Thought Balloon

For those who still don’t think the Internet is a winner takes all ecosystem, David Solomon suggests you look at Amazon, Or Zappos. Or Newegg.

As he noted at last week’s New England Mail Order Association conference in Boston, Internet Retailer reports that the top 500 sites account for a whopping 69.1% of all online sales. And the top 100 dominate 55.3% of retail.

Now, that doesn’t mean everyone else should roll up their virtual sidewalks and weep quietly, said Solomon, head of the specialty retail and direct marketing group at Lazard Asset Management. But you do need to be a smart marketer.

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So, do you “reek” your brand?

That’s the goal of Vineyard Vines, a purveyor of Martha’s Vineyard-styled clothing and goods.

The company’s founders, brothers Ian and Shep Murray, spoke at the New England Mail Order Association’s annual conference here in Boston today about their philosophy of building a “lifestyle” brand.

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Nah. Not really.

If you have a TV, you likely know that’s the punch line to a very funny commercial for Old Spice.

Well, I think it’s hilarious. My husband thinks its just kind of dopey. That’s the thing about humor. Not everyone’s funny bone flexes in the same way.

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Full disclaimer here: Lego really doesn’t need to do anything else to build brand loyalty in our house. I have two little boys, and Santa brought a lot of Legos down our chimney at Christmas. My husband grew up loving Lego, and has a flair for building just about anything the kids request (I’m rubbish at Legos but I get the appeal.)

I’m guessing a lot of Lego’s customer base is in the same situation. But that doesn’t mean the toy maker isn’t trying to make those relationships stronger.

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We’re four days away from Christmas, so you’ll be forgiven if you think the biggest controversy in the toy box is the scarcity of Zhu Zhu Pets.

Earlier this year, Mattel subsidiary American Girl has introduced a new doll this season named “Gwen.” And yes, like all the AG gals, you can take her for tea parties and to get her hair done and whatever else you do with American Girls.

But Gwen differs from her plastic sisters in a very important way: Her character is homeless, which has stirred up a bit of attention, to say the least.

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A few months back, my colleague Ken Magill wrote about a mailing he received for the Visa Black Card.

My husband received that mailing too, and like Ken, we thought it was fairly ludicrous.

I always thought that the color of money was green. But judging by the Black Card and two other mailings we recently received, there are apparently many other hues.

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