The F Word: Don't F with freedom of speech. It's more American than apple pie. But it's fashionable to FCUK with French Connection UK. They're British, and they have a spectacular website for a very provocative brand.
Posted by
abnu on Wednesday, July 30, 2003 @ 6:51 PM
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Eskimo Pie Chart: Increasing its share of the frozen dessert market, Canadian-based CoolBrands International just gobbled up Americana Foods to become the third largest ice cream maker in the United States.
The name CoolBrands might not be top of mind with ice cream lovers, but these cool brands certainly are: Eskimo Pie, Bresler's, Swensen's, Welch's Fruit Juice Bars, Tropicana Fruit Bars, Chipwich, Yoplait Frozen Yogurt Bars, Yogen Fruz, PEZ Pops, Trix Pops, Great American Chilly Pops, YooHoo and more, in a variety of corporate ownerships, distribution businesses, licensing arrangements and other sweet deals.
If you're looking for healthy desserts, or are on an ice cream diet, they've got Betty Crocker Ice Cream Rolls & Healthy Temptations and Weight Watchers Smart Ones English Toffee Crunch.
Posted by
abnu on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 @ 12:17 AM
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In Dog We Trust: A dog has been offered a gold credit card with a £10,000 limit.
The Royal Bank of Scotland sent an application form to Raymond Slater's pet Shih Tzu, Monty, with the chance to earn air miles.
"We bought the name from a list broker and have no idea why Monty's details were provided. More...
Posted by
Michael Davey on Monday, July 28, 2003 @ 1:18 PM
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More Posh than Becks Now yer talking...pint of Becks please....
'Posh' is quite an interesting word. It is one of a handful of acronyms that have made it as fully-fledged words in the dictionary (along with radar, laser and yuppie to name but three).
'Posh' also reflects social history. In the days when Britain had an Empire, and before the invention of both aircraft and air-conditioning, the trip to visit one's Indian possessions involved a lengthy trip by sea. The comfortable way to travel involved ensuring your cabin got the pleasant morning sun rather than the fierce afternoon heat. Hence the need to travel out to India in a port-side cabin, and home in a starboard-side one.
This 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (or POSH) arrangement, was taken up by the more wealthy passengers. Hence 'posh' entered the dictionary as meaning stylish and wealthy....
.....or so the story goes. Chambers Dictionary guardedly says that 'there is no hard evidence for this' - but it would be a shame if it wasn't so.
(for the sake of clarity, this etymology is almost certainly no more than just a good story...but there are many other examples of this. How do you feel about the explanation that the origin of 'The whole nine yards' relates to the length of the gunbelts in a P-51 Mustang. If a pilot returned with no shells left in any of his gun belts, he was said to have given the enemy 'the whole nine yards'....? Or maybe not - take a look at http://www.9-yards.com/whole9.html
Posted by
chris on Friday, July 25, 2003 @ 1:36 AM
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Pub Knights: Snark just fired us unamericans an email suggesting we settle this over a pint. Do you think that's a fair go? It's on me.
Posted by
abnu on Thursday, July 24, 2003 @ 8:57 PM
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Oh, I don't know about "just how great a system it is to have your head of state unelected but without a shred of power instead of the opposite that most of the rest of the world has chosen to suffer." After all, us yanks have an unelected head of state too (though the power balance here is rather different).
I guess what I take away from this little public spat is that Brits and Canucks are obsessed with the Spice Girls and continue to get football confused with soccer, which is that game where players kick a ball into a hole, right? Or is that cricket? But your women are sexy and your men all wear women's undergarments so all is forgiven.
Posh and Becks are 'celebrities' (but who isn't these days?). Beck's is a consummate footballer, seemingly quite a nice well-adjusted bloke (which is some achievement in the celebrity world) but not the brightest thing on two legs (in which respect, some might argue, he is indeed virtual royalty.....). Posh is.....well, not awfully posh. Enough said.
To say we Brits treat them as 'virtual royalty' is about as accurate as saying all Canadians want to be RCMPs or speak french as their first language....well...'chacun a son gout' I guess....
I know that we ex-imperialists probably deserve most of what we get, but don't tar us with the brush of seeing a coupla minor celebs as royalty.....
Now, when it comes to Royalty per se, if you want a debate about just how great a system it is to have your head of state unelected but without a shred of power instead of the opposite that most of the rest of the world has chosen to suffer - just let me know.....
