Larry Light Discusses The Future of Whole Foods in Forbes.com

Could a Whole Foods co-op be in your future? Read Larry Light’s latest piece in Forbes CMO Network for his thoughts on how Amazon could benefit from turning Whole Foods into a truly community-oriented enterprise?

Read Larry’s piece now.

–––––––

Photo Credit Jared Preston © Jared Preston / CC BY-SA 3.0

Larry Light In Forbes.com: Can Beyond Meat Be Called Meat?

Fighting about labeling of food and beverage offerings is increasing: Can almond milk be called milk? Can cashews make actual yogurt? Are pretzels really pretzels if made with cauliflower flour? Does a sausage made from pea protein have the right to be called a sausage? Does a peppered deli slice made from soy have the right to be called a deli meat?

Read Larry Light’s take on the matter in his latest Forbes.com piece.

Larry Light’s 3 Latest Pieces In Forbes.com

Larry Light’s Forbes column is teaming with insight and information for Marketers from the entry level to C-Suite Executives.

Here are THREE of his latest pieces including The Two Keys To Barnes & Noble’s Future, The Three Dimensions Of Ease: Too Much Choice Is Hurting Nature Valley, and Dunkin’s New Strategy … Destined For Failure! You can read his entire Forbes column including past articles here.


The Mass Middle of the Market is Muddling its Way Into the Future

The village of Tupper Lake, NY, in the Adirondack Park has a population hovering just under 6000. In the short summer season tourists and second-home owners boost that number. Recently, there has been a seasonal gentrification with the opening of two craft breweries, but it is basically a struggling place to live. Tupper Lake is a small town 130 miles southeast of Montreal, Quebec, and 89 miles south of Cornwall, Ontario. In Tupper Lake, there is a Dollar General, a Save-A-Lot, a Family Dollar, and a Day Wholesale.

Read the rest of Larry Light’s latest LinkedIn piece here.

Larry Light: Facebook Is Breaking The Five Basic Principles Of Trust Building

From Larry Light’s latest piece in Forbes.com:

We are watching the real time demise of the trust in the Facebook brand. Facebook is in a battle to save the trust in its brand. Lose trust and nothing else matters. Although it would seem to be counterintuitive, it does look as if Facebook is doing everything conceivable to destroy its brand trust. Facebook is making trust busting look easy.

Read the rest of his piece here.

COCA-COLA’S STRATEGIC DEXTERITY

Right before Labor Day, Coca-Cola purchased Costa Coffee. If you have been to the UK, other parts of Europe, or Asia, you will understand that Costa Coffee is the second-largest coffee shop chain in the world, just behind Starbucks. In the UK, Costa has 2,500 stores. The brand has 3,800 stores in 32 countries.

This purchase is yet another segue away from a cola-uber-alles approach to a beverage strategy that better reflects people’s changing tastes. According to Barron’s, Coca-Cola’s sales declined every year since 2012, while coffee in all of its forms, is still strong. Coca-Cola is recognizing that continuing to focus on what worked in the past is not necessarily a winning strategy for today.

Coca-Cola ceded coffee primacy to others such as 1) Nestlé (owner of Nescafé) that cemented a deal with Starbucks to sell the brand’s teas and coffee drinks globally, and bought the boutique brand Blue Bottle and 2) JAB, a European holding company, owns Peet’s Coffee, Stumptown, and Keurig Green Mountain. From a brand-business standpoint, Coca-Cola is working to reverse behaviors that are strategically insensitive. Strategic insensitivity is a result of failing to pay attention to changing customer needs, problems, beliefs, and values.

There are legitimate concerns that Coca-Cola is not capable of managing actual brick-and-mortar stores. The firm’s strengths are elsewhere. Additionally, there are concerns that buying Costa gives Coca-Cola a lot of global real estate, an area in which Coca-Cola has not played.

These arguments overlook all the experience Coca-Cola will receive through its purchase of Costa. Costa knows a great deal about how to run coffee shops. Unless Coca-Cola decides to dismiss a raft of Costa executives, these concerns are slightly misplaced. It is true, that actually owning and running coffee shops is not something Coca-Cola is known for, however, there are few brands that work with restaurants better than Coca-Cola. When Coca-Cola works with big customers such as McDonald’s, a team is embedded in the McDonald’s offices. The team knows what is going on with customers, with customers’ needs, and most specifically, the team is on top of the logistical and service requirements needed at all the McDonald’s restaurants.

Coca-Cola, whatever its problems, is showing that even big, embattled behemoth brands can exhibit strategic agility. Coca-Cola is revealing that it is open to and able to evolve when disruptions happen or business, environmental, political, geographic circumstances alter the landscape. Coca-Cola is fighting against the arrogance of success by expanding its horizons into more popular beverage areas. By changing its perspective on the beverage landscape, Coca-Cola is leading with strategic dexterity, being resolute and responsive, disciplined and dexterous, at the same time.

Even though investors are on the fence, unconvinced that Coca-Cola is making the right move with this expensive acquisition, one investor group executive told Barron’s the following, “I continue to remain Neutral on Coke, but I like when companies continue to diversify their core businesses, and this is another turn in the company’s long history. The Costa acquisition is a bold move by Coke as it continues to expand outside of its core beverage business and increase its retail presence.”

“Building The GE Brand Can Help Save The GE Business” Says Larry Light in Forbes.com

“GE is a troubled company. Its financial performance has been dismal. GE is struggling to restore confidence on Wall Street. The GE brand has a valuable heritage. The touchstone of the GE brand is its historic promise of innovation for better living. This is not about going backwards. It is not about reproducing the past. It is about clarifying and re-energizing the GE brand’s heritage in a contemporary, compelling manner.”

Read the rest of Larry Light’s latest piece in Forbes CMO Network!

–––––

Photo Credit: Momoneymoproblemz

Larry Light Explains “Why Avis And Enterprise Are Beating Car Dealerships To The Future” In Forbes.com

“Both Enterprise and Avis have created options that address a more flexible, adaptable, variable approach to transportation.” says Arcature CEO Larry Light. Read the rest in his Forbes piece “Why Avis And Enterprise Are Beating Car Dealerships To The Future“.

–––––––––––

Photo Credit to Drums600

Larry Light Points Out “Why Your Favorite Healthy Snack May Not Be Healthy?” In Forbes.com

As the FDA is nearly about to address food and beverage labeling this coming summer, how brands can use the term “healthy” may be redefined. Read Larry’s latest Forbes piece to learn Why Your Favorite Healthy Snack May Not Be Healthy?

–––––––––––

Photo Credit Mike Mozart under CC License

Larry Light Discusses The Boeing 737 Max Brand in Forbes.com

In his latest Forbes piece, Larry light asks the question “Can the Boeing 737 Max brand reputation be repaired?”.

Read his thoughts here: Can The Boeing 737 Max Brand Reputation Be Repaired?

––––––––––

Photo Credit: pjs2005 from Hampshire, UK