Feb 21, 2019
The Best a Brand Can Get: The Bottom Line of Taking a Stand
By Rachel Fox How does a 120-year-old razor company change their narrative and compete with digitally-native brands who are gnawing away at the lion’s share of the millennial market? They […]
Feb 14, 2019
Beyond the Branch
Retail Finance Finds New Ways to Drive Deposits By Mike Dea At the intersection of Philadelphia’s 17th and Walnut streets, there’s a café where people can find a cup of […]
Jan 31, 2019
The Next Retail Chain to Fail? Your Local Supermarket
The Days of Picking Produce are Numbered By Ed Lynes After more than a century of catering to affluent Manhattanites, Lord & Taylor closed its flagship store on Fifth […]
Nov 29, 2018
WeWork & Starbucks Agree: Father Knows Best
Arrogance Has Founders Seeing Red (Cups, Meat, and Eyes) By Ed Lynes Of the icons that mark the holiday season, few are more celebrated than the Starbucks Red Cup. Communities […]
Oct 17, 2018
Consumers Have the Best Bull$#!* Meters: Authenticity and Story in Brand Names
By Zachary Vickers Recently, Weight Watchers announced they would be known as “WW.” Armed with a new tagline, “Wellness that Works,” the 65 year-old company made a bold and strategic […]
Sep 27, 2018
Soup’s Down! How Tired Brands Can Refresh Through Story
By Zachary Vickers The $4.5 billion U.S. canned soup industry has been flat since 2012, and Campbell’s — with 40 percent of the market share — is the face of […]
Sep 13, 2018
Decide to Disconnect: Knowing the Limits of Your Brand Story
By Hannah Landers ModCloth, Moosejaw, and Walmart; one of these things just doesn’t belong — or so it would seem initially. ModCloth peddles well-made women’s clothing that comes in whimsical patterns and vintage silhouettes, while Moosejaw has built its […]
Sep 7, 2018
Why Bad “Plot Twists” Ruin Brand Stories
By Zachary Vickers When Norman Mailer said that the novel was dead in 1955, perhaps he was also heralding the impending fate of independent bookstores. In 1995, Amazon become “Earth’s […]
Aug 24, 2018
From Cyberspace to Retail Space: Building Brick-and-Mortar Connections in the Digital Age
By Hannah Landers Retail is dead. Bankruptcies and store closure announcements from seemingly timeless brands like Toys “R” Us, Walgreens, and Macy’s have firmly ingrained this sentiment into consumers’ minds. […]
Aug 10, 2018
Fintech, Disrupted
By Lindsay Cottman Ice cream cones melting on the hood of a car. Afghan hounds in stylish surrounds. Millennial-pink Jell-O sculptures swaying in slow motion. What may sound like the […]