After 51 pages of doom and gloom on the current economic crisis, the latest issue of BusinessWeek (September 29, 2008) gives us its “Best Global Brands” article. After covering what is perhaps the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, what is the article’s advice for building a top brand? Keep spending:
I speak to groups often about the new competitive threats traditional healthcare providers are facing in today’s market, and my audiences – usually marketers and strategists – usually get the picture. But it’s amazing to me how so many others in healthcare, often administrators or physicians, don’t believe the threats are real. Take, for example, mini-clinics, which are now rolling across the country, popping up in Target, CVS and other huge retailers. Last year, we heard a physician say, “If they’re going to MinuteClinic, they must not really be sick.” Yikes. (more…)