The Costco Effect

"SHOPPING at Costco often goes something like this: Customer comes to buy bulk necessities like toilet paper and dish detergent. Customer buys those items, as well as a pack of giant muffins, three cashmere sweaters and a power tool."

24 Rolls of Toilet Paper, a Tub of Salsa and a Plasma TV

Almost Humorous Ads Fail to Drive Market Share. Man Law.

They never did much for me. And they didn't do much for sales.

Miller Repeals 'Man Law'

Ch- Ch- Check it Out

Pentagram is cool. Blogs are cool (right?). Is Pentagram's blog cool? Probably.

New at Pentagram

What Do We Think About This?

I've watched it 6 times and still can't decide if I like it or not.

Standard of Health?

BrandChannel considers the movement to standard labeling for healthy foods. Could the Pepsi SmartChoice be going away?

The Whole Package: Setting Healthy Standards

Your Moment of Zen

AG & Perpetual Growth

Fortune talks with a couple of old P&G ABMs -- AG Lafley and Jeff Immelt -- about creating profitable growth at a Fortune 50 company. Good luck, fellas.

Lafley and Immelt: In search of billions

The 411 on Fahrenheit 212

Inside A White-Hot Idea Factory

Can I Get a What-What?

Ad Agency TBWA is undertaking an 'experiment in open source creativity' they are calling The Big What Adventure. Basically they are asking the public to submit ideas and concepts. If they like something, they might even pay you for it. Though probably not much. Here's your shot to prove anyone can do decent advertising.

The Big What Adventure

Top 5 Consumer Trends for '07

1. Status Lifestyles
2. Transparency Tyranny
3. Web N+1
4. Trysumers
5. The Global Brain

January 2007 Trend Briefing

King Me

"Marketers like Procter & Gamble and Diageo say brand ambassadors give their marketing programs greater flexibility, because they can use the same image on television, in print or online. P.& G. posts images of its flesh-and-blood Mr. Clean on a Web site (mrclean.com), while Diageo goes even further, posting video and audio of its Tanqueray gin ambassador, Tony Sinclair, an affable 30-something with an English accent, on Tanqueray.com."

Who Is That Wearing That Milk Mustache?

Persuading the Masses

It's now a couple of years old, but Frontline did a great episode on how marketers attempt to influence the minds of consumers ... or voters.

"In 'The Persuaders,' FRONTLINE explores how the cultures of marketing and advertising have come to influence not only what Americans buy, but also how they view themselves and the world around them. The 90-minute documentary draws on a range of experts and observers of the advertising/marketing world, to examine how, in the words of one on-camera commentator, 'the principal of democracy yields to the practice of demography,' as highly customized messages are delivered to a smaller segment of the market."

View online at: The Persuaders