A History of NY Retailing: When Women Ran Fifth Avenue

New York City has been home to many influential retail stores over the years. A fascinating new book, When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow, looks at how three stores became powerhouses under the leadership of women who had an eye for fashion and a flair for merchandising, not to mention excellent business sense.

None of those stores exist today in their original form...yet at their height, Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, Henri Bendel were the toast of the Big Apple and admired by retailers from coast to coast. 

For an inside look at New York department stores during their heyday, I recommend this well-researched, well-written nonfiction book. 

Boeing vs Airbus, Updated to End of 2022

The pandemic and a slow-motion global economic slowdown took a toll on both Boeing and Airbus as they tried to maintain momentum and steer a course for upward growth and profitability. Both have been racing to attract new orders and make deliveries of jets already ordered this year and looking ahead.

By the end of 2022, Airbus was still the international leader in aircraft planes. Airbus did lose some orders, but overall remained on course for the number one position in market share.

Boeing, meanwhile, is reportedly taking the long view and investing in technology to gain an edge by the end of this decade. In the interim, the aircraft firm will seek to at least hold onto a duopoly position.

The Pandemic's Impact on Business

Some of the big consulting firms are examining the past, present, and possible future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business world.

Here's what they are thinking right now, in mid-2021:

• McKinsey: Many countries will see higher GDP growth in 2021, with key consumer behavior trends (like shopping online for groceries) continuing into the future.
• PWC: Global businesses surveyed said their crisis response management needs to be improved. 
• KPMG: CEOs are using scenario planning to understand how vaccine shortages and timing might affect their personnel, key functional areas, and supply-chain management.
• BCG: Business leaders are looking at hybrid working models with lessons learned from pandemic operations, and finding ways to adapt more quickly to crisis situations. 

Toyota Reminds Apple to Think Decades in Future

Apple is reportedly planning an electric, self-driving car. Toyota, well aware of the challenges and opportunities in the global auto industry, warns Apple to "be prepared to deal with customers and various changes for some 40 years." 

In other words, cars are not like computers. Toyota sells tens of millions of cars every year, year after year. One of the world's most successful car manufacturers, Toyota maintains a long-term focus and plans strategy years in advance as it seeks to maintain momentum. Can Apple enter the automotive market and build sales there for the long run?

Changed Consumer Behavior Requires Changed Marketing During Pandemic

Consumers are changing their shopping habits during this pandemic year, and these changes in turn require changes in marketing approaches. According to The Drum:

Confronted with unfamiliar stores and shelves filled with less familiar product choices, there is a much bigger opportunity for them to abandon past favorites.

In other words, this is a very good marketing opportunity to encourage brand switching as consumers approach shopping differently than in prepandemic periods. 

Everyone, please stay safe.

Pandemic and Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic continues worldwide, with some nations and some U.S. states beginning to reopen their economies even as scientists pursue treatments and vaccines.

Interviewed by Bloomberg BusinessWeek in May of 2020, the CEO of Unilever says:

"Our company is guided by three deeply held beliefs: That brands with purpose grow, companies with purpose last, and people with purpose thrive. And we think that refrain is going to be even more relevant in a post-coronavirus world than in a pre-coronavirus world."

Alan Jope sees trends shaped by the pandemic that include an emphasis on hygiene, on staying safe at home, and on the "distance economy" which he indicates point to more in-home consumption and digital consumption.

Stay safe as this pandemic continues.

U.S. Businesses and Coronavirus

U.S. businesses are concerned about their employees, as well as about the impact that the international coronavirus outbreak may have on supply chains and customer behavior...and, ultimately, sales and profits.

MarketWatch has comments from dozens of these corporations here.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control provides "interim guidance" for businesses here.

Please stay safe.

Disney Plus Is Growing Fast

Not 90 days after Disney Plus debuted its streaming on-demand service, it has attracted nearly 29 million subscribers.

The service projects it will have more than 60 million subscribers worldwide by 2024.

With so many strong entertainment brands and franchises (Marvel, Pixar, etc.) available on Disney Plus, the streaming service has a powerful consumer appeal.

For more, see the Associated Press article here.

Merger will reshape automotive market

Fiat Chrysler merges with Peugeot

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot finalized their 50-50 merger this week. The combined company expects to sell nearly 9 million vehicles every year, making it the world's 4th largest automaker by volume and 3rd largest by revenue.

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot to Merge

If Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot complete their just-announced merger, the resulting firm will be the industry's fourth largest.

Read more about this merger here.

Business Roundtable: Corporations Should Benefit ALL Stakeholders

One of the most influential business groups in America, the Business Roundtable recently announced it supports the concept of redefining a corporation to benefit all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

This is a major shift away from the idea that profiting shareholders takes precedence over consideration of other stakeholders (employees, customers, vendors, and communities).

Read the entire announcement here.

Store Brands Continue Strong Growth

Value-minded consumers are choosing private-label store brands in many cases, cutting into the sales of established manufacturer brands. Not surprisingly, grocery chains such as Kroger are feeding this trend by increasing the breadth and depth of their private-label product mix.

Marketing Plan Glossary

Cannibalization.
Greenwashing.
Multichannel marketing.
Psychographic characteristics.

All these and more terminology for marketing planning can be found on the Marketing Plan Glossary site here.

Airbus Drops A380 Super-Jumbo Jet

In June, 2006, I posted about the different strategies and market forecasts of Airbus vs. Boeing.

