Archive for September 2019
Target and Walmart Score Some Points Against Amazon
Anyone who follows the retail industry is aware of the relentless ascent of Amazon, a tech giant that has completely transformed the way that millions of people worldwide purchase products. Perhaps Amazon’s most famous innovation is Amazon Prime, a subscription service that includes free two-day delivery on millions of items for sale on their online…
Read MoreWhat I (Re)Learned from Writing a Book
My book, The New Invisible Hand: Five Revolutions in the Digital Economy, has been out for six weeks, and I’ve been floored with the positive response from colleagues, connections, clients…and even some competitors! It is rewarding to have an Amazon Bestseller and see the topics resonating with so many people. I want to take a…
Read More“The Great Hack” – A Chilling View of Market Research Gone Wild
The other day my daughter told me to watch the documentary The Great Hack on Netflix. As a student and teacher of marketing research, this 113-minute film was one of the most chilling and disquieting films I’ve ever seen. The movie tells the story of Cambridge Analytica’s highly successful efforts to slice, dice, and otherwise…
Read MoreStrategic Movements: September 2019
J.M. Smucker Co Passed Input Savings onto Price Cuts. Profits? They fell of course. Q2 2019 found that net sales (revenue) decreased 6%, and profits suffered more. From a pricing perspective, this is completely to be expected. Why would an executive do something proven to harm profits? CEO Mark Smucker spoke about the dramatic decrease…
Read MoreOrganizing for Pricing Excellence
What organizational factors make for pricing excellence in a company? Moorman and Day discussed the academic research on the development of excellence in marketing organizations. We find truths in their work that translate well to the specific field of pricing, one of the four elements of the marketing mix. One could describe pricing excellence as…
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