What more could the most passionately loyalist Applephiles crave more than their own personal Steve Jobs sitting next to them as they ponder the use of their new iPad or Macbook Air, looking over to see Steve watching with approval; what could be better?

Although most people think of an Apple Store as being part of an upscale mall or some other a high-end retail location, Grand Central Station really is the perfect location, and it shows that the Apple real estate group really “gets it” about retail. It’s about nurturing the ecology that brings together consumers, location and buying opportunity.

The amazing thing about what Apple has done under Jobs established a benchmark for a whole different experience for the consumer. He obsessed about this and knew that it was not the amount of ram or speed you had it was what things did and how they simplified your world

Okay, tell your super-loyal customers that you are giving them two months notice, then you are doubling the price of the products they know and love. You get a choice to get streaming movies, which have a limited number of titles, or continue your DVD deliveries, which have just about everything

It’s easy to pick a brand color, right? Not as easy as you think. Depending on your industry, the message and focus of your brand everything can change. The color look and feel not only establishes what you are but who you are. This is why trade dress is so important. It’ happened several times [...]

When Netflix just announce a 60% increase in rates they drove shock waves through thousands of loyal customers of absolutely loved Netflix. Is say loved because many of the comments, blog entries and Tweets are saying how Netflix is screwing over their loyal customer base.

Cisco, like many technology companies, thinks only linearly. What they do is in the context of their technological hold in the market, but the Flip does not fit this model

Large companies and even mid size to smaller can now get tons of data on you. How you shop, what you buy, what your age group does, what your neighborhood does – but do they really get you?

You can have a GroupOn activity that happens an hour from now and done by the end of the day targeting a self-selected group of customers who are actually interested in your offers. This is the maximum use of incentives to the right motivated customers. It’s just another way to create opportunity in the marketplace– a reason for customers to buy now.

I see a lack of real strategy on building a bigger online community and more of a move towards adding revenue based on targeted groups.