BNN - The Week Ahead: What's cooking at Tim's?
Business News Network
Before the peak of the credit crisis, before the economic gloom and doom became the top story night after night on the news, before Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney warned of sluggish growth that will put Canada on the edge of a recession, the brain trust at Tim Hortons was already bracing itself.

BNN – Stars and Dogs
Business News Network
Boeing and its competitor can be called the essential industry. They’re almost a utility in the sense that they can’t be replaced, they’re too big to be replaced, and the global economy grinds to a halt without them.

BNN’s The Street
Business News Network
Lululemon Athletica is a very young company with an excellent strategy and strong operations that has a plan for growth, is executing its plan for growth in an incredibly uncertain marketplace and the Street just overreacts at every opportunity.

Trading Day
Business News Network
Sears Canada is thinking about bringing back Eaton’s. The retailer may re-introduce the famous brand this fall through a catalogue business. There’s even a chance you might once again walk through an Eaton’s department store.

Loblaw's Executive Shake-up
Business News Network
They have rearranged the executive furniture at Loblaw. President Mark Foote is gone, the CFO Bill Wells has left to become the new CEO at Biovail and another key executive at the troubled grocery chain has departed as well. The new president is Allan Leighton, a confidant of the Weston family.

After Hours with Andrew Bell
Business News Network
What’s keeping Nike on top? Rick Wolfe speaks with Andrew Bell.

BNN Examines Whether Lululemon Will Be Able to Survive a U.S. Recession
In the event of a U.S. recession is Lululemon safe? BNN studies whether the company can withstand a worst-case economic scenario south of the border.

BNN Takes a Close Look at What Home Depot and Wal-Mart are Doing to Pull in More Consumers in the All Important Holiday Season
How are top retailers planning to get customers in the door this Christmas? BNN takes a close look at what Home Depot and Wal-Mart are doing to pull in more consumers in the all important holiday season.

Power Shift
Rick Wolfe says executives are waking up and realizing that "if it makes sense for the customer, then do it." The best path to making sense is getting inside the consumer's life. "Live with them, get to know them and understand what they are about."

Loblaw's Weston Plans to Improve Offerings, Service
Loblaw Cos. Executive Chairman Galen G. Weston looks to improve the company's food offerings and boost service as he tries to turn around Canada's biggest supermarket chain.

Stars & Dogs with Kim Parlee and Andrew Bell: Tesco's British Invasion
A hedgehog, the old story goes, is a creature that has only one idea, but it is a very big idea. Tesco is a company that has grown around the world. It absolutely dominates the UK grocery market and in fact the UK overall with one in eight retail dollars. And it does this with an obsessive focus on the customer.

Loblaws Cautiously Opens Two New Joe Fresh Stores
Loblaw Companies is opening two new Joe Fresh Style locations in downtown Toronto. "Putting in two more stores sounds like a very cautious way of moving when you consider the number of stores there are in the total Loblaws network," says Rick Wolfe.

George, Joe in Fashion Fight
As Loblaw Cos. Ltd. pushes into Ontario's general-merchandise market in a bigger way and Wal-mart Canada Ltd. prepares to add fresh food to the aisles this fall, one of the battlegrounds will be fashion: not just any fashion, but high fashion at low prices.

The Trading Desk with Pat Bolland: Consumer Products Earnings Bonanza
Some call it customer-centricity, some call it customer experience, but it’s a whole new and more intense focus on the customer. And in the case of a retailer like Best Buy, a superior ability to deliver something powerful based on that focus.

The Trading Desk with Pat Bolland: Wal-Mart Lowers Forecast
Wal-Mart lowered its guidance today amid December same store sales that missed Wall Street expectations. Wal-Mart shares might be the next thing to be hit, selling at a lower price.

The Trading Desk with Pat Bolland: Black Friday Evolves Into Cyber Monday
According to the American retail federation, Americans spent close to $28 billion this weekend in retail circles out there. At least one analyst has compared the thanksgiving holiday weekend to war. Today that battle spills into Cyberspace in what is now known as Cyber Monday.

Smart Giving Pays Off
The topic [of corporate social responsibility] is endlessly complex. It’s ideal to have a sustainable strategy, but what happens when tragedies like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the tsunami in Southeast Asia occur? How does a marketer leverage its activities without looking opportunistic? Angela Kryhul wrote in Marketing Magazine about what she learned “At the Table” where marketers were gathered to talk about CSR.

Strategy/Decima Poll: Agency Execs Now Less Trusted Than Lawyers
Canadians now trust advertising agency executives less than lawyers, accountants and bankers, according to the most recent Strategy/Decima poll. In fact, almost 40% of Canadians say their trust in ad agencies has decreased somewhat or a lot in light of the recent federal sponsorship scandal.

Marketers Keep it Real
Putting a “human face” to a company in a campaign does not buy instant believability. Like all advertising, whether it features customers, employees or actors, the company and brand have to live up to the messages inherent in a campaign.

Global Advertising Isn't Always the Best Strategy - Product Category Should Be Key Factor in Decision
"Unless results of global campaigns are fantastic, there is going to be constant pressure from local marketers to tailor advertising for the unique needs of their marketplace." Rick Wolfe to Patti Summerfield of Strategy Magazine, as she looks at global advertising strategy.

Getting Past the Money
The pressure on advertising clients to take more accountability for the business results achieved by advertising has, in turn, put new pressure on advertising agencies. Stan Sutter, Editor of Marketing Magazine, reports on a presentation by Alan Middleton, Rick Wolfe and Alan Kay to advertising agency executives on their ACA best practice study on Payment by Results.