articles 1 to 10 of 324
White House Black Market's Donna Noce on the Power of Personalized Customer Relationships
Donna Noce entered college with the intent to major in veterinary medicine. But when a part-time job at a local retail store led to the chance to try her hand as a fashion buyer, she became hooked on the retail industry. For the past six years, Noce has been president of White House Black Market, a retail chain that sells designs focused around the classic color combination. In this interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Noce drew on more than three decades of experience to discuss what has changed in the fashion business -- and what hasn't. (Video with transcript)
From: June 05, 2013
Upset about Political Bias in the Media? Blame Economics
News organizations are often accused -- and in some cases, outright acknowledge -- that their coverage is biased toward a particular end of the political spectrum. In a new paper, Wharton marketing professor Pinar Yildirim and her co-authors argue that the slant in coverage does not stem from the personal beliefs of a newspaper's corporate owners or staff, but rather from the economics of trying to attract and retain both readers and advertisers.
From: May 22, 2013
Are Pop-up Stores Here to Stay?
Pop-up retail -- storefronts that open for a few days to sell products, launch a brand and/or create buzz -- has attracted business owners, landlords and customers alike. What is driving the trend, under what conditions is it most profitable and does it have legs?
From: May 22, 2013
On Samoa Air, Fatter People Pay More to Fly: Good Business or Bad Customer Relations?
When Samoa Air last week announced it was going to start charging people for airline tickets based on their weight, it set off a flurry of comments, some supportive, some not. Is this new policy an example of discrimination or a smart business model? Are there better ways to achieve the same objective? And will other airlines adopt the same approach?
From: April 10, 2013
'Contagious': Jonah Berger on Why Things Catch On
If you have watched and shared PSY's "Gangnam Style" video or gone into an unknown restaurant simply because it was full of people and appeared to be popular, you have the basis for understanding what makes things go viral. Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger's new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, distills six principles that cause people to talk about and share an idea or product. (Video with transcript)
From: March 13, 2013
How 'The Road Not Taken' May Be Undermining Your Choices
Feeling satisfied with a decision isn't just about what you choose -- it's also about how you choose it, according to recent research co-authored by Wharton professor Cassie Mogilner. In a series of experiments, Mogilner and her co-authors found that people who made a choice after seeing all of their options simultaneously were happier with the outcome than those who saw them one by one. The culprit behind this lack of satisfaction, they add, was 'the imagined road not taken.'
From: March 13, 2013
Daniel Pink on Why 'To Sell Is Human'
Whether you are an educator, an art director or a project manager, you are in sales. So argues bestselling author Daniel Pink in his new book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others. Pink recently visited the University of Pennsylvania as a guest lecturer in the Authors@Wharton series. Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant interviewed Pink while he was there to learn more about the ideas in his book, including why consumers mistrust salespeople, what the new ABCs of selling are and why questions may be the greatest selling tool. (Video with transcript)
From: March 06, 2013
The Hazards of Celebrity Endorsements in the Age of Twitter
As Chanel recently learned from its viral, widely panned perfume advertisement starring Brad Pitt, celebrity endorsements in the age of social media are a tricky proposition. Although using celebrities to promote a brand is a time-honored marketing strategy, rapid-fire feedback on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube can quickly turn a marketing gaffe into a national joke. Yet celebrities will still get a brand noticed, Wharton experts say. How, then, can companies harness star power while avoiding the potential pitfalls of social media?
From: February 27, 2013
Daniel Pink: Putting Your Best Pitch Forward in a Society of Salespeople
Most consumers have a negative view of salespeople. But the truth, according to author Daniel Pink, is that we all spend at least some part of our work or personal lives selling something, whether it's marketing a product or service or convincing someone to go out on a date. At a recent Authors@Wharton lecture, Pink detailed what he has learned about selling, described what personality types make ideal salespeople and suggested the best ways to make a sales pitch -- all topics covered in his new book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.
From: January 30, 2013
Coffee in Colombia: Waking Up to an Opportunity
Every day, more than 500,000 coffee growers throughout Colombia fulfill a family tradition, one that has been passed down from generation to generation. Growing premium-quality coffee beans across nearly 2.2 million acres of Colombian highlands is an important part of their heritage. Even today, coffee growing remains the largest source of rural employment in the country, which makes it vital that the country represent and defend the coffee growers' interests.
From: January 02, 2013