Airbus thought passengers would be flying hub to hub in giant jets like the A380. Boeing thought passengers would be flying point to point in smaller jets.

Now, more than 12 years later, Airbus has decided to discontinue its super-jumbo A380. Orders had been dropping off . . . and now Airbus will remove the 380 from its product line.

It turned out, Boeing's vision of how passengers would prefer to travel, coupled with tech advances in jet fuel economy and airline decisions, made a big difference in marketing new commercial jets.

Marketing Plan Resources

Thanks for visiting.

If you're formulating a marketing plan, take a peek at the sample plan posted on the website for my U.S. textbook. It will give you an idea of how to organize a marketing plan and the kind of content included.

You can also browse the glossary of key terms on the same website.

For a listing of links to marketing plan resources all over the web, see here. You'll find news sites, marketing data sites, and many other useful sources of statistics and updated info about companies and concepts.

And finally, if you're looking for my perspective on whether competitors are stakeholders, here's one of many posts on the subject. Yes, competitors are stakeholders, in my view!

Marketers Market for Halloween

Yes, "holiday creep" has Halloween candy/costumes in stores even before back-to-school marketing begins. But marketing trends go well beyond these basics.

No matter what you're marketing, be aware that if you're using Halloween themes in email marketing, you may have fewer folks open your messages. Yet the conversion rate is solid, meaning those who open messages can be converted into buyers.

Some marketers prefer to intro or preview Halloween goods and services early, little by little, to build anticipation and awareness. This is certainly the case for theme parks and other service marketers that offer special Halloween experiences.

Seasonal products or campaigns related to Halloween need time to reach audiences and generate response. The soft-drink brand Fanta rolled out Halloween-themed Snap filters early to encourage usage and viral reaction.

Halloween and pumpkins are a traditional association. Pumpkin food products are selling well as the fall season gets into full swing before Halloween. As usual, marketers are pushing pumpkin spice everything. In fact, Starbucks and Dunkin' began marketing pumpkin flavors in August this year. But, despite rumors, there is NO Oscar Meyer pumpkin-flavor bologna.

Should You Collaborate with Competitors?

Competitors are stakeholders. I've established this numerous times on my blog. As shown above, two of my original posts about this topic have attracted more than 16,000 views in 9 years.

What's been changing, in recent years, is the trend toward actively collaborating with competitors for mutual benefit. This does not mean setting prices together, which is illegal. It does mean looking for specific areas where collaboration would be advantageous for two competitors (or perhaps the entire industry).

For example, what about sharing resources with a competitor to give each something unique to market? Read how a brewer came up with a novel idea and recruited competitors to work together.

Advertising agencies are working together, in some cases, to win and service clients. Maybe an agency sees a competitor with a particular focus that can add value for part of a big project. Or maybe an agency wants to bolster its bid for work by combining forces with a specialized agency.

Are there situations when collaboration can help you be a more effective marketer?

8 Sources of Info about Specialized Marketing Topics

Looking for info about specialized marketing topics? Here are 8 good sources to keep you updated:

• Automotive marketing - weekly news from MediaPost
• Social media marketing - news from Social Media Today
• Sports marketing - news from The Drum
• Mobile marketing - news from Marketing Land
• Digital marketing - news from Advertising Age
• Retail marketing - news from Retail Dive
• Content marketing - news from Direct Marketing News
• Online marketing - news from Entrepreneur

Growth of the Experience Economy

"The experience economy" is a 20-year-old phrase that refers to a premium, differentiated experience perceived as higher value (by consumers) than, say, service delivery or products alone.

According to the classic Harvard Business Review article about this phenomenon, marketers can "wrap experiences" around traditional goods or services (or both) to enhance the offering. The key benefit of experiences is that they are memorable.

The consulting firm McKinsey notes that spending on experiences has increased much faster than spending on goods. And, McKinsey says, millennials are leading the way in spending on entertainment and fitness-related experiences, for instance. Think about the rise of experience-heavy offerings like the Museum of Ice Cream, which began as a pop-up retail experience in New York City and has sparked spinoffs, extensions, collaborations, and sponsorships.

Growth in the experience economy is a global phenomenon. A cultural event space in Manchester, England, found strong demand for its diverse experience offerings, from theater to music to art and food. "The big change to what I call experientialism is more about finding happiness and status in experiences instead," says author and trendspotter James Wallman.

Does this mean materialism is dead? The lesson from the experience economy is that goods alone may not be the best or only way to satisfy a consumer need, especially for key consumer groups.

Dr Pepper Targets College-Age Consumers

MARKETING DR PEPPER 

More than a century old, Dr Pepper (now merged with Keurig) aims to make itself the soft drink brand of choice for college-age consumers. This market segment tends to be interested in diverse flavors and differentiation, as well as being heavy consumers of soft drinks.

No wonder Dr Pepper is a big sponsor of college football, and is very active on social media (420k Twitter followers, 539k Instagram followers, 14mm Facebook likes, 26k YouTube subscribers). And no wonder the company promotes "pick your Pepper" limited-time designs to catch the eye of variety seekers.

This year, Dr Pepper is trying something new with a soap opera-like series of commercials/episodes that will tell stories coming to an end as the college football season is over in January, 2019. The integrated campaign includes social media plus traditional media to attract attention and increase interest in the story line.