavorial Scientist. The authors looked at choice. But, unlike the majority of choice studies that focus on choice overload (too many options), the authors focused on choice deprivation (too few options). The result of their study among 7,400 respondents across six categories and six countries was that “… […]

Beyond Meat And The Value Of A Trustworthy Brand Value Equation

Beyond Meat, the plant protein, traditional meat alternative brand, has a value equation problem.  A value equation is the internal mind-set that customers have when assessing the worth of a brand. A value equation a mental perception that assesses value prior to a purchase. A customer-perceived value equation is what you get for what you […]

How Burger King, Subway and Starbucks Are Planning to Win in Our Post-Pandemic World

In our post-pandemic world, brands are dealing with changed customer behaviors. Attitudes about and usage of technology leap-frogged decades. How and where we work together is now very different. How we buy foods and beverages has altered dramatically.  For several brands, one of the outcomes from coronavirus is the reinspection and revitalization of their brand […]

Relinquishing The Responsible Innovation Team at Meta

One of a brand’s most important elements is its perception as a responsible entity. This is especially true of a corporate brand. Responsibility is about demonstrating good corporate citizenship. Responsibility must be corporate-wide. Responsibility must be ingrained into the enterprise as a whole and reflected in all thought and action. Every brand should have a […]

Apple: A Powerful, Valuable Brand Makes Money And Opportunity

Building powerful, valuable brands makes money. Building powerful, valuable brands generates opportunities for leverage across customer needs and problems. Building powerful, valuable brands must be the goal of every brand leader. Case in point: Apple. Do you pay attention to the yearly surveys listing the most valuable brands in the world? Do you think it […]