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It sure sounded like a great idea.  The idea, draw attention to global warming and the plight of polar bears.  The bears have been a Coca Cola holiday symbol for almost 100 years — so the actions also fit with the brand’s heritage.  Coke did this by changing the iconic red cans to white for the holidays.  It sure sounded like a good idea.  Unfortunately, the new cans confused consumers — especially Diet Coke drinkers who confused the white can with their familiar silver Diet Coke cans.  This article, “Bad News, Bears:  Coke Pulls Back on White Cans in Holiday Campaign to Save Polar Bears” (brandchannel, December 1, 2011) describes many interesting elements to the story.  For example, by monitoring social media, Coca Cola marketing managers heard complaints early.  This case is also a demonstration of a low involvement product that consumers buy out of habit.   In the end, it probably marks a mis-step by the soft drink giant.  But I would say, if you take chance, you will make mistakes sometimes.  And this whole outcome, like the New Coke introduction 25 years ago, may yet generate positive publicity for the brand.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This article has examples that can be used in teaching consumer behavior, market research, brand management, packaging, and advertising & promotion.

Oprah Winfrey is a powerful brand and product endorser.  On May 25 Oprah ends her 25 year run on ABC and starting her own cable TV network — OWN = Oprah Winfrey Network.  This article “Brand Oprah Has Some Marketing Lessons” (Bloomberg Businessweek, May 19, 2011) touches on some of her brand power.

I have been looking for a Dilbert to finish out the semester.  Why it pays for brand managers to have some understanding of the technology behind a product.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

You may have heard the news last week that Diet Coke snuck past Pepsi for #2 on the soft drink sales rankings – the Wall Street Journal‘s coverage of this is here in “Diet Coke Wins Battle in Cola Wars,” (March 17, 2011 – non-subscribers click here).   Coke and Pepsi provide us with many good examples — including their battle as a good example of competition.

Pepsi has been criticized for some of its recent marketing moves – see “How Pepsi Blinked, Fell Behind Diet Coke” (Advertising Age, March 21, 2011 — this may require a subscription to access).  For more, see “Pepsi Thirsty for a Comeback,” (Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2011 – non-subscribers may have to click here) you can read more about Pepsi’s fall and future plans. The 3:15 video below also provides a quick overview.

What do you do when changes in the social environment reduces demand for your core product?  That what happened to Zippo — best known for its windproof lighters.  Cigarette smoking in the United States has been declining for decades — and if you don’t smoke, you probably have little need for a Zippo lighter.  Zippo has had mixed results with various product extensions.  The article “Zippo Preps for a Post-Smoker World” (Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2011 – non-subscribers click here) provides a nice foundation for discussion the effects of social trends and for brand extensions.

Stern Finance Professor Aswath Damodaran shared the following slide show.  The slide show offers some great examples you might want to use in class when discussing the power of branding.  For some additional commentary see this post, “What’s the Value in a Brand Name?” (Mashable, November 6) which includes some additional comments from Professor Damodaran.

I like this brand extension.  With growth in services, Tide has found a way to leverage one of its strengths (a well-known and well respected brand name) to take advantage of a great opportunity (growth in services, and lack of organized competition in dry cleaning).  Brilliant methinks!  What do you think?  Check out “P&G Looks to Franchise Tide Dry Cleaning” at Bloomberg Businessweek (September 2, 2010).  Also posted at our Learn the 4 Ps blog for students.

The example could work well when you are teaching strategy planning, branding, services, and franchising.

We have posted other articles on store brands.  This article “Store Brands Give Name Brands a Run for the Money” (brandchannel, September 8, 2010) summarizes some of the findings from a new Consumer Reports study on “Store brands vs. name brands” (October 2010).  Also posted at our Learn the 4 Ps blog for students.

When David Aaker, one of the world’s foremost experts on branding, writes a short article on “Why Are Strong Brands Strong?” (Marketing News, August 30, 2010) it is certainly worth a read.  Not sure this link will stay up — I found it through an online search.  If not, check out your Marketing News subscription (if you are a member of the American Marketing Association) or your library.

This slide show highlights the most popular car color, peanut butter, drug, sneaker — and much more.  An interesting read mostly on various brands.  See Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s “Popularity Issue” (August 2010).