branding
iPhone status
Say what you want about the iPhone… but ask yourself, how many phones are the subject of a whole page on the Forbes site?
iPhone detractors who point out that another phone has a better keyboard, or can be had with more carriers, or has great music capabilities, or a better camera, or can shoot videos [...]
When throwing a party, make sure you have enough ice
Hey, did you hear that Apple came out with a new phone?
If you didn’t, well, welcome back from the Antarctic vacation! Yes, Friday was the big iPhone 3G day. People lined up at stores to get the newest and shiniest Apple product. Apple is very, very good at building excitement about their new products; whether [...]
A Tiny Worm in the old Apple?
I really like and admire Apple products, but I’m nearly always too cheap to buy one of them.
The exception is my iPod, which I do love, even though I rarely use it. And even though, 6 months into my “new” laptop, I still haven’t loaded up iTunes and thus, haven’t bothered to add a couple [...]
What’s in Your Swag Bag?
Last week, iMedia Connection had an interesting article entitled, “The ROI of quality swag” by Leah Messinger. (Here’s the link, but I’m not sure if you need to be a subscriber.)
Her premise is that “in an increasingly digital world, sometimes it takes something physically tangible to push your business goals further.”
I couldn’t agree with her [...]
If they love you, all is forgiven: perception, reality, and Apple
There’s a popular perception that Apple is the happy, fuzzy, cool computer company, and Microsoft is the evil death star of the IT universe. Apple makes cool fun stuff for shiny happy people. Microsoft enslaves millions of hapless users with its unpleasant products. Both companies elicit strong responses from people; they have recognizable brands with [...]
Marketing the Goods in Real Time
If there’s one group that regularly tip my cap, helmet, and sweatband to it’s those who do the marketing for professional sports teams.
I may not always agree with them, and sometimes they’re so over the top I just have to laugh out loud. (Major League Baseball caskets, anyone?) And they do have it somewhat [...]
The Brand Experience - not as recent as you might think
While any number of old-time brands come to mind - Winchester Rifles, the McCormick Reaper, Singer Sewing Machines, Kellogg’s Cereals, Coca-Cola - I’ve always thought of branding as being something of an artifact of the industrial age. Sure, individual artists and craftsmen made their mark on the wares they created, but the name brand is [...]
Just another “somebody done somebody wrong” post
Let me put on my cowboy hat and strum a steel guitar; it’s time for a tale of woe. (With a little marketing lesson, too!)
We’ve been together for years - back to the 90s. We’ve been through a lot; emergency (late) gift purchases, shopping for myself, all of it. Our relationship expanded into new and [...]
Nobody ever did a taste test against RC Cola
Remember those old cola taste test ads, where some underdog drink (like RC Cola) would do a taste test to say, “See! We’re good! We’re really good!” They always did the tests against Coke and Pepsi, not the store brand cola or some other little-known drink. Why? Because they were the ones to beat.*
So I [...]
The corporate name game
Remember the Boston Garden? Candlestick Park? The Meadowlands? Names like that are a thing of the past; now it’s Fleet Center and USAirways Arena and 3Com Park and here in Houston, Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field!) and the Toyota Center (with a Tundra parking garage - I was thinking there should be a Prius [...]
