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MARKETING Kay Millar: Marketing should focus on benefits to customers

MARKETING Kay Millar Marketing should focus on benefits to customers The terms in the marketing communications field have become so interchangeable-not to mention misused and i l l – d e fi n e d – w e could spend a university semester sorting out the words and their usage. At least twice a week, we’re presented with questions about the difference between a brand and a positioning statement, or imaging vs. branding, or slogan vs. tagline, or marketing vs….

Firearm advocates take aim at employers’ restrictions

Legislators in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly are gearing up for a gunfight with high-caliber business
implications. On one side are employees who prefer to pack heat during their commute. On the other are executives who see
guns as a liability nightmare–even if they’re locked in cars parked outside.

Landing the young gains importance: How is a city to please 25- to 34-year-olds?

College-educated young adults should consider themselves lucky-everybody wants them. Cities nationwide are bending over backward trying to figure out what hip amenities will attract “the young and the restless.” Arts organizations are looking for ways to get them to performances. Even newspapers are getting into the act, launching specialty publications aimed directly at them. Why so much love? Time’s ticking. Baby boomers are getting older, and someone has to take their place as employees, taxpayers, arts patrons and news readers….

New Nordstrom an obstacle for fragile downtown mall

When Nordstrom in 1992 signed its lease to open in Circle Centre, mall developers extracted an unusual commitment. The Seattle company agreed not to open another Indianapolis-area store for at least five years. So when Nordstrom last month announced it will launch a second location here, in The Fashion Mall at Keystone, it caught the attention of Herman Renfro, a former Simon Property Group Inc. development executive who oversaw Circle Centre.

NOTIONS: 2006 years later and still no room at the inn

I’ve sat through my share of seminars, sermons and speeches. I’ve heard all the shoulds, coulds, oughtas, haftas and gottas offered up by well-meaning teachers, preachers and other pontificators. And while I’ve tried to heed more of their wisdom than I’ve blown off, much of the blah-blah has gone in one hearing aid and out the other. You can chalk that up to dry delivery, other matters on my mind, lack of relevance or information overload. Whatever the case, the…

BULLS & BEARS: Alternative investments don’t live up to the hype

Alternative investing is all the rage, as I noted in my last column. As an individual investor, you might feel that the dealings of hedge funds, private equity and venture capital don’t apply to your portfolio. Yet, when there is such a sea change taking place in the investment landscape, it is important to try to understand why it is happening and whether it makes sense, because the ripple effects can reach you. Hedge fund is an all-encompassing term that…

Randy’s Toy Shop breathes life into ailing play things

Randy Ibey, owner of Randy’s Toy Shop in Noblesville, is legendary among antique toy collectors and dealers worldwide. Ibey
can fix more kinds of toys than an elf in Santa's workshop–from a German tin soldier created in the 1850s to a remote-control
Pluto made a century later.

Stadium walkway carries $10M tab

An enclosed connector is set to be built, partly underground, that will link Lucas Oil Stadium to the soon-to-be expanded
Indiana Convention Center. It will span about a quarter of a mile and cost more than $10 million.

FUNNY BUSINESS: Holiday favorites-and not-so-favorites-liven up work

On the first day of Christmas, the workplace brought to me: One allegedly funny memo written in the style of Clement Clarke Moore: “‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through Accounts Receivable, not a creature was stirring, isn’t that unbelievable?” It goes on like this for 27 stanzas, representing at least four hours of someone’s workweek. On the second day of Christmas, the workplace brought to me: Two half-gallon cartons of eggnog for the kitchenette refrigerator, where they will…

SPORTS: Even a Knight detractor can find reasons to miss him

I have a close friend with whom I can discuss amicably any subject under the sun. Except one: Bob Knight. My pal considers the hiring of Knight one of the greatest deeds in the history of Indiana University, and the firing of Knight one of its worst. He believes former IU President Myles Brand is the devil and former Athletic Director Clarence Doninger was an incompetent boob. My friend traces virtually all of IU’s athletic and academic shortcomings to that…

‘Old fashioned’ values manufacture Motionwear’s growth: Acquisition should fuel leotard-maker’s expansion

It might seem as though the low cost of labor overseas has shifted the entire U.S. textile industry to Asia, never to return. Indianapolis-based leotard-maker Motionwear Inc. proves otherwise. The 120-employee company was acquired this month by the Italian sportswear firm FILA for an undisclosed sum and, as a result, it’s poised to expand locally. Tom Wilson started the company in his attic in 1988 because his daughter Erin, an aspiring dancer, couldn’t find performance apparel she liked in retail…

INVESTING: Market’s malaise provides opportunity to look ahead

The stock market is experiencing a bout of hemming and hawing (that’s a savvy Wall Street term) that easily could last the rest of this year. I highlighted this potential weakness, especially in the tech sector, a few weeks ago. I am using this time out to rehash some of the battles of 2006 and, more important, get ready to position for 2007. Stay with me and see how we’re going to make 2007 pay off for us, big time….

Luxury Conrad hotel off to bumpy start

For its first nine months, occupancy at the Conrad Indianapolis has lagged the downtown average. Rates have fallen as the
hotel tries to fill more rooms. Employees have worked behind the scenes to fix kinks.

Courting continues between Clarian, Morgan: Both sides look to build on months-old agreement

A working relationship Clarian Health Partners started in March with Morgan Hospital & Medical Center might evolve into something much bigger in the new year. Representatives of both systems say they want to strengthen their regional development agreement, and they count an acquisition of the county-owned hospital by Clarian-the largest hospital system in the state-as one of many possibilities they might examine. “I think both sides have considered a number of options from clinical affiliations to consolidation,” Clarian spokesman Jon…

TAWN PARENT Commentary: Have you noticed Indiana’s new face?

When I stop and think about my own life, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched. I went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant near my office last week, and most of the people in line were Indian. Driving through my formerly whitebread neighborhood, I see buildings painted in bold yellows and reds with signs saying, “Tienda Morelos,” “Supermercado” and “Estetica Latina.” My son’s elementary school celebrates Chinese New Year with a big parade and lessons about eating with chopsticks and keeping…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Amid carnage, state still a force in manufacturing

What puts Indiana on the map in the world’s eyes? From an image point of view, it might be race cars, basketball or even David Letterman. But in terms of economic footprint, it is our manufactured products and our goods-making and goods-moving expertise that stand out. We are a world-class manufacturer of everything from rolled steel to artificial limbs, and we employ more people and produce more output in manufacturing, proportionately speaking, than any other state in the nation. If…

Cities losing cable power

In the last several weeks, cable TV operator Comcast has sent out 26 “Dear John” letters to Indianapolis and other metro-area
cities, informing them it has dumped its local cable franchise agreements and gotten hitched to a single, statewide video
franchise.

EYE ON THE PIE: A private eye looks at privatization

I was sitting with my back to the door, watching the deer consume urban gardens, when she entered. “Mr. Marcus?” she asked, in a voice that suggested the lower range of a clarinet. “Yes,” I replied, swiveling in my swivel chair. “You don’t know me,” she said. “My name is Arlene Amour.” “I can understand that,” I said, examining her with my eyes as would an eagle swirling over his prey. I liked what I saw. “I want you to…

VIEWPOINT: The Commerce Connector in perspective

As one who navigates the tangle of roads at interstates 69 and 465 frequently, my first reaction to the proposed Indiana Commerce Connector was positive-anything to relieve that mess. Looking at a map and considering, for example, a more direct connection between inter states 69 and 70 east of the city seems to make perfect sense. There are many questions to be answered, however, before the state should make a commitment to it. In considering such a major project, it…