Brand Strategy articles from February 2004

Brand Strategy archives from February 2004

New world branding.(Leader)
February 1, 2004... Today's most interesting branding stories are not trickling in from the usual sources. There's the Indian perfume Urvashi, created by a Mumbai chemical company that's going down a storm with Parisians on the Champs Elysees. The Russian premium...

Procter & Gamble has launched Pringles Dippers and Pringles Dips in the UK and Ireland.(Launches and rebrands)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Procter & Gamble has launched Pringles Dippers and Pringles Dips in the UK and Ireland. The move into the dipping category is Pringles UK's biggest ever launch and is backed by 3.5m [pounds sterling] marketing spend. The range will be available...

Fox Kids channels worldwide are uniting as a single brand named Jetix, bringing together ABC Cable Networks Group, Fox Kids Europe N.V. and Fox Kids Latin America.(Launches and rebrands)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Fox Kids channels worldwide are uniting as a single brand named Jetix, bringing together ABC Cable Networks Group, Fox Kids Europe N.V. and Fox Kids Latin America. Jetix launches as a new global action-adventure kids programming business which...

Johnson & Johnson.(Launches and rebrands)(Johnson's Adult bathing range)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Johnson & Johnson, best known for its baby skincare range, is attempting to transform itself into a global adult brand with the 15m [pounds sterling] international launch of Johnson's Adult, a skincare and bathing range. Ads created by Lowe...

Spanish brand Chupa Chups has launched Cremosa in the UK, a sugar-free lollipop made with a natural based sugar substitute that helps protect teeth.(Launches and rebrands)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Spanish brand Chupa Chups has launched Cremosa in the UK, a sugar-free lollipop made with a natural based sugar substitute that helps protect teeth. The launch is supported by a multi-million pound marketing support programme and national TV...

Gillette's patent case against Schick-Wilkinson Sword has been denied giving Schick-Wilkinson Sword the right to continue selling its four-bladed Quattro razor in the US.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Gillette's patent case against Schick-Wilkinson Sword has been denied giving Schick-Wilkinson Sword the right to continue selling its four-bladed Quattro razor in the US. In denying the preliminary injunction, the judge determined that Gillette...

A 30-second advertising slot during Super Bowl, the finale to the American football season, is costing a record $2.25m (1.2m [pounds sterling]).(Marketing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A 30-second advertising slot during Super Bowl, the finale to the American football season, is costing a record $2.25m (1.2m [pounds sterling]). Slots for the game on 1 February were almost sold out by mid-January, selling for 10% more than...

Barclaycard has entered the Irish market launching an exclusive Manchester United Barclaycard.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Barclaycard has entered the Irish market launching an exclusive Manchester United Barclaycard. The move is part of Barclaycard's international expansion and follows the launch of the card in South Africa last Summer and the recent launch of...

Diary.(business conferences)(Calendar)
February 1, 2004... Marketing Directors' European Summit Radisson SAS Portman Hotel London 3 March 2004 The Economist conference normally attracts a high calibre of delegates. This year's emphasis is on delivering sustainable business performance. Speakers...

Royal Bank of Scotland.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Paul Geddes has been appointed marketing strategy managing director for retail banking at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Geddes, who was previously marketing director at Argos, will be responsible for the RBS and Natwest brands.

Reebok UK.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Reebok UK's Michael Price has been promoted from consumer marketing manager to marketing director. Price replaces former sales and marketing director David Neale who left the company last Summer.

Nissan.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Nissan has appointed Volker Brien as VP, strategy and marketing, Nissan Europe. Brien replaces Phillippe Geffroy who will become VP, sales and marketing, Nissan Mexico. Brien was previously Nissan brand director, Renault Nissan Netherlands.

Kimberly-Clark has combined its North American and European personal care and consumer tissue businesses into two single North Atlantic teams.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Kimberly-Clark has combined its North American and European personal care and consumer tissue businesses into two single North Atlantic teams. A developing and emerging markets business unit has also been formed. Rob van der Merwe moves from...

Siemens has extended its Formula One contract with team McLaren Mercedes but changed its branding from Siemens Mobile to Siemens.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Siemens has extended its Formula One contract with team McLaren Mercedes but changed its branding from Siemens Mobile to Siemens. The move opens up the sponsorship to all parts of Siemens in terms of advertising, marketing and hospitality. The...

Pepsi.(Marketing)(celebrity ads)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Pepsi's latest multimillion pound ad features pop stars Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles, Pink and Enrique Iglesias. The Gladiator-style ad set in Rome's Colosseum launches on 2 February using the Queen anthem We Will Rock You. The global ad...

KFC has been granted permission to open in Tibet, the last Chinese province without American fast food.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... KFC has been granted permission to open in Tibet, the last Chinese province without American fast food. Yum! Brands, which owns the KFC brand, has announced the opening of its 1000th KFC restaurant in China, its key growth country. Yum! has...

Ford.(Finance; Ford Motor Co.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Ford has announced a net loss of $793m (433.9m [pounds sterling]) for the fourth quarter of 2003 compared to a net loss of $130m (71.1m [pounds sterling]) for the same period in 2002. Total sales and revenue have however risen compared to the...

McDonald's.(Finance)(sales and revenues)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... McDonald's has announced strong operating results for the fourth quarter of 2003 with an operating profit of $367.5m (201.1m [pounds sterling]) and an increase of 17% in revenues. The results follow the implementation of McDonald's action plan...

Chartered Institute of Marketing.(Numbers)(economic growth analysis)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The UK economy will be stronger in 2004 but economic growth will not reach boom proportions according to the latest Marketing Trends Survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Companies are committed to increasing their market spend by...

Q4 2003 Bellwether Report.(Numbers)(advertising expenditure )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The Q4 2003 Bellwether Report has shown that the outlook for advertising expenditure is its most optimistic since the survey began in 2000. The sharpest rises in 2003 actual spend were seen in direct marketing (23%) and sales promotion (14%)....

Two-tier brands for the super trendy: Claudine Ben-Zenou discovers that mainstream brands can still 'borrow' cool from their trendier cousins.(Trendspotter)(clothing, cool drinks, ice cream, shoes to express culture)
February 1, 2004... Clothing and style have always played a key part in expressing people's affiliation to sub-cultures or groups. But there is an elitist group whose style is less obvious to outsiders, yet still adheres to very specific visual cues easily...

The Datsun days are no more: Morag Cuddeford Jones looks at the rise and demise of the Datsun--the car for the people.(That Was The Brand That Was)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... A post-ironic indie band called 'The Datsuns' is all that remains of the iconic Japanese car brand of the same name. Never classy like Mercedes or cool like Rover Mini, the Datsun nevertheless had the honourable task of being a the first to...

An engaging proposition: Alan Mitchell finds a new year buzzword for every marketer to turn into a resolution: brand engagement.(Walt Disney Studios)
February 1, 2004... Engagement is fast becoming the Holy Grail of marketers as the familiar pressures of media fragmentation, advertising overload and so on, bear down upon them. Brands can't bludgeon their way into people's minds and emotions any more. They have...

Brand MOT: LEGO.(LEGO Systems Inc.)
February 1, 2004... Forecasting record losses of 1.4bn Danish Krone (131m [pounds sterling]) in its 2003 results, the 72-year-old LEGO Company has announced 'a significant change of strategy'. It will focus on its core product, the brick, and simplify its top...

'Europe's Enron' and a January corporate crisis: Morag Cuddeford Jones asks if a number of Europe's faltering firms can salvage their business-to-business relationships, learning lessons from the collapse of Enron in 2002.(News Analysis)
February 1, 2004... Like buses, stories of corporate collapse come along all at once. No sooner is media tycoon Conrad Black investigated over the accounts of his Hollinger empire, than a number of seemingly solid companies begin to crumble. The Netherland's...

Branding the law: Marina Galanti, global brand and marketing director at law firm Ashurst, explains why branding professional services is a different kind of challenge.(Opinion)
February 1, 2004... Professional services marketing has long been a contradiction in terms. The concept of branding is even more remote to law firms. It was only in 1990 that the Law Society relaxed its policies to enable law firms to advertise and market...

Habits of highly effective people: Allan Leighton is chairman of the Royal Mail Group and BHS, former chairman and CEO of Wal-Mart Europe and former deputy chairman of Leeds football club.(Opinion)(Transcript)
February 1, 2004... Everywhere you go some bugger is reading or writing books on how to be successful, but none of them have ever done any of it. The secret of my success? I don't read those books. The theory of success and its execution are miles apart, but...

Tom Peters--the prince of disorders: Elen Lewis finds a window with management guru Tom Peters. With a colourful and varied career to date, it's no wonder the self-publicist finds happiness in disruption.(Profile)(Interview)
February 1, 2004... Today Tom Peters, one of the business world's most accomplished self-publicists, is a little tired. The publicity whirl seems to be getting to him. He's spent an hour with the BBC, he's breaking our interview halfway through for a telephone...

