Knockoff Shades

Is Luxury Merging Back in Style?

Mergers and acquisitions activity (M&A) in the U.S. has “jumped significantly” over the last year or so, with a number of large consumer packaging companies selling off non-core operations and brands. M&A also appears to be on the rise in Europe, particularly in the areas of jewelry and fashion. Does the end-consumer look to benefit from corporate’s rush to buy and sell?

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Going Out of Business Proudly Displayed

Will Price Always Trump Brand, and Do Marketers Need to Care?

Are consumers chucking brand loyalty overboard in favor of getting the best deal possible on a product or service? Or are they simply responding to expanded product lines, increased promotional opportunities and economic realities – the same way people always have and always will? And does anyone need a marketing guru to explain it all?

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Cosmetic Packaging Outlook for 2013: Fair to Partly Rosy

Visiongain, a provider of business intelligence, predicts that the world cosmetics packaging market looks to grow in 2013 – in developed markets and emerging ones. At the same time, the fair trade movement in cosmetic packaging also looks to gain some traction. What accounts for this seemingly contradictory scenario? Why are societies around the globe, even economically challenged ones, ready to make cosmetics a buying priority?

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Spongebob & Wonka Bar

Separating Fit from Fat – Junk-Food Advertising Aimed at Kids

The Canadian province of Quebec banned fast-food advertising to children in TV and print – 35 years ago. With more than a third of kids and teens today considered to be overweight, should there be a ban on junk-food ads aimed at the under-18 crowd? Isn’t it high time that the U.S. government did something about food companies and their “pester power”? Or will nutrition recommendations from the likes of SpongeBob continue to rule the day?

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Video Game Marketing’s Scary New Rules

The video game marketing landscape is constantly changing. With gamers responding to developments mere milliseconds after being announced, it’s hard to stay out in front of the masses. Which means that video-game marketers are, like so many Call of Duty casualties-to-be, destined to the degradation of re-spawning (aka, dead and needing a restart) – unless they can somehow widen – or at least hang onto — their razor-thin lead.

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2010 Ken and 1997 Ken Doll

GQ Spring 2013 Fashion Trend Report

For whatever reason, modern male fashion has, for several decades, become an actual trend in need of following. And not just thin vs. wide ties. Or pinstripe suits vs. solid ones. No. You’re expected to pay attention to colors and patterns. You also need to see whether certain “hot” fashions have any chance of being worn by regular-guy you. Fortunately, GQ’s Spring 2013 Trend Report has you covered. Kind of.

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Advertising Just for You

Digital advertising is poised to follow you wherever you go, on whatever communication platform you choose to use. And it will lay in wait until you flip, click or like something that gives the ad cheetahs the perfect excuse to pounce. Need the proof? Look no further than your own mobile devices, or various pundits’ predictions. Or how about a startup that sends out coupons over radio waves?

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Ethics on Your Plate: The Wicked Tuna Debate

The bluefin tuna, a giant of a saltwater fish that’s prized for its sushi-quality flesh, has been plummeting in numbers worldwide since the 1950s. So why is that bastion of all that is holy environmentally, The National Geographic Society, associating its name with a reality TV show that all but glamorizes the catching of bluefin? Is it to raise awareness about a critical conservation issue? Or is something else at play?

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Using Gamification to Engage Customers and Employees

Expanding on the premise that most activities – including shopping and work – aren’t as stressful if they feel like fun, gamification has risen to prominence in the world of retail. Merchants as diverse as Nike, Whole Foods and New York-area drug store chain Duane Reade are taking a long, hard look at how online games and apps can help them improve the bottom line while keeping customers — and employees – entertained. And, the retailers hope, loyal.

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Recycled Cotton Fabric

Recycled, Reused and Redesigned: Clothing for a New Century

Recycled clothing has become something of a commodity these days. Practically everyone — from thrift shops to activist organizations to a designer with a household machine that could recycle and re-make clothes — wants us all hopping onto the latest recycling bandwagon. Is recycled clothing a timeless fashion statement? Or just another faux fad?

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