by admin | Nov 29, 2013 | Brand identity, Brand strategy, Brand targeting & positioning
Recently, in a thought-provoking post on why the PR industry, advertising and the mainstream and hybrid media need to work in a much more integrated way, Richard Edelman made this deceptively simple observation, “Ads are inherently more effective when you have something to say.” Read...
by admin | Nov 29, 2013 | Brand identity, Brand strategy, Brand targeting & positioning
Facts feel right. They portray the sharer as informed and aware. They give a sense of pragmatism. They quantify and substantiate. But they seldom motivate us to shift from where we are now and what we like now to somewhere new. Read...
by admin | Nov 28, 2013 | Brand identity, Innovation
Six Inc. 500 alums reflect on the simple twists of fate and brilliant strokes of luck that saved their businesses. Read more
by admin | Nov 28, 2013 | Brand identity, Brand strategy, Brand targeting & positioning
Marissa Mayer became the CEO of Yahoo on July 16, 2012. Since then, the stock has exploded from ~$16 to over $35. But while Mayer has done a remarkable job improving the working culture at Yahoo, hiring mobile developers and redesigning the company’s wide array of products, she is not the only reason for Yahoo’s stock turnaround. In fact, the main reason Yahoo stock is up so much is that way back in 2005 Yahoo bought 40% of a tiny Chinese e-commerce company called Alibaba for $1 billion. Then, over the next six years, Alibaba turned into a massive hit. In the spring of 2012, Alibaba bought a portion of its stock back from Yahoo for $7.65 billion. When Mayer took over in the summer of 2012, she agreed to use some of that money to buy back Yahoo stock. This financial engineering drove Yahoo’s stock price. So did Yahoo’s remaining stake in Alibaba, which continued to grow in value as the Chinese company’s market cap went from ~$50 billion in 2012 to a rumored $100 billion now. Soon, Yahoo will be able to realize that gain. Alibaba is expected to IPO in 2014. When it does, Yahoo will sell all but 10% of its stake in the company, adding another few billion dollars to its bank account — money that will almost certainly fuel more share buybacks. Despite its prominent role in Yahoo’s turnaround, Alibaba remains a mysterious company in the U.S. To remedy that, I visited the company during my recent trip to China. Click here to see what I saw and learned »...
by admin | Nov 27, 2013 | Market dynamics
In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, the most sought-after and desirable employees are the ones whose bags are always packed-;not because they are disloyal or disinterested but because they recognize that “up or out” is the way of the world today. Read...
