Psychologists at Dartmouth and elsewhere are finding evidence that of brain change in adults, as long as adults keep learning. So you can teach old dogs new tricks! Wrighley’s There is no old dog than chewing gum that goes back 5,000 years when Neolithic people chewed bark tar for its antiseptic properties and other medicinal advantages. The Greeks and Roman [read more]
A great American brand can become too big for its American britches. Heinz is selling itself to Brazilian 3G Capital and Warren Buffett for $23 billion. Buffett will take his dividends on preferred stock and give operating control to 3G Capital. A venerable American company is heading south to a BRIC powerhouse. This is not the first time great American [read more]
Governments play a major role in support of basic and applied scientific research. The movement from basic and applied science to translational and commercial development is generally played by different levels of venture capital. Private placement adds additional capital to R&D and commercial trials. Positive marketing indicators eventually lead to initial public offerings (IPOs) for equity capital. This has been [read more]
The U.S. Justice Department has sued AB InBev’s planned $20 billion acquisition of Corona from Mexican owner Grupo Modelo, on the grounds that the expanded AB InBev and MillerCoors would dominate the U.S. beer market and raise prices to the detriment of consumers. This is the same Anti-trust concern that prevented the AT&T acquisition of TMobile and UPS’s bid to [read more]
The worst innovation can destroy a brand. JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson has unsuccessfully tried to remake a 110 year old department store discounter in a “chic” everyday low price designer mall. The result of this retail innovation has been is customer confusion and horrendous sales and share decline. Drawing on his successful experience at Target and Apple stores, Johnson [read more]