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The potential break up of Fortune Brands will unlock tremendous brand value. The brands in this company’s portfolio have little relationship with the parent company or each other; they simply happen to be owned by a single holding company. Fortune Brands today is a prime example of how a poor brand architecture strategy actively diminishes …
Forget product placement–think parade placement. A week after the real Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Central Park West closed down for a Hollywood version of the event, complete with floats, Macy’s balloons and the Macy’s marching band. The Macy’s December 4th and 5th Parade was staged for a movie staring Matthew Broderick, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, …
Product Placement Makes Macy’s a Star in Tower Heist Read More »
The days when Madmen sipped and smoked their way up and down Madison Avenue are long gone, but some dead brands of that era (and others) are going on sale December 8th at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. A new breed of madmen have collected and will sell 150 brands from yesteryear. UPDATE: The …
Today on Mashable.com, customer engagement expert Matthew Latkiewicz writes about new social web online marketing trends. He notes that early marketing efforts in new media were really attempts to apply broadcast and print advertising techniques to this new world. But new thinkers are exploring new ways to communicate. This article, which quotes Merriam Associates, reviews …
A brand license deal grew a $50 million a year business into a $500 million a year business for Kraft and Starbucks. But problems with the business deal between the two companies threaten to cost billions and destroy a notable brand success. Talk about clouds in the coffee. In 1998, Starbucks and Kraft struck a …
Starbucks Brews Trouble Over Brand License with Kraft Read More »
We went out into the rainy, dark, early morning hours of Black Friday, November 26, 2010 to take the pulse of holiday shoppers. Despite the continuing recession, we found a spirit of enthusiasm, a hunger for brands, and a nose for bargains. Here’s what bargain hunting consumers had to say while out holiday shopping very, …
A Dark and Stormy Black Friday = Bright Times for Brands Read More »
My daughter and I slipped out to meet a friend for coffee Thanksgiving morning. Serendipitously and inexplicably we ended up lost in the press section of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Talk about a wrong turn that turned out alright. I took the opportunity to survey some of the parade brands: Congratulations to GM. The …
The blogosphere is up in arms that the Facebook brand may own the word “Face.” The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office issued Facebook a Notice of Allowance, granting them a trademark on the word “Face”. Trademarking of common English words is actually rather common. The USPTO generally grants trademarks on common words used in uncommon …
Trademarking Face: Facebook Brand Might Own the Word Read More »
Caterpillar is buying mining equipment giant Bucyrus International and keeping that brand name. While unknown and even strange-sounding to the average person, Bucyrus is a storied brand name in the heavy equipment industry. In my post of a few weeks ago, I discussed the naming options companies have in mergers and acquisitions. Though Caterpillar is …
Caterpillar’s New Legs—Acquiring the Bucyrus International Brand Read More »
General Motors has done more than reorganize its finances. GM has turned its brand architecture upside down. Reorganized Brand Architecture Roll Out Trimming nameplates like Pontiac, Saab, and Hummer from its stable of brands was just one aspect. Beginning in August of last year, the GM “chicklet” logo has been quietly disappearing. It is no …
General Motors: A Reorganized Brand Architecture for a Reorganized Company Read More »