Getting Around the Dinner Table. This year we’re seeing a movement to get people around the dinner table to forward progress on causes. While there has there been a trend of communal dining—from large, shared restaurant tables and online programs, such as eatwith.com, that bring strangers together over a meal, […]
Celebrity Conglomerates. Our cultural attraction to celebrity continues to fuel the creation of celebrity conglomerates. Celebrities are no longer just entertainers, rather many have become full-fledged brands and businesses in their own right, hiring big business players to expand their brands beyond the screen and stage. No longer are celebrities […]
Reverse Commercial Imperialism. Amongst companies, retailers, and brands, this year has punctuated just how global our economy really is. It’s no longer guaranteed that a company has a distinct national identity or that the companies and countries one might think would be winning are. For example, in the past, U.S. […]
Journalism Still Rising. By purchasing The Washington Post, was Amazon’s Jeff Bezos signaling the revival of American journalism, perhaps a reversal of fortune? Fortune is likely too strong a word, but journalism is reemerging from the wake of the industry’s shake-up with serious journalism returning in new formats. Amidst The […]
Role for Both Types of Companies. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, one would think that entrepreneurship and young companies are at the center of our economy and should be where everyone wants to work. It’s easy to forget that Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, while they started as […]
Flexible Talent. With our economy having shifted even more away from manufacturing and to services, it reinforces that talent has been a driver of economic growth. Yet, a significant problem companies and workers face is the need for more flexibility—companies do not always need full-time headcount to accomplish their goals, […]
Do Good, Does Good—Responsible Corporations. This year marked a continuation of the trend of Corporations doing good, both because it does good in the world and also because it’s simply […]
The Finer Things. We’ve acquired the taste for the finer things. Wine, chocolate, coffee, and beers all have gone the way of premiumization. With coffee and beers, we’re in another […]
Brands as Patrons. Brands today are using their awareness and notoriety not only for their own benefit, but to benefit others, as well. In doing so, brands are becoming patrons, of sorts, championing other’s creations or directly giving back to the arts. In some instances this is to bring awareness […]
Millennial Branding. While some big brands still do well with Millennials, others are struggling. According to a study by digital ad agency Moosylvania, almost all of the top 50 brands are […]
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