A Better Choosing Experience When consumers are overwhelmed with options, marketers should give them what they really want: ways of shopping that lower the cognitive demands of choosing. by Sheena Iyengar and Kanika Agrawal When Baskin-Robbins, now the largest ice cream chain in the world, opened in 1953, its line of 31 flavors — one for every day of the month — was a novelty. At the time, such variety was unheard of, and Baskin-Robbins used it to stand out from other chains. Cofounder Irvine Robbins said, “We sell fun, not just ice cream,” and part of the fun for customers was t.......

Starting At the End:The New Path To Winning What does winning look like at your organization?Defining success may sound simple, but few strategic plans come to grips with what winning looks like. Too often management teams fall back on broad-brushed vision statements. “To be the best…the biggest…the leading…” that lack the specificity employees need to implement the strategy or provide the benchmarks that leaders can use to measure progress.Should growth strategies be visionary? Certainly. But they should also be concrete. That’s what Planning to Win is all about.Planning to Win.......

Starting At the End:The New Path To Winning What does winning look like at your organization?Defining success may sound simple, but few strategic plans come to grips with what winning looks like. Too often management teams fall back on broad-brushed vision statements. “To be the best…the biggest…the leading…” that lack the specificity employees need to implement the strategy or provide the benchmarks that leaders can use to measure progress.Should growth strategies be visionary? Certainly. But they should also be concrete. That’s what Planning to Win is all about.Planning to Win is a mar.......

Brand Building, Beyond Marketing Consumers are becoming more suspicious of traditional branding. Here are five steps to regain their trust. by Nicholas Ind and Majken Schultz Not so long ago, brands were in the limelight. They were seemingly powerful, and virtuous. Any inconvenient truths were hidden by glossy packaging and one-way, big-bang marketing campaigns. Now, as organizations become ever more transparent, people can see behind the marketing facade and are questioning what they are told. Trust in brands has diminished and consumers are more likely to view brands cyni.......

Brand Building, Beyond Marketing Consumers are becoming more suspicious of traditional branding. Here are five steps to regain their trust. by Nicholas Ind and Majken Schultz Not so long ago, brands were in the limelight. They were seemingly powerful, and virtuous. Any inconvenient truths were hidden by glossy packaging and one-way, big-bang marketing campaigns. Now, as organizations become ever more transparent, people can see behind the marketing facade and are questioning what they are told. Trust in brands has diminished and consumers are more likely to view brands cynically, and to feel u.......

"Social media has fallen into one of those inponderables so often side-stepped by the C-suite at its peril." Forget Social MediaWe should not be surprised that the marketing department has assumed control over social media. After all, for more than a decade, the corporate world has considered and used the Internet as an important marketing medium. All the while, the web was evolving from one-way brochure ware to communities of conversations – to the point that it has now fully outgrown its characterization as merely media in the marketing sense. And yet, our collective understanding of.......

"Social media has fallen into one of those inponderables so often side-stepped by the C-suite at its peril." Forget Social MediaWe should not be surprised that the marketing department has assumed control over social media. After all, for more than a decade, the corporate world has considered and used the Internet as an important marketing medium. All the while, the web was evolving from one-way brochure ware to communities of conversations – to the point that it has now fully outgrown its characterization as merely media in the marketing sense. And yet, our collective understanding of t.......

Understanding customers is critical to marketing. VALS™ strengthens demographic characterizations by explaining the deeper psychological drivers of consumer behavior. VALS™ is a consulting and consumer research service. VALS consulting provides clients with tailored marketing strategies for targeting, positioning, and communications—real-world, real-time, actionable strategies. Consumer surveys and focus groups inform our work. VALS Benefits: Gain a fresh perspective by getting "into the heads" of your customers. Create richly textured consumer profiles or personas. Understa.......