(and now Senor Beckham has gone to join a spanish team, I guess El Palacio Beckingham would be more appropriate)
Postscript: Our Wordlab resident chris, who himself resides in the UK, argues that: "...in the interest of accuracy, abnu should know his assertion today that 'Posh and Becks' are virtual royalty in the UK' is way off beam....and it's irritating as hell :)"
Beckingham Palace: Posh and Becks have signed on with the idolater, Simon Fuller, to manage the family brand worldwide. For unadulterated worldwide fame this couple has no rivals in pop culture, largely on the reputation of legendary football superstar, David Beckham. His football career and sponsorship deals will still be handled by SFX, whose website has him down as product number 13. You'd think it would be 7 or maybe 23, wouldn't ya?
There has been talk of discussions between SFX and Fuller's 19 Entertainment group about possible joint ventures. Fuller said, "With the Beckham name so renowned the world over for music, fashion and football, there are no boundaries to what we can achieve together."
Victoria Beckham, a former Spice Girl, is happy to be back with Fuller's management. Reportedly, Simon Fuller will manage all her affairs, which include "taking the Beckham name across music, fashion and TV", according to his spokesman. You know you've got management when your brand manager has a spokesman!
The Beckhams are virtual royalty in the UK and are idolized throughout Europe and Asia. With Simon Fuller, they seem intent on a major league brand assault on America. Victoria Beckham is still recognizable in the United States, as Posh Spice, and has been the fashionable focus of the couple's recent publicity tour in the US. Incredibly, American sportsfans are immune to football, er soccer, and wouldn't know Becks from beer.
The Big-Ass List:Business Weblogs. The Big-Ass List (from Up2Speed) contains hundreds of blogs, ranging from the Lycos 50 blog (on internet culture and search trends) to politician Gary Hart's blog to Snark Hunting, a blog on naming and branding in popular culture. Good on ya, snark!
Posted by
abnu on Monday, July 21, 2003 @ 4:42 PM
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Buzz Cuts: Dunlop, the high-end brand of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., is hoping that the buzz around their so-called ''treadheads'' will lure more people to undergo the electric razor this summer to keep this guerrilla marketing campaign top of mind.
With dark sunglasses perched atop their heads, shaved in the pattern of a tire tread, the treadheads drive around high-end neighborhoods in BMW convertibles. They dress in black, with a tire tread T-shirt that reads, ''What's up with my head?''
Sure, it's an attractive look when you first see it. But, eventually, I think you'd tire of it.
Posted by
abnu on Friday, July 18, 2003 @ 10:27 PM
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Virgin Stripper: Sir Richard Branson wants to start a brand new low-cost airline in the US in the first half of next year to take advantage of growing American demand for cheap air travel.
With the exception of Austin Powers' shag-carpeted jet (a Virgin Shaglantic branding coup) there has never been a flying experience quite as cheap as Hooters Air, which seems to have really taken off. That's just the sort of travel industry development Branson keeps abreast of.
In an effort to get the airline industry in America back to normal, Branson just might give American airlines customers a better bang for the buck!
Posted by
abnu on Thursday, July 17, 2003 @ 1:30 AM
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Beans Beans Are Good For Your Heart: Heinz is reported to be considering replacing its Hall of Fame slogan, "Beanz Meanz Heinz," which was dreamed up in a pub by Maurice Drake, a former copywriter with Young & Rubicam. (Note to Wordlabber: chris, move office to pub.)
"After 36 years this simple and memorable slogan hasn't lost its impact and it would be a wrong decision to drop it," Drake said in an interview with the Guardian.
No worries. The Guardian points out that this, "Keep It." or "Can It." campaign might just be another clever stunt by Heinz to engage punters and gain media attention to direct traffic to www.beanzmeanzheinz.com, where old fartz can view classic Brit commercials and cast their votes, or even suggest a better slogan! Would Heinz threaten to kill this beloved slogan, just for the media attention? You think?
It's telling that Heinz describes its business in marketing terms:
"Today, H.J. Heinz Company is one of the world's leading marketers of branded foods to retail and foodservice channels. Heinz has number-one or number-two branded businesses in more than 50 world markets."
In the UK, Heinz is synonymous with Beanz on the strength of the famous slogan; in the US, it's all about Ketchup, which is their top product among the countless Heinz 57 varieties. Around the world, "Heinz makes everything taste better!"
Posted by
abnu on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 @ 10:49 PM
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Reach out and touch someone: AT&T's famous slogan was inducted into The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame this year, with the greatest number of positive votes from the selection panel.
Other classic lines that have been inducted include "Beanz Meanz Heinz," "Finger Lickin' Good," "Don't leave home without it," "We try harder," "Good to the last drop," "Say it with flowers," "Put a tiger in your tank," "Where's the beef," "I love New York" and more that have become synonymous with leading brands.
Recognizing excellence, achievement, best practice, and creativity in advertising, The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame is the brainchild of Timothy R. V. Foster, creator of AdSlogans Unlimited, a unique global slogan database utilised by advertising agencies to check on prior use of new tag line ideas and to review competitive taglines, endlines, straplines, claims, baselines, signatures, slogans and catchphrases associated with brand marketing worldwide.
