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If you’ve been to Target or your local grocery store recently, you’ve probably noticed a lot of pink packages and displays. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and many brands are doing their part to support breast cancer research and raise awareness of the disease. Consumer product brands such as HP, KitchenAid, and One A Day® Women’s are just a few brands that are not only donating a percentage of their proceeds to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation but are also modifying their packaging over the next month or so to “advertise for the cure,” displaying a predominant use of pink in their package designs. In recent years, pink has become the official color of the cause and around this time of year, the increasing number of participating brands always impresses me. So next time you are doing your grocery shopping, take note of the products that support breast cancer awareness and research and do your part…buy them. Are there other brands that you know of who have gotten creative to support this cause?

Shop for products that support breast cancer research.

Sometimes when a well-known brand changes their product, the change isn’t always readily accepted. Consumers might be wary of the new offering and unwilling to try it out- which in turn can have a negative effect on sales. (Does the “New Coke” debacle of 1985 ring a bell?) How does a brand ensure that their consumers notice the new offering and give it a try? Just ask Chick-fil-A.

If you have been to Chick-fil-A recently, you may have noticed that their menu has changed. (Go to http://www.chickfila.com/#pressroom and click on “Chick-fil-A Menu Enhancements”) The most noticeable change is with their Chick-n-Strips. The “new” Chick-n-Strips are a little bit bigger and have a slightly different taste. In an effort to promote the new Chick-n-Strips, they have been running several promotions over the past couple of months. When the menu first changed, they were offering free 3-count Chick-n-Strips for one week from 5-8pm. Then a couple months later on Labor Day, they offered free Chick-n-Strips to anyone who came in wearing College or NFL Football apparel.

Their most exciting promotion, however, occurred last week. While I was waiting for the elevator in the lobby of my office building, two Chick-fil-A employees with a tray of Chick-n-Strips, sweet tea and balloons approached me and asked if I worked in the building. I said yes, thinking they needed directions to a particular office. Then they smiled and asked if I wanted free Chick-fil-A. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! They were out today promoting their new Chick-n-Strips and online ordering to the businesses in the local office park.

I’m sure that I would have eventually tried the new Chick-n-Strips on my own, but it might have taken a little while longer. My initial response would have probably been to order the familiar Chick-fil-A sandwich and wait to hear from other people if the new Chick-n-Strips were as good as the original ones. Thanks to Chick-fil-A’s strong promotional efforts, I have now had the opportunity to experience the new Chick-n-Strips several times and I know that I like them. I’ll probably order them the next time I’m there.

By: Jessica McGrail

It’s a scary time for those on both Wall street and Main street. But let’s try and make some of that proverbial lemonade out of a sour economy.

I don’t know about you but when I hear ’sub-prime meltdown’, I think of something off the menu at Quiznos. I think we should take this opportunity to give the sub-prime mortgage crisis a name with branding potential. If Lehman Brothers employees are successfully selling their company paraphernalia online, think of the merchandizing opportunities just waiting for an economic crisis brand! Mugs, hats, paper weights for those now useless stock certificates… the possibilities are endless.
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Forget the book of 1,000 baby names. Try consulting a calendar, the produce section at the grocery store or a list of inspirational words instead. If the names of Hollywood babies are any indication, non-traditional baby naming is becoming the new norm. Even if the majority of people aren’t going quite so far as to name their child Mango or November, popular baby names today are quite different than they were 50 years ago.

Top 10 Girl Names (1957)
Mary
Susan
Linda
Debra
Karen
Deborah
Cynthia
Patricia
Barbara
Donna

Top 10 Girl Names (2007)
Emily
Isabella
Emma
Ava
Madison
Sophia
Olivia
Abigail
Hannah
Elizabeth

Top 10 Boy Names (1957)
Michael
James
David
Robert
John
William
Mark
Richard
Thomas
Steven

Top 10 Boy Names (2007)
Jacob
Michael
Ethan
Joshua
Daniel
Christopher
Anthony
William
Matthew
Andrew

By: Jessica McGrail