Contact:
LDM (at) MerriamAssociates.com
(917) 596-8011
This blog has railed against the dishonesty behind doublespeak and the long-term damage such “cleverness” can do to the integrity of your brand (i.e. Toyota renaming a “recall” as a “special service campaign”). Using gobbledegook in your brand communications is less sinister, but it still inhibits clear, compelling communication and it definitely can bore your
Gobbledegook: Brand Doublespeak’s Extremely Boring Cousin Read More »
Burson-Marsteller released a study that claims 76% of blogs were off message. The brand message gap was found in more than 150 messages sent out by companies listed in the Financial Times Global 100 and discovered a large gap between the official brand messages and how they were reflected on blogs, in tweets, and on
Brand Message Gap in Blogs and in Social Media Read More »
Today’s Wall Street Journal Law Blog has an interesting article on naming laws and statutes. This is an area I have covered a time or two from a branding perspective. Naming anything is actually an act of persuasion–your name says something about your company, product or idea for a new law or policy. It’s no
Naming Is Persuading: The Commercial and Political Power of Brand Names Read More »
“Brands are how we sort out the cesspool.” This famous quote from Eric Schmidt, President of Google, gives us insight into the importance of brands and how Google uses brand names when determining what search results to offer in response to customer queries. How do you know a word is a brand? Google codes up
How Google Uses Brand Names for Search Results Read More »
Automotive News is reporting the Jeep Wagoneer brand will be back in car showrooms come January 13th. The Brand That Invented the SUV The brand pioneered the concept of the sport utility vehicle in 1965. Though it was discontinued in 1993, the brand still has its fans: “That was such an awesome rig!” enthuses one
Jeep Wagoneer: Old Brands Getting New Life Read More »
Wikipanic—it’s the new word for the latest marketing threat. What will happen to your brand if Wikileaks attacks it? As Mastercard, Paypal, Visa, and Bank of America are finding out, marketers need to be ready in advance of disaster, whether a plane crash, an oil well explosion or a wikileak/hacktivist attack. Companies can’t risk a
Brands: Fight WikiPanic By Being WikiReady Read More »
Brand disasters happen. And most of the time, brands recover with time. Toyota’s brand reputation is back as strong as ever. BP, if they can stop shooting themselves in the foot, should do likewise. The problem is that it takes plenty of time. Mea culpa doesn’t cut it. Your customer does not care how sorry
Un-Crashing Toyota’s Brand Reputation Read More »
Three years ago, Christmas shoppers were rocked by recalls of some of kids’ most beloved toys from most trusted brands. We talked to consumers about the Chinese toy recalls back then, but wondered, What is the long-term impact of those recalls on consumer opinion, brands, and “made in China?” We went out Christmas Eve to
Chinese Toy Recalls–Brand Impact Three Years Later Read More »
The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur has some interesting (if sometimes contradictory) observations, tips and advice for businesses and individuals in this post: Things Not to Do on Social Media Sites UPDATE: Since this post was written, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur site stopped publishing. The ten social media mistakes remain social media mistakes, but are now on
Things Not to Do on Social Media Sites Read More »
Microsoft brand failure rate is high. Analysts continue to criticize the once high-flying company and consider its prospects as cloud computing and competitive products dim the prospects for the company’s operating systems. A History of Microsoft Brand Failures Indeed, Microsoft has a long track record of failed brands. Here are a dozen examples: Vista: This
Microsoft Brand Failures: 12 Brand Mistakes with High Costs Read More »