How well does our system work? This is the numerical index to check our blogs from the last big recession.

If you face a competitive marketplace, read these blogs. We wrote them to help you make better decisions on segments, products, prices and costs based on the experience of companies in many competitive industries. Much of the world suffered a severe recession from 2008 to 2011. During that time, we wrote more than 270 blogs using publicly available information and our Strategystreet system to project what would happen in various companies and industries who were living in those hostile environments. In 2022, we updated each of these blogs to describe what later took place. You can use these updated blogs to see how the Strategystreet system works and how it can lead you to better decisions.

271-Benefits of Intense Competition: Lower Prices and Better Products

270-Does the Withdrawal of Capacity Help?

269-Failures in Reliability Lead to Share Loss

268-The Mobile Phone Industry and Customer Retention

267-A Likely End Game to Hostility

266-Nestlé’s Cost Reduction in the Coffee Business

265-Cable T.V. and Customer Retention

264-The Kindle with Special Offers…not your typical low-end product

263-Cable T.V. and Customer Retention

262-A Squeeze at the Top

261-Another Creative Pricing Scheme

260-The NYSE Stumble Offers a Lesson for All Leaders

259-Amazon’s Blockbuster Innovation

258-Whirlpool and Electrolux Blink

257-News Corp Responds to the Market for “Free”

256-The Long and Arduous Journey of the Airline Industry May be Reaching an End

255-The Advent of the F-Commerce Revolution

254-Cost Reduction by Redesigning the Product

253-The Japanese Pay the Price

252-But Can You Control Other Entrants?

251-Apple Gets Crossways with App Developers

250-Constrictions in Components Supply Support Higher Prices

249-Direct Edge – A Transformer Next Leader Product

248-The iPhone Versus the iPhone

247-The Price Can Go to Zero

246-Evolution of the Smart Phone Market

245-Best Buy in a Leader’s Trap

244-A Very Rare Form of Pricing

243-Google at Risk

242-Strangling the Goose

241-A Price Leader Market and Competitor

240-The Holiday Season: The Most Creative Pricing Season We Have

239-Sometimes Smaller is Better

238-Nokia Makes a Bet in the Smart Phone Market

237-Abercrombie – Recovering in a Falling Price Environment

236-A Fast Growing Market Begins Developing Reliability and Convenience Innovations

235-Costs – The Problem with Weak Constraints

234-I Guess it Takes Bankruptcy…

233-Green Shoots in Attitudes and Jobs

232-The ETF Arms Race

231-Vanguard vs. Fidelity

230-Previews of Coming Attractions in Public Services

229-Dominick’s Finds a Way to Reduce Price…Successfully

228-Microsoft Phone 7 – A Long Row to Hoe

227-The Fall of an Industry Leader – Part II

226-The Fall of an Industry Leader – Part 1

225-Market Share Volatility in a Fast Growing Market

224-How Hostility Starts

223-P&G Takes Off the Gloves

222-A Pricing Scheme Guaranteed to Fail

221-The Kindle as a Razor

220-Apple’s Future in Smart Phones – Part II

219-Apple’s Future in Smart Phones – Part I

218-Discounts – Much Greater Than Most Assume

217-Service Levels Go Up, Not Down, in Hostility

216-Pricing in the Dog Days of August

215-Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid…Oh, Never Mind

214-Reliability in the Purchase Decision

213-Reliability in High End Cars

212-The Decline of an Industry Leader

211-The Importance of Consistency in the Approach to Pricing

210-Pricing in Easy Industries

209-Situation Bad…About to Get Worse

208-Dis-Economies of Scale

207-What Happens When Giants Rumble?

206-Finding a Home for Orphaned Products

205-A Win on Both Price and Convenience

204-Here We Go Again

203-Defending the (Real) Low Cost Position

202-Mobile Hears Big Footsteps

201-How to Fail in a Market You Dominate

200-More Steel Capacity. Why?

199-No Red Letter Day for BlueStar

198-How to Become the Industry Leader

197-Can a High End Guy Hit the Mass Market?

196-What’s Missing in Internet Retailing

195-Always Low Prices Meets Lower Prices

194-Coming Back from the Dead

193-Convenience and Reliability Innovations in a Fast Growing Market

192-Hey, We Got New Features

191-A Tale of Colorblindness

190-Who Are Those Guys?

