Favorite Posts from 2008

2008 marked my fifth year of blogging on Brand Autopsy. (Yikes.) I didn’t cover as much territory this year on the blog as in year’s past. I’m sure some of my @BrandAutopsy Twitterings would have been full-blown posts in previous years.

That said, I still have some favorite posts from 2008…

(You can also read my favorite posts from 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.)

The Would You Miss Series
I continued to be amazed by the passionate comments about the businesses included in the Would You Miss series. The question is simple, “If __insert company__ went out of business tomorrow, would anyone care?” Your answers are anything but simple, they are fascinating.

In 2008, you answered this question for Dairy Queen, Crate & Barrel, Dunder Mifflin, BusinessWeek, UPS, Pizza Hut, Walgreens, Advertising Age, World Market, and Cheesecake Factory.

Musings about Starbucks Coffee
A recurring topic on Brand Autopsy is the dissection of all things Starbucks-related. 2008 was the year Starbucks hit the wall. After 37-years, the company stopped growing and began pruning. As such, there was much to talk about Starbucks-wise this year.

We analyzed their Transformation Agenda … chided them for testing a $1.00 cup of brewed coffee … praised them for this genuine video … better focused their “My Starbucks Idea” … diagnosed them with Brand Amnesia … pinpointed poor marketing … pinpointed proper marketing.

Other Stuff
From failure commandments to success demandments. From barbeque to piano concerts. From Drucker to Godin. From Apple to WOM. From discussions of head or heart to the makings of a strong brand.

It’s been another interesting year.

Thanks for riding shotgun.