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When a corporation uses slippery doublespeak, particularly for brands with trust trouble, they double down on the damage they do to their reputation. Brand Doublespeak Doesn’t Fool Anyone Who does Toyota think they are fooling when they try to paint the new recall of the Tundra as a “heads up” to dealers of a “special …
Toyota Brand Doublespeak: Spinning Possible Recall as “Special Service Campaign” Read More »
How are the recalls and bad headlines affecting the Toyota brand? In Context Opinion hit some parking lots to talk to everyday drivers to find out if the brand is in trouble. What we heard is that people still value the brand—some passionately. While some people are concerned about the way Toyota initially handled the …
In this web video how-to, Kayla Schwartz, speech and presentation coach, and media trainer, talks about the importance of what the audience will see in your video. Your setting matters. The environment of your talk enhances the message you are conveying. Pick a place that is relevant to your message. Similarly, the way you look …
Web Video How-To: Thinking About the Visual Presentation Read More »
Creating a great brand name means finding names that fit with products and that generate true and motivating associations. In politics, the opposite is more often true. Politicians of both parties seems particularly attracted to doublespeak. Take note of the new Democratic strategy of replacing the word “Reconciliation” with “Simple Majority”. What is behind the …
A Political Manuever by Any Other Name Would Smell as Rotten Read More »
With the growth of web video, more and more companies are considering adding video content to their Web sites and using web video in marketing. Beware of charging blindly forward without a good understanding of what works on the Web and how web video is different from video for television. TV vs. Web video: The …
When we think of brand names, we most often think of companies and products—but the U.S. military is also in the business of branding. The Pentagon has just announced the are renaming “Operation Iraqi Freedom” to be known as “Operation New Dawn.” The Obama administration states the new name will take effect starting September 1st …
Obama and the Pentagon in the Naming Business: Renaming Operation Iraqi Freedom Read More »
Fast growing, innovative companies can sometimes outgrow their brands. The CEO of Proxios discusses the rebranding and renaming process with Merriam Associates. “Our name became constraining,” said Frank Butler, CEO of Proxios, a fast-growing company using cloud computing technology to create affordable and reliable alternatives to traditional in-house information technology and phone systems. “Our old …
The Marketing Executives Networking Group, an national organization of top-level marketing professionals, has just released new study of top executives on marketing trends across industries and marketing disciplines. We spoke with Tom H. C. Anderson, founder and CEO of Anderson Analytics, the firm that conducted the study:
Funny brand names work. If you have a pet, you’ve surely dealt with your share of barf. In light of that, would you eagerly feed your dog or cat BARF brand pet food? Believe it or not, the company BARF World has made a business selling raw BARF to pet owners across the country. I’ve …
Unintentionally Funny Brand Names: BARF Pet Food Read More »
While buying a steam roller is very different from buying a can of soda, brand still matters. We talked to heavy equipment operators at work sites around the Chicago area to gather their opinions about construction and heavy equipment branding. How Do Heavy Equipment Brands Compare? Caterpillar and John Deere are the dominant brands. While …