189-Pricing Flexibility

188-Investment Turf Wars

187-Creating Economies of Scale in the Auto Industry

186-Using Finance to Reduce a Price

185-A Low-End Competitor with Low Industry Costs

184-New Capacity in a Shrinking Market

183-Recycling of Capacity in a Tough Market

182-Winning and Failing in a Marketplace

181-The Math Still Works

180-Yep, Those Germans are the Problem

179-Another Quieter Challenge from Below

178-Meeting a Challenge from Below

177-Wal-Mart and the Customer Buying Hierarchy

176-Reliability in Tough Markets

175-An Update on Cutting Capacity to Raise Prices

174-The Pre Looks to Go Post

173-Pricing Myths

172-The Price Advantage of Reliability

171-To Bundle or Not to Bundle, That is the Question

170-Impressive Results from a Change in Pricing Strategy

169-Retailers as the Source of Creativity

168-Look Out Below

167-Can the Small Survive?

166-Hit Them on Both Sides of the Head

165-The Ostrich Syndrome

164-Acquisitions to Gain Product Capability

163-Price Increases in a Recession

162-A Pyrrhic Victory?

161-A Concentrated Industry

160-Is The Mojo Coming Back?

159-Make Them Wait

158-Divorce that Customer?

157-Paying Attention to Low-End Competitors

156-One Up, One Down, One Sideways

155-Fewer Customers? Cut Capacity

154-The Wrong Customer

153-Let Someone Else Pay the Freight

152-Microsoft is Leaving Money on the Table

151-Fish or Fowl?

150-Digits Save Lives…and Costs by Improving Effectiveness

149-Digits Save Lives…and Costs by Improving Efficiency

148-The Basis of Charge

147-A Lay-up for Lay-away

146-The Challenge of a Small Competitor Part 2

145-The Challenge of a Small Competitor-Part 1

144-The NFL Starts to Play Defense

143-The Tables Have Turned

142-Hostility’s End Game

141-You Mean I Have to Pay for This?

140-From Cheap to Chic

139-Clever Pricing from Toys R Us

138-As Small as a Man’s Hand

137-Slowing Up Hulu?

136-The China Plan for Purchases

135-Membership Privileges

134-The eBook Competition

133-Sony in the Game Business

132-Couponing and Price Leaders

131-Nokia Scores…and Fumbles

130-Pricing Confusion and Its Aftermath

129-Spread Fixed Cost Activities Over More Sales Volume to Reduce Costs

128-Reducing Costs by Redesigning Products and Processes

127-Reducing Costs by Eliminating Non-Productive Input

126-Reducing Costs by Paying a Lower Rate for Your Inputs

125-A Fast-Growing Market Under Attack from Below

124-Industry Contraction Exposes Potential Low Price Points

123-Delivering More by Offering Less

122-Two Companies Who Perform Well in Good or Bad Markets

121-Microsoft Gets Price Warnings from Competitors

120-Microsoft Gets Price Warning from its Customers

119-Rising Prices in the Face of Falling Demand

118-Industry Evolution Forces Cost Management

117-Two Pathways to Low Cost

116-Health Care Costs – Our Future

115-New Product in a Fast Growing Industry: Verizon in Cloud Computing

114-New Product in a Fast Growing Industry: Bing

113-New Product in a Fast Growing Industry: The Pre

112-Apple Flanks its Phone Market

111-How ‘Bout We Throttle This Golden Goose?

110-Competing Against Low-End Competition

109-Another High Growth Industry Comes Under Assault

108-High Growth and Falling Profits

107-The Power of Low-End Products for Industry Leaders

106-This Leader’s Trap Comes to a Quick End

105-Future Trouble for the Branded Foods Industry

104-Punch and Counterpunch in the Online Airline Industry

103-Variable Pricing to Shift Demand and Increase Revenues

102-Saving Jobs by Outsourcing

101-Product Innovation Using Twitter and Tweetups – Part 2

100-Product Innovation Using Twitter and Tweetups – Part 1

99-Big Cost Differences in an Industry – Part 2

98-Big Cost Differences in an Industry – Part 1

97-The End of This Story is Predictable

96-Just when they thought it was safe…

95-Price Leader Expansion Under Standard Leader Umbrella

94-Pricing Against a High-End Product

93-The Exceptional Growth of a Price Leader Product

92-Cisco’s New Server Product

91-The End of a Local Leader’s Trap

90-Pricing in Highly Competitive Marketplaces

89-Function Innovation in a Service Industry

88-An Answer for Pizza Problems?

