June 17, 2011
Stumptown, Portland’s beloved coffee maker recently sold a stake in the business to a private equity company- TSG and this move, as predicted attracted a lot of negative press. It’s kind of like an early 90s indy band selling out to the major label. One of the most vocal was Todd...
May 25, 2011
We all know about Groupon’s failed attempt at irony during the Superbowl and its founder’s humble beginnings helping activists and non-profits connect and take action, but what’s it’s mission and vision? While there’s certainly a benevolent side to Groupon, but as...
February 10, 2009
Good piece in Business Week by Alonzo Canada of Jump Associates about how companies can see expansion opportunities beyond their core area of business. "Their Explore team was given the audacious task of helping Nike become
a sports company. The team met the challenge by creating a map to
identify...
March 17, 2008
The well-known Swedish fashion company H&M enters a new phase. H&M always followed the same route: cheap trendy fashion. Now they enter a new phase. By buying the upcoming Swedish fashion company Fabric Scandinavien (behind brands like Sunday Sun , Cheap Monday . HM enters a new role as a...
May 13, 2007
Post the leaked Schultz Starbucks memo, Daniel Gross wrote a great piece for the LA Times, about brand expansion. He talks about the frenzied desire to expand brands faster than their DNA can tolerate and highlights some examples of brands that have expanded slowly. "But the Schultz memo is...
Influx Insights is the blog of BSSP's Influx Strategic Consulting Division. Up and running since 2004, the blog covers branding and the related areas of trends and technology.
