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Today, truthful brands who speak the truth are a necessity. Rance Crain has an interesting post in Advertising Age: “Back in the Mad Men days, when the “pioneers of advertising,” as my old boss Stan Cohen calls them, ruled the roost, it was commonly held that a little exaggeration was not unreasonable to accentuate the …
People say they want green—but that doesn’t mean they buy green brands. It’s the same for green cars as it is for green vegetables. Rasmussen reports 27% of U.S. adults expect to buy an electric car in the next ten years, but recently released sales figures show car buyers are shunning the electric Nissan Leaf …
Green Brands: Consumers Like the Concept But Don’t Buy Read More »
Behavioral archetypes can help companies that struggle with what to say to potential customers and consumers. Too often, they fall back on a recitation of facts and claims: We are the leading… For over 40 years, we have been… Drawing on deep industry expertise, we… Headquartered in New York City, we are the… Messages like …
Talking to Your Customer: Leo Burnett’s Behavioral Archetypes Read More »
Brand investments are smart spending when done right. The March 2011 issue of Success magazine features the article “Spend Your Way to Prosperity,” with recommendations for the best initial investments entrepreneurs should make. The article includes a quote from Merriam Associates on spending money upfront to protect your brand with a trademark and by owning …
Merriam Associates in Success Magazine: Brand Investments Read More »
Guest blog post on how the corporate spin-off trend is creating a brand mess trend: http://www.business2community.com/branding/sara-lee-spins-off-with-right-approach-to-brand-names-011989#RezuKq1c3erEiXMQ.97 The Motley Fool is calling 2011 “The Year of the Spin-Off.” Splitting up companies for financial reasons is a great way to unlock shareholder value, but companies can make a mess of their brands if they are not careful. …
Branding Corporate Spin-Offs Causing Brand Spin-Outs Read More »
The media universe is in a tizzy (and a-Twitter) about AOL’s acquisition of the Huffington Post. The Wall Street Journal interviews top media buyers who are worried that the liberal voice will hurt the AOL brand. The problem is that AOL doesn’t really have much of a brand. The company’s move away from an “access” …
Huffington Post Won’t Hurt AOL Brand; Then Again AOL Isn’t Much of a Brand Read More »
Anyone watching a minute or two of the Super Bowl knows how important brands are in the beer category. Yet some retailers are trying the generic beer brands angle again. In the 1970’s retailers tried plain white cans emblazoned with the word “BEER”. Thirty years later, they are taking a slightly more sophisticated approach to …
Beer is Brand Driven–Can Generic Beer Brands Brew Up Sales? Read More »
High end retail is changing. As part of a presentation to the International Retail Design Conference “A New Age of Luxury Retailing,” we talked to luxury shoppers on New York’s Madison Avenue and to former LMVH executive Philippe Soussand about brand expectations and design. The key trends: Luxury design and luxury products are becoming more …
A New Age of Luxury Retailing: Brand Expectations Read More »
Gawker.com fans were in full rebellion over the Gawker brand redesign. Some threatened to never visit the site again. The Twittering class hated Gawker’s redesign launched February 7th. On February 9th, that all changed. Gawker.com broke the story of the “classy” Congressman showing off his flabby torso and traffic boomed. Consumers pretty much always hate …
We’ve covered political brands and the subject of brands who are people or with value closely tied to a real person, but today, the web site Mediaite has broken the story of the trademarking of the Sarah Palin brand. Pretty soon, that “R” next to her name won’t mean “Republican,” but “Registered Trademark.” It’s not …