87-The Flexibility of a Great Retailer

86-GM’s China Problem

85-Creative Price Reductions to Gain Share

84-Slowing a Price Decline with a Low-Priced Product

83-Consolidation as Growth Slows

82-Did Amazon Leave Money on the Table?

81-Reducing the Customer’s Hassle Factor??

80-Price Increases at the Time of a Sales Decline

79-A High End Retailer in a Leader’s Trap

78-National Costs in a Global Economy

77-Layoffs, Expectations and the Economy

76-An Industry Leader Stumbles

Costs Blogs

Pricing Blogs

Products & Services Blogs

Segmentation Blogs

75-Growth Rates That Count

Archive by Subject

74-Pricing Taken Too Far

73-“Illogical” Pricing

72-Why Overcapacity Often Gets Worse

71-Price Competition in a Falling Price Environment

70-The Causes and Symptoms of Overcapacity

69-Industry Capacity Expansion Despite Overcapacity

68-Killing the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

67-The New Schwab Credit Card and What it Tells Us

66-Blockbuster vs. Netflix…Again

65-Cost Standards Come to the Service Industry

64-The Good News and the Bad News of Reliability in Product Innovation

63-Market Share at the Low End of the Market

62-Masters of the Cost Cutting Universe

61-Nike Builds Brand Loyalty

60-The Two Best Consultants in the World Warn the Associated Press

59-Nearing End Game for the Domestic Auto Industry

58-A Win Win Cost Reduction/Performance Innovation in the Cell Phone Industry

57-Standard Leader Expands in Tough Market and Uses Price

56-Evolution of Markets: Patterns in Steel, Autos and Airframe Industries

55-A Standard Leader Blocks the Price Leader Competitor

54-Good Market Share. Fast Growth. No Profits. Why?

53-Avoiding Wastage of Resources

52-Price Leaders Against Standard Leaders in Troubled Times

51-Nokia in a Leader’s Trap

50-The Future of Starbucks

49-Commodity Pricing

48-Pricing in a Profitable Market

47-A Price Leader Enters the Performance Leader Market

46-Union Negotiations During Good Times

45-GM Goes for Help with its Used Cars

44-Reliability Measures: The Good News and The Bad News

43-Schlitz, Lessons From the Past

42-Will a Partial Silver Strategy Work for United?

41-How the High End Company is Vulnerable

40-Consolidation in the Waste Industry

39-GM in a No Win Position

38-Economies of Scale at Work…And Not

37-The Fate of Price Point Specialists in Hostility

36-International vs. U.S. Growth

35-Cost in Two Hostile Industries

34-Value in Two Hostile Industries

33-Capacity Reduction to Raise Prices

32-Pricing in airline industry – Part 2

31-Pricing in today’s airline industry – Part1

30-A Silver Competitor Follows the Wrong Strategy

29-Industry Leader Preempts the Low End of the Market

28-Dell Slips at the High End

27-RV Market in Hostility

26-HP/EDS Combination: The Conclusion

25-HP and EDS: The Cost Case

24-HP and EDS: The Customer Case

23-HP and EDS: The Product Case

22-Microsoft Office Versus Google Apps

21-Lagging Badly Pedaling Downhill

20-Discounters at the High End

19-The Brand is Worth More than the Land

18-The Picture of a Predator

17-Low-End Competitor Exposes Fundamental Strategic Errors of the Leaders

16-Allstate’s Innovative Pricing

15-Low-End Competitor May Not Stay at the Low End

14-Garmin Tail Wags the Dog

13-Toyota’s Good News/Bad News Story

12-Google versus Microsoft in the Office

11-Reality Strikes Discount Air Carriers

10-The Company Did Not Get an Invitation

9-Postponing the Real Clash

8-What Do We Really Believe?

7-The Failure Behind Progress

6-There is a new (rich) sucker born every minute…

5-Debt Crisis: Worse Than Some Commentators Tell Us

4-Patterns of Cost Reduction

3-Southwest: Joining the legacy airlines?

2-Sprint Nextel’s Stumble

1-GM and Sears…slip sliding away