Monthly Archives January 2010

TransBrands – The future of business – lessons from Pandora and the blue Na'vi

My friend Carol had to go back and see the Imax version of Avatar in 3D a second time last Saturday. Carol, Glenn and I had gone to the morning show and it was awesome.  I think it represents the future of entertainment.  It is a true TransBrand. A what? Turn the clock back one hundred years.  Farmer John used to take his eggs and milk into town.  His neighbors brought their produce and they traded with each other or exchanged dollars. Then the world got sophisticated.  It certainly got bigger as the cities grew.  No longer did the luxury
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Wal-Mart Redeems Themselves

So my post yesterday was on Wal-Mart and how they fell on their sword. Magic things happen.  I called 1-800-Wal-Mart and told them how they were messing up. You will not believe this.  They called back.  And within 4 hours.  And they fixed the issue. So in a few minutes I am heading over to get my meds and now I have a great success story for customer service FROM WAL-MART of all places.
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Stupid is as Wal-Mart does

Don’t get me wrong.  I think Wal-Mart provides a great service for America. Today I needed to pick up some prescriptions at my local Wal-Mart.  When I called to inquire on availability they informed me that the price was higher than I had been buying down the street at a K-Mart store. “Why don’t you match the price” I asked? “Because it is farther than 5 miles away.” “But if you don’t, I will just go back to K-Mart.” “Sorry” they said. So called the Wal-Mart that is a couple of miles further away but just down the street from
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Happy New Year? Stop! Don't go there! "Warning Will Robinson! Warning"

One of the great stories in business was when the Kimberly Clark company decided to sell off all of it’s paper mills and focus on their consumer products in the 1971.  All of business told them that they were absolutely crazy.   The result was a focus that allowed them to chase after, catch, and trounce their largest competitor.  Procter and Gamble.  Within a short time period they were so profitable they were able to buy back their paper mills at a fraction of what they sold them for. Image that.  Sell you manufacturing capabilities.  What kind of crazy person does
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