marketing

John Tantillo applauds Hollywood, not for Avatar's weak plot, but for doing something truly innovative to bring viewers something new, that they can't watch in their homes.

John Tantillo names his top 5 brand winners and top 5 brand losers from 2009.

Winners:
1 - Lady Gaga
2 - Apple
3 - Hollywood
4 - David Letterman
5 - Sarah Palin

Losers:
1 - Ciibank
2 - American Politics
3 - Microsoft
4 - newspapers
5 - The Nobel Prize

John Tantillo was among those who thought that Obama should give back the Nobel Peace Prize--but he now says he may have even done one better with his acceptance speech.

The Big Banks, meanwhile, are still not moving in a direction that makes good marketing sense.

E-books seem to be the inevitable future of publishing, but the resistance of traditional publishers to give up the usual profit margins on hardcovers, especially, is paving the way for a whole new business model for book sales--and one that potentially positions authors to have even more control over the marketing of their books.

We've just recently elected a Democrat as President. CNN's ratings are at the bottom of the pile. Fox News ratings are soaring, despite, or perhaps thanks to, snubbing of the network by the Obama Administration. John Tantillo points out branding lessons to be learned in all of this.

GM may be doing poorly at home, but in China, now the largest auto market in the world, it's at the head of the pack and beating its own sales records.

GM's sales increase in China. Tantillo attributes success to branding strength and predicts same to follow in U.S.

In tough economic times, two companies tack very different ways:
Wal-Mart manages to increase profits and successfully meets its Target Market's needs in Mexico through its Bodega Express outlets.

Has Starbucks taken a wrong turn? Not only are they selling instant coffee. Rather than encouraging consumers to compare their instant coffee product (Via) with that of Nescafe, et. al., they are actually encouraging them to compare it to their own.

John Tantillo names Disney the brand winner for acquiring Marvel, explaining how Marvel will be a smart, manageable expansion to the Disney brand that doesn't clash with Disney's core principles (ex. wholesomeness).

From Tom Petruno's Money & Company blog in the LA Times:

Gold made another run for the $1,000 mark today, only to stop short.

The metal soared for a second day, with near-term futures in New York rallying $19.20, or 2%, to $995.80 an ounce after gaining $21.90 on Wednesday.

From Tom Petruno's Money & Company blog in the Los Angeles Times:

If the stock market finally is primed for a significant pullback after summer’s powerful rally, which sectors are most vulnerable?

From Tom Petruno's Money & Company blog in the LA Times:

Dreaded September is here, historically the stock market’s worst month of the year by far.

Brand expert John Tantillo applauds GM for listening to its customers and scrapping the Vuick, rather than following in the tradition of the build-it-and-they-will-come approach.

Brand expert John Tantillo defends P&G, despite their recently released quarterly results. He points out that P&G has a long history of turning a bad situation into a win--such as when they pioneered the soap opera during the Depression.