What do J&J, Fed Ex, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, GE, HP, Hyatt, Trader Joe’s, SW Airlines, MTV, and CNN have in common? A recent Newsweek article identifies these 11 great icon brands as US companies that started in a recession. A recent Wall Street Journal article contains market share data for different markets showing how leadership [...]

Here’s one highly certain trend:  The U.S. consumer is unlikely to return to the level of spending before the recession. Blame it on the baby boomer generation, now realizing we must engage in a mad savings dash to make sure there’s enough money for retirement. With flatter consumption trends, US business investment absent an export [...]

If P&G can’t get it right, what will the rest of us do? P&G the master of consumer branding recently reported a 11% year-over-year revenue decline, more than analysts expected. The maker of Tide, Pampers, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, and Olay blames market share losses for part of the drop as more consumers switch to lower-priced [...]