Wordlabbers and other creative types are sure to appreciate the unique resources and tools provided by AdSlogans, including the Wise Words Archive and the comprehensive article by Foster, The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan. If you've got a slogan of your own in mind, Sloganalysis ® can guide you through an evaluation.
Posted by
abnu on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 @ 7:34 PM
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Brush Steaks: BusinessWeek just posted an interesting discussion about naming and branding in the wild world of retail steaks, with a little Igor thrown into the mix for spice.
Posted by
Jay on Thursday, July 10, 2003 @ 4:13 PM
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HP pours it on thick:HP will spend some $400 million in 2003 on its Plus HP brand advertising and marketing campaign, which focuses on how HP products are helping its customers. In a maturing computer industry, with the increasing commoditization of products, the advertising of brand is becoming more important than the products themselves. Who cares what they're selling, anyway? It's no longer about what the customer is buying, but about how the customer feels about the brand he is buying from. It's not about putting money into their products; it's about putting their money into the branding campaign. That's what brings home the bacon! The advertising campaign might be summed up as "Customer + HP (+ $400,000,000 advertising budget) = Everything is possible." One thing we know for sure; HP makes a bacon sandwich better.
Posted by
abnu on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 @ 10:58 PM
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Smart Car Branding: If you've been to an international auto show this year, or read a car magazine lately, you've probably seen DaimlerChrysler's new smart car. Mercedes would love to catch some buzz like Volkswagen did with the New Beetle. Retro revival is the name of the game. The trendy smart car reminds us of the BMW Isetta of the fifties, only, well ... smart.
There's little doubt that this car is, technologically, an expression of a lot of really smart ideas. Not longer than the width of a typical car, the smart car can back into a curb where there's not enough space to parallel park even the smallest compact cars. It parks in a space not much larger than needed to kickstand a motorcycle. It's a pint-sized car powered by a three cylinder engine that sips gas by the pints not gallons.
But what really captures our imagination is the smart naming and branding. Most other car manufacturers distinguish between their various branded models with monikers of numbers and letters: CJ, YJ, TJ, DX, LX, CX, Si, i, iL, e, Q, M, 300, 400, 500, 600 ... ad nauseam. The smart car has smart branding, too, offering three smart choices: pure, pulse or passion. Pure is simply what less inspired automotive marketers call a base model. Pulse gets your heart beating with exciting features like sunroof, alloy wheels and touches of black leather. Passion is head out on the highway with her top off.
Posted by
abnu on Sunday, July 06, 2003 @ 6:08 PM
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Born on the 4th of July: What's red and white and read all over? A new brand of freedom of the press. RedPaper, launched on Independence Day 2003, is the world's first collaborative newspaper filled with articles for sale written by people from around the world.
With backing from Adobe Systems Venture Capital and Granite Ventures (previously a group within Hambrecht & Quist), this innovative media venture is an interesting convergence of several new media trends -- weblogging, nano-publishing and creating markets for paid content.
From the perspective of naming and branding, RedPaper plays on the past tense of the verb read and the color red, associated with a society of the people, for the people, by the people. In these days of media concentration in America, we wish everyone a media Independence Day.
Posted by
abnu on Friday, July 04, 2003 @ 4:00 PM
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Beep Beep: Traffic jam in the blogosphere. Everybody and his brother is blogging a link to The Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products. As a stand-alone link, it's well worth a look.
But, Wordlab digs deeper into this story to make sense of the naming and branding of ACME. Is it from the Greek word meaning, essentially, the highest point of perfection or achievement? Was it an acronym used in 19th Century business school texts to describe a hypothetical company, A Company Manufacturing Everything? Was it a store brand for Sears in the early 20th Century? Or, was ACME just a fictitious mail order supplier for Warner Bros.' Wile E. Coyote, a cartoon character from the imagination of the late Chuck Jones? ACME is all these and more.
Warren Buffet knows brands, and he invests in ACME. It might be the most common brand in the world, but all ACME companies are not created equal. The key to effective ACME naming and branding is using the name creatively, drawing on the rich iconic legacy of the ACME brand in popular culture. An example of a good use of the ACME name in a brand is ACME Discount Fireworks. Chuck Jones would smile.
If you want to start your own company named ACME, you've come to the right place for naming and branding ideas.
Posted by
abnu on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 @ 1:20 AM
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Good Day, eh?I am Canadian. Happy Canada Day, everyone. Canadians are much like Americans, most of the time. Once a year, Canadians take a day off to figure out how and why we're not Americans. Oh no, Canada.
Posted by
abnu on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 @ 12:11 AM
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