Branding

Business Week announces top brands for 2009 – who’s a hit and who’s a miss?

Posted Friday 18, September 2009 by: JJG

Rank Company                           2009 brand value $millions        % change over 2008 1               Coca-Cola                            68,734             [...]

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, global brands, Misc, top brands | No Comments »>

The Beatles brand – why everyone is saying “yeah -yeah-yeah”

Posted Monday 7, September 2009 by: JJG

With a brand like ‘The Beatles’ it is virtually impossible for the iconic godfathers of pop to go wrong when this week they release a video a game and remastered back- catalogue of some of the world’s best loved music. So why now and what next? The marketing people behind the new play-along video game [...]

Posted in British brands, celebrities | 1 Comment »>

Time for brands to give blokes what they really want?

Posted Friday 24, July 2009 by: JJG

A survey conducted by AskMen.com of 5,000 men was published which revealed what ‘modern’ men really think. It makes interesting reading for most brands at pains to show that their products or services are metrosexual and politically correct. It is also especially relevant as it targets the traditionally cash-ready 18-34 year old age group who are particularly susceptible to brand messages

Posted in Branding, Misc, social brands | No Comments »>

A tribute to Michael Jackson

Posted Wednesday 8, July 2009 by: JJG

Last night I watched the memorial service on TV for the ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson. During the commemoration, two speakers in particular struck me by what they said. The first was the Rev. Al Sharpton. Directly addressing Jackson’s children he said: “There wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy [...]

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, celebrities | 4 Comments »>

Is the UK government being complicit in introducing labels warning of “Jude”produce?

Posted Sunday 12, April 2009 by: JJG

A UK government brokered meeting has been held in London to consider labelling produce from the West Bank. The meeting involved government officials and representatives from UK food retailers.

The gathering, held in the week leading to Easter, was an initiative in part by Oxfam. It considered clearer guidelines of Produce originating from legitimate Israeli settlements. Jennifer Abrahamson, an Oxfam spokeswoman reportedly said: “We are not in support of settlements and people should know they are illegal. We believe that consumers should know where their produce comes from.”

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, Food Labelling | No Comments »>

The writing is on the windows and browsers for Woolworths

Posted Thursday 11, December 2008 by: JJG

With the company facing £385 million of debts, just after 4.30pm on 10th December Woolworths’ head office sent an email to the managers of all its 815 stores announcing that no buyer had recognised the wonder of the Woolies brand. Today stores open with signs printed at the last minute reading:“closing down sale”.

Posted in Branding, British brands, global brands, Misc, retail brands | No Comments »>

The wonder of why Woolies’ brand?

Posted Thursday 27, November 2008 by: JJG

Woolies has an exceptional place in consumers’ hearts. It was just one year away from its centenary. Such an endearing name offers the official administrators Deloitte, the chance to market the concern to a shrewd buyer who appreciates the potential that such an evocative brand could still hold – especially in difficult times.

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, retail brands | 1 Comment »>

When beans are just too much of a mouthful

Posted Sunday 13, July 2008 by: JJG

How stupid do brands think people are? Discussing Heinz’s decision last week to drop the word ‘baked’ which has graced its tins of iconic beans since 1886, John Alderman, marketing manager for the company said: “Heinz Beanz have been powering the nation for over a hundred years and to say thank you to our loyal fans, we have given this iconic product a 21st century makeover”.

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, fmcg, Food, top brands | 1 Comment »>

Heinz pulls out of gay sex before it gets in too deep.

Posted Thursday 26, June 2008 by: JJG

Heinz, the perennial family brand favourite, has withdrawn its television commercial for mayonnaise because it believes it offends family values. The thirty-second commercial, which was due to run over five weeks, features a man in a typical middle-class family kitchen setting preparing sandwiches for a schoolboy and girl.  The man, dressed as a chef, sounds [...]

Posted in Advertising, Branding, fmcg, Food, global brands, top brands | No Comments »>

Yet another government logo cock-up

Posted Thursday 24, April 2008 by: JJG

Barely a year has passed since ‘Olymlogogate’: the blot on the branding landscape forever known as the ‘UK 2012’ logo. Now the government has done it again. Allegedly the Office of Government Commerce spent twelve months with their design team at FHD agency going over the fine details of their new logo. Their MD, Adrian [...]

Posted in Branding, government branding, Misc | No Comments »>