What is Pepsi doing ? Marketing blunder after blunder.

Mistakes are a good chance to learn. But Pepsi seem to have learnt nothing about distinctive assets. Read More...

Millward Brown replication - successful brands have low perceived differentiation

The empirical data (including Millward Brown's) is clear, most successful brands have very low perceived differentiation, yet they have loyal customers, they earn profits, and many of them have done so for many decades – and will continue to. Read More...

If it hasn't been replicated it's probably not worth much

A scientific finding isn’t worth much until it has been replicated, until something is known about where it does, and does not apply. That needs replications under different conditions, e.g. different researchers, different product categories, different measures. We should at least find out if the result holds over time.

No, we should at least find out if the result holds more than once! Read More...

Response rates are not a meaningful currency

Targeted campaigns generate higher response rates, but that doesn’t mean they are more effective. Read More...

How to win an advertising effectiveness award

To win an advertising sales effectiveness awards you need to be able to see your sales effect. This is easier if it is truncated in time, not spread out as some much advertising effect is. There are some instances where you are more likely to be able to see a sales spike when you turn the advertising on and off. These circumstances have an advantage in winning awards. But just because an effect is easier to see in aggregate sales, doesn’t mean the sales effect is actually larger. Read More...