CEO Ron Johnson rolled out a new plan for JCP that includes:

• Updating its stores
• Focusing on brands that ‘can’t be found elsewhere’
• Reducing it’s prices by 40% or more on all merchandise

These are bold moves, will they succeed? (more…)

A recent Washington Post/Bloomberg Business article stated that Hormel Foods fourth quarter 2011 profit slipped 3%.  Price increases were blamed for lower sales volumes.  Tyson Foods experienced a similar fate with its fourth quarter results.

Does this news fly in the face of my September 19, 2011 post Higher Prices = Lost Customers? in which I cited business owners whose price increases resulted in growth in their customer bases? (more…)

A November 2, 2011 Barron’s article , KRAFT FOODS REPORTS STRONG Q3 RESULTS AND RAISES 2011 GUIDANCE, reports that Kraft Foods’ third quarter net revenues grew 11.5% in part due to a 7% price increase. (more…)

 …that you drive up costs AND reduce revenues?

You’d tell me to take a flying leap off the highest cliff.  And rightfully so.  Yet literally thousands of very successful businesses do this voluntarily every day. (more…)

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of commentary about the roles of marketing and sales within organizations.  Geoffrey James, a popular sales writer, feels that marketing should be subordinate to sales instead of a separate function.  Obviously, the marketing folks disagree.  War is expensive; let’s see if we can put an end to this one. (more…)