The billionaire owner of Equinox and SoulCycle strained customer relationships for both companies when his $100K+/plate fundraiser for Donald Trump became public knowledge. Social media protests, including #BoycottEquinox, gained traction while the SoulCycle CEO tried to win back customers by offering free “social justice” rides for causes hand-picked by instructors. Wise marketing executives everywhere could

According to the Food and Drug Administration, there were 1,928 food and cosmetic recalls in 2018.  While this is an improvement over 2017 when 3,609 products were recalled, the numbers still indicate that, even with the best preventative measures, a recall event or other devastating brand-impacting event can befall even the best brands.  After Starbucks

By: Ashley Martinez, Director of Product, Brand Engagement Why build a brand community of your valuable customers? On the surface, it appears the answer to that question is pretty simple and straightforward: you want to create a space to get some important brand questions answered with your target market. But the benefits of today’s communities

It’s critical to any business that product launches succeed, so before bringing products to market we hear questions that range from ‘what ideas should I pursue?’ ‘what messages are more effective,’ and ‘what price should I consider selling my product for?’ These questions are all-important, leveraging consumer insights and putting data behind every decision. That

When you think about what defines the On Demand universe it is, more than anything else, direct access. Consumers want direct, uninterrupted (disintermediated) access to their brands’ products and services and—in turn—brands demand direct access to consumers to gauge effectiveness of everything from marketing plans to package design and shelf placement. Not surprisingly, the current

If you made it to CES this year—or even if you just followed the coverage—you probably felt drowned in the products and innovations that surrounded you. When confronted with everything from a meatless burger that actually tastes good, to the introduction of fast-as-a-speeding-bullet 5G wireless technology, to robots of every description, it seems impossible to

China is, of course, the most populous nation on Earth, with a population of 1.4 billion, nearly one-fifth of the planet’s population. Until recently, a number of factors—including a government-controlled economy and the sheer land mass of the country—kept that massive pool of consumers almost out of reach to many brands. But a vital, entrepreneurial

As you consider navigating the cavernous territory of CES 2019, you might be asking yourself, “What’s hot and what’s not?” We’re all only human and everyone wants to know who the winners are going to be in the tech sector. What new tech will blow the doors off the economy in 2019? If you’re in

Every year, CES is like a microcosm of the global economy. There before you are the most innovative products, from the most innovative brands, making their first appearance on the world stage. And as you look around at this impressive display of cutting-edge technology, you can’t help but wonder which products will actually take center

Last year in the run-up to CES, Jonathan Dalton, CEO and co-founder of product development and strategy firm Thrive, wrote, “These pivotal few days each January serve as a lighthouse, illuminating the trends we’ll see throughout the year ahead. Further, the ‘C’ in CES has become less about the ‘consumer’ and more about ‘convergence.’ As such,