Latin chicken chain’s new restaurants designed for American consumer

11:30 a.m. This isn’t my first time at this sitting in line and waiting rodeo. I waited in line for 4 hours on Black Friday years ago to get my kid a Pokemon card that was free to the first 100 people or so at a Toy-R-Us. I waited 6 hours in 40 degree weather a few years back to be the first to secure a Wii for my kid as well. At least I’m indoors this time and I’m looking at sitting on a marble mall fountain/planter for the next 5 hours. Something tells me that the sound of running water will take it’s toll shortly. And for what, you ask?

That pesky Apple iPad 2.

11:45 a.m. My fellow planter dwellers are an interesting mix of humanity. You have ethnicity of all sorts within 10 feet to the right and left. Mostly male, but I see a few ladies. Age doesn’t seem to matter, with several kids here making it a family affair as well as more than a couple sets of grandparents. It strikes me that this product has very broad appeal.

12:35 p.m. The fellow in front of me has a tattoo of the original Mac desktop computer on his calf. I’ve told many a client that Harley Davidson sets the benchmark for brand loyalty due to the incredible number of their customers willing to mark their bodies with their identity and take it to their graves with them. Maybe the next generation will have a similar affinity for technology brands.

1:00 p.m. Not much of a frenzy yet, it feels a bit like waiting for a concert to begin. Lot of Apple conversations and excitement to get to put their hands on the new, smaller, better, faster, slightly more Apple-ier product. Not many Android vs Apple altercations yet but with 4 hours to go, anything is possible.

2:17 p.m. The mall tenants are starting to cater to a very captive audience. Brochures and being handed out from other retailers. Samples of Lindt Chocolates. Unfortunately, no one is bringing any carts of Subway by.

Is any publicity good publicity? This week, the soft drink industry is putting this to the test.

With broadly covered news stories linking diet soft drinks to increase risk of stroke, and now cancer concerns over caramel coloring used in colas, many see the soft drink industry in need of damage control.

The timing of these news stories, right after the perennial Super Bowl adfest from Coca-Cola and the leak of Coca-Cola’s top secret formula, almost seems calculated for maximum effect on the public’s psyche. But will this news actually lower consumption and hurt these giant brands? I doubt it. Scary stories about how our favorite foods are our worst enemies have become part of our culture (see Woody Allen’s 1973 film, Sleeper, for a contrarian view of a future where junk food has been discovered to be healthy).

As far as damage control, don’t expect anything overt from Coke or Pepsi. Whether the claims add up to a true health risk or just another study for the ages, the stroke and cancer claims do not create immediate telegenic victims with smoking gun perpetrators.

It continues to amaze me. Every morning when I get my daily Groupon—no matter what brand the deal is for—every offer sounds exactly the same. Even when the offer is upscale, like custom tailoring or fine dining, its description is written in nearly unintelligible dude-speak. There is no alignment between the marketing piece (the coupon) and the brand that is being offered.

Why are retailers big and small so willing to give up control of their brand? Especially to a company that doesn’t take their client’s brand images into consideration. Some would argue that these deep discounts are harmful to brands, training consumers to expect the kinds of deals that eat into a retailer’s margins. I think the strategy is sound, but it’s the message and tone that are off.

In light of the recent Groupon Super Bowl ad fiasco it seems that this callousness might run even deeper. I wouldn’t be surprised to see significant pullback from Groupon. At least until the company figures out how to present its clients in their best light.

In the midst of college football bowl game season, I’ve starting wondering: where in the world did college football fanaticism come from?!

Admittedly, I can get behind professional sport obsessions, football or otherwise. The Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Yankees–I get it. I understand these aren’t just teams. Without a shadow of doubt, they’re practiced, managed and well trained brands that inspire deep devotion, and near madness. These teams are associated with a city or state, but fan admiration supercedes the location. When grown men willingly paint their chests, wear outrageous head gear (Viking hat, cheesehead or beer helmet, anyone?) and scream at nine-year-old children rooting for the opposing team, your brand has obviously left the earthly realm and exists in our minds in a mythical landscape.

But, what about those institutions closely associated with football? In the case of pro football, the state. In the case of college football, the university? Are colleges not brands?

Any given Saturday you can find me at the local Sam’s Club browsing the latest flat screen televisions or swooping down on the scratch and dent section like a turkey vulture. But what really keeps me coming back is not a deal on patio furniture or playground equipment. It’s the samples. One can enjoy a veritable feast, albeit in tiny portions, by browsing the bazaar of sample carts with friendly senior citizens pitching the latest dinner party delights and easy lunch solutions.

Sam’s customers, especially my children, know and love a trip to Sam’s for this experience. It certainly keeps me coming back and I even find myself thinking, “Can I get that at Sam’s?” just so I can hit the samples. Why does it work?

Multi-Sensory: Seeing is believing, but touching, smelling, tasting and enjoying are exponentially more powerful.

Value: Everyone loves something for nothing. The free stuff is only the surface level benefit. The bonus to the Sam’s brand is that customers give them credit for adding value to the time they spend in the store.

On-trend: Customers love brands that bring them the latest greatest products.

Anticipation: Any experience that customers look forward to and plan around is sure to build loyalty.

Other successful brands have leveraged the sampling model. iTunes provides a sample of every song it sells and retailers like Zappos have effectively enabled sampling through free shipping in both directions. However, poor strategy and execution can take a sampling program from a brand builder to a liability.

Sunday mornings usually find me sitting on the sofa with the Sunday paper, digging into my favorite section—the ads. While most people throw them away without even looking at them, I eagerly page through the paper with baited breath in search of ads and coupons. Seeing all the great deals is the motivation I need to start my weekend shopping.

Like most people, I clip out the coupons with good intention of using them, but usually end up forgetting them at home or in my purse. Nonetheless, I really like to see what’s new. While flipping through the coupons last Sunday, I was a bit surprised to see this Campbell’s Soup ad:

As soon as I spotted the phrase “Browse our 4 easy segments” I recognized the fingerprints of a brand manager—the word “segments” gave them away. Farther down the ad you see how they break out the segments into “healthy kids,” “classic favorites,” etc. This ad is a perfect example of how we understand our shopper, but it takes things too far.