Over the years, several Big Stories with the same title as this one have explored social and political positions taken by consumer companies. In past instances, brands have issued statements and taken actions on salient topics of the day that their leaders believed align with the values of their customers. In times of domestic upheaval […]
Collaborations are nothing new in the world of consumer products. In 2021, innovative ice cream brand (and 2019 presenter at the Consensus Great Brands Show) Van Leeuwen teamed up with Kraft to develop and market the shockingly successful Kraft Macaroni & Cheese French ice cream. In 2017, luxury stalwart Louis Vuitton’s profit skyrocketed on the […]
We saw the warnings as early as August when retailers started stocking shelves with candy, costumes, decorations, and all things pumpkin-flavored: summer has passed, and it is now officially the Halloween spending season. As a longtime resident of Salem Massachusetts, one of the top tourist destinations in the U.S. for all things Halloween, I have […]
Despite the war in Ukraine, elevated inflation, higher interest rates, and other challenges, the consumer sector has remained more resilient than many expected over the last year or so. However, in the last several months, a specific industry headwind has emerged and become too worrisome to ignore: retail theft. There has always been theft (“shrink”) […]
It was not long ago that families sat around the Thanksgiving dinner table discussing what they would do next: leisurely enjoy a second round of pumpkin pie, or race to Walmart to line up for the 12:00am Black Friday sale to score a deeply discounted flat-screen TV. Then, Amazon exerted its influence by providing the […]