Avis Stops Trying Harder

In 1962, Avis CEO Robert Townsend was desperate to find a way to make his ailing company profitable. The story goes that he spoke to employees to try and figure out how to “right the ship” and with the help of their ad agency, DDB, they penned the now famous and iconic tagline “We try harder”. At the time, it’s pretty certain that neither Townsend, DDB, nor Paula Green …

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Perceptual Extension

As we began thinking about the content for this tip we were looking to address the differences between a strongly positioned brand such as Dove Soap and one such as Apple.  We can all identify the perceptions that these two brands hold with their customers, but we also recognize that each exists on a different plane …

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A Purposeful Brand

If you are a marketer or brand manager, the idea of purposefully creating a brand probably seems obvious. An intuitive, almost second nature function required to successfully compete in today's environment. However, for every Intel and Lexus with a well crafted and executed brand strategy, there are dozens of brands that have developed deep connections with customers accidently …

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Better Briefs

While this tip may get a lot more interest if we evaluate the pros and cons of female and male beach bodies and their importance in underwear promotion, we’re talking about the far less exciting, but more financially important, topic of how brand teams communicate with their agencies

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Dennis Crowley Comment
Inadequate Positioning
In a survey of over 300 top marketing executives from Fortune 500 companies, the Marketing Leadership Council found that the most serious mistake made by marketing teams when launching new products was inadequate positioning: A failure to clearly define a target customer and a desired perception for their brand in the market versus their competition.
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Dennis CrowleyPOSITIONING
Positioning During Economic Doldrums
For months now we have been inundated with talk about business failures, bank bailouts, slowing sales, and the scale of the current recession. What is clear to everyone is that the economy has slowed, that people are losing their jobs and are cutting back on spending. No industry or category has been spared.
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Dennis Crowley
Positioning Validation
While other Positioning Tips have dealt with the best practices for developing brand positioning, this tip will focus on the importance of market research in assessing brand positioning and validating new positioning opportunities.
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Dennis Crowley