Peet's--Savor the Flavor

Dan Charoenrath, Store Manager at Peet's Coffee and Tea in Thousand Oaks, CA, gave a very  interesting and enlightening "guest lecture" in my Principles of Marketing class today. The charismatic and charming Peet's leader did a superb job of engaging the management and communications majors in my class.

Using a variety of personal examples, Dan underscored the major reasons for the retail roaster's success including the importance of wise selection of the best people available, the freshness of the coffee and tea and the power of the Peet's brand including display expertise and signage.

Under Dan's leadership, the partnership between Peet's and CLU has grown substantially in the past couple of years, one of the most recent, sterling examples of "town-gown" relations we began in earnest while I was the university's first vice president of marketing and communications beginning in the 2002-2003 academic year.

Students benefit significantly when thoughtful business leaders volunteer their time in the classroom sharing their successes and failures. "Hats off" to Peet's and Dan Charoenrath for this lively, productive exchange.

I Hate To Say I Told You So...but

Earlier this year, Strategic Health Care Marketing published an article I wrote about branding the merger of two excellent health care organizations--Indiana University (IU) Medical Center ( comprised of Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Hospital for Children and Indiana University Hospital)--and Methodist Hospital.  Based on substantial market information gathered from key "publics" across the Hoosier state at the time, the Medical Center Relations team I headed had strongly recommended that the newly merged organization be called IU Health.  The named that was selected, however, was a "made-up" appellation called Clarian Health.

Now, a decade later, the leadership has decided to revert to the name my team and I had originally recommended; hence, the title of this blog posting.  I've never been one to say "I told you so" but in this case had the name we suggested been adopted, several million dollars would have been used where the needs were much greater.  That said, I still believe in this organization and am proud to have served as the chief marketing, public relations and business development officer for IU Medical Center for nine years.

I hope you enjoy reading this article.  Please feel free to contact me at ritcheich@gmail.com if I can assist you.