Many European trends that make their way here are positive: nimble energy efficient vehicles, fashion watches & apparel, bicycle-friendly cities, respect for a city’s architectural history, building policies that encourage walk-to neighbourhood shopping & discourage drive-to monster-malls. Many of these initiatives create healthier cities & populations. But fitness & thin-ness are not the same. And [...]

Brazil’s government has announced a $2 B ‘scholarship’ fund to get bright young Brazilians going abroad for post-secondary education. An interesting win-win for nations to trade their relative strengths, and accommodate the inevitable realities of changing demographics, not to mention good ole’ Supply & Demand. Aging Nations tend to be over-strong in Education resources; they’ve [...]

When we think of exports, we usually start with big, memorable markets-national or regional economies so well known you can rhyme them off the top of your head: European Union, USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Canada, Spain, Australia, Netherlands. Then, the much-hyped B.R.I.C. group: Brazil, Russia, India, China. And why not? BRIC accounts [...]

North America’s ‘drive everywhere’ culture has an undeniable impact on one’s physical & emotional well-being. On visits to Europe I was struck by how sociable a daily walk from work might be. You buy a baguette at a bakery, a pack of aspirin (that dissolve in water!!!) at a Pharmacy, a bottle of wine at [...]

Easter weekend involved dozens of progeny, including many grandchildren, coming to Gramma’s homestead. A well behaved bunch of young adults, most of whom are Millennials, 17 to 25 yrs old. Much of their conversations involved …wait for it…science. Huh? Not the latest Gaga tweet? Not Bieber’s new haircut? Not which smartphone is the sleekest, or [...]

Wisdom, Skill, Virtue: Real or mythical, there’s something compelling about the idea of someone who embodies all 3 traits eg the warrior-monk, noble yet humble, dedicated to a larger cause. A thinker who is rich in spirit, yet willing & able to act decisively. The Shaolin priest-warrior; the taciturn dispossessed Ronin; a self-sacrificing Knight Templar; [...]

To see how brand equity works, look in the ‘hood. Ever since medieval ‘hoodlums’ (protestors, bandits, etc) wore hoods to disguise their identities, the hood has been in fashion. For some, the word ‘hood’ still conveys mysterious or dark intentions. There are ‘Bad Boys’ from a hood, hoodlums, hoodwinking someone, etc. Not everyone carries identical [...]

Long ago I predicted that there would be a counter-trend to importing all goods from halfway round the world. A month of shipping time is just too long to let you react to last minute customers, cyclical/ seasonal industries, or an industry using Just-In-Time. Other reasons I expect to see growing cost penalty for long [...]

A study by Canterbury Christ Church University psychologists has shown that fearful images designed to scare smokers into quitting the habit, don’t work. What DOES work? Social ostracism. Yep, nonsmokers’ negative attitudes towards the habit do have an effect. Bad news for a Canadian Government long dedicated to adorning cigarette packs with gruesome images of  [...]

Even as brands go global and, at their best, are ever more valuable, some recent trends point to brands being more vulnerable if mis-handled. I won’t call brands today ‘fragile’, but I might say that sins can now hurt a brand faster than ever. Especially given the growing power of ‘The Fifth P’ of Marketing [...]