Putting design at the heart: Elen Lewis has a conversation with Tom Peters and Ralph Ardill, marketing and strategic planning director at Imagination about bringing creativity to the centre of business.(Q&A)(Interview)
February 1, 2004... EL: To what extent can design be used to overhaul business? TP: I read an article in Business Week examining the performance of certain companies. There was a foreword which said: "Whenever yon hear a buyer say, 'I'd love to take the risk...

Homer's brand odyssey: Joanna Doonar investigates the broadcast and licensing phenomenon of a suburban, American family: The Simpsons and discovers that it's defined by Fox as a brand rather than a TV show.(The Simpsons)
February 1, 2004... George Rush Senior may have once said that American families should be: "More like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons", but Twentieth Century Fox (Fox) stands proud of its animation licence; the world's leading property. The Simpsons...

The leaders of the pack: branding advice from the top. Morag Cuddeford Jones talks to eight of the world's most respected brand experts, to discover if there is a secret formula to long-term brand success.(Branding Rules)
February 1, 2004... It is no coincidence that marketing directors talk so frequently of 'the holy grail' when plotting the desired future for their brands. Brand building is viewed as a mixture of alchemy, luck, acquired wisdom and hard work. As a result, the...

Keeping promises: Kevin Chapman says it's time marketing departments took a direct interest in how employees deliver on their branding promises.(Brand Papers)
February 1, 2004... Less than one customer in five trusts companies to deliver what their brand promises. It's hardly healthy news for brand stewards. According to a recent MORI survey, almost four in ten have been put off buying by poor treatment by an employee....

Baby boomers: Laura Haynes warns it's time to forget about youth culture and listen to the agenda-setting leadership generation--the 40-somethings.(Brand Papers)
February 1, 2004... So much has been written about the baby boomers--identified as the over-50s, the grey market, the third generation--call it what you will. They are different from past generations. They are affluent, mobile, interested in consuming; they...

Ambush marketing: brands piggybacking sporting events where they have no official sponsor capacity is increasing. Neil Coulson looks at how this will affect Euro 2004.(Brand Papers)
February 1, 2004... No sporting event is complete without its sponsors. Indeed without commercial sponsorship the viability of international events such as Euro 2004 would be questionable. However the organising body and its official sponsor must beware the ambush...

Value iconic space: Jonathan Ward and Jin Ah Park argue that buildings can play an essential role in brand transformation; boosting morale and improving performance.(Brand Papers)
February 1, 2004... Branding a workplace shouldn't stop at putting the company logo in reception. To maximise brand benefits at work, firms need premises that embody a unique experience. Below are two examples of global headquarters for US sports company, Reebok...

The ultra lite text book: Richard Reed, co-founder and marketing director of Innocent Drinks reads Seth Godin's latest book and learns nothing new or especially 'remarkable' about marketing but enjoys its no fuss approach.(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... Purple Cow by Seth Godin is published by Michael Joseph, 10.99 [pounds sterling] Boy, is this book light. I mean, I know marketing isn't an incredibly complicated science that demands the finest Nobel prize-winning professors to unlock...

Beyond Branding, how the new values of transparency and integrity are changing the world of brands.(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... Edited by Nicholas Ind, published by Kogan Page, 25 [pounds sterling]. Beyond Branding is written by a network of contributors, including Brand Strategy's columnist Alan Mitchell, who believe brands must adopt to a wider social perspective...

Brands and branding.(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... By Rita Clifton and John Simmons, published by The Economist, 20 [pounds sterling]. Brands and Branding follows a similar formula with 17 experts each contributing a chapter. The book is split into three sections: The case for brands, best...

Re-imagining business: John Mathers, the president of the Design Business Association and the group MD of Enterprise IG reads Tom Peters' vision of design-driven companies in Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age.(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... Re-imagine! by Tom Peters is published by Dorling Kindersley, 20 [pounds sterling]. Well, Tom Peters has produced yet another blockbuster, only this time he genuinely believes that form is as important as function. He has teamed up with...

Global marketing expenditure.(Research)
February 1, 2004... * Total marketing expenditure was expected to grow minimally in 2003 but large differences in spend existed between the top five markets and two emerging markets, according to research from The Marketing Expenditure Trends Report 2003 