Posted in Analysis, Brands, Stealth Operation on October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Blackwater, the notorious private army, contracted by the Bush administration to protect “high value” military personnel, and accused of numerous crimes against Iraqi civilians, has recently undertaken an extensive brand repositioning.
The corporate name itself, Blackwater, had become a public relations liability, a toxic asset if you will. The company spent more than a year in an [...]
Posted in Brands on October 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Farewell, brave effort. The last of Detroit’s idealism. A response to what people were asking for, both in a car that met their needs and in a car company that could restore American pride.
Different has a way of being whittled down to same.
I guess we’ll have to look to meet our needs, and our heroes, [...]
Posted in Brands on September 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A quick scroll to the bottom of the today’s AdFreak blog found me actually paying attention to a banner ad. As you can see from the adjacent image, Kleenex® Tissue has embarked on a polite campaign to protect the sanctity of their registered trademark name. The legal department over at Kimberly-Clark Corporation is apparently going [...]
Posted in Brands, Misguided Work, Profiles In Client Courage, Trends on August 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The headline says “Every Bottle Makes a Difference.” Ethos water, acquired by Starbucks in 2005 distributes .05¢ from each $1.80USD bottle sold ($.10 per unit in Canada) to fund clean water projects in under-developed areas. Although sales of Ethos water have raised over $4,000,000 for clean water efforts, and the marketing positioning suggests clearly that [...]
Posted in Brand Culture, Brands, tagged Amazon, Amazon acquires Zappos, Brand Culture, Culture, Zappos, Zappos Acquisition on July 22, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The recent announcement of Amazon acquiring Zappos certainly caught my eye as I have been following Zappos closely over the past year to further my understanding of what it takes to create enduring brand cultures. I have to admit the first thing that came to mind was that this acquisition was the beginning of the [...]
Posted in Brands, tagged Alice In Chains, Penske, Saturn on June 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here they come to snuff the Rooster.
Here come the Rooster.
Ah, Saturn. The victorious warrior steps out of the jungle, alive after all us civilians had nearly given up hope. Let Alice In Chains play loudly to celebrate the survival act of one smart, tough brand that had been stripped of its weapons and abandoned in [...]
Posted in Brands, tagged good customer experience, happy brand experience, JFK airport, Kennedy International Airport on May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So, imagine you’ve just had a bad customer experience with US Airlines and you’ve got four more hours to kill at JFK and the security person points out an electrical outlet and encourages you to move a comfortable chair across the room so you can use your laptop despite its low battery and suddenly you’re [...]
Posted in Brands, tagged Brand, Brand Culture, brand values on April 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just when I think maybe I don’t need magazines anymore, I find myself copying and handing out six different articles from AdAge alone today – and all from one issue. OK, I still need you, trades.
One of the most interesting articles announces that the recession hasn’t reduced the value of the top 100 brands, as [...]
Posted in Brands, tagged Brand Culture, GM, Newsweek, Saturn on April 8, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Finally! The tragical story of Saturn’s dastardly demise at the hands of GM is being told in the American pop press. Newsweek’s reciting of the tale (April 13, 2009 issue) will cause any reader to shed a tear – apart from perhaps the Japanese competition, who dodged a somewhat weakly-aimed bullet.
When Roger Smith announced Saturn, [...]
Posted in Brands, tagged Crispin, Golf, Kerri Martin, Rabbit, Volkswagen on March 27, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Ah, how sad. The bunny is dead. Volkswagen just announced that the car which originally had been the Rabbit, but then was redesigned and released as the Golf, but which, three years ago, was re-christened the Rabbit by Kerri Martin and her agency Crispin Porter Bogusky, is once again going to be known as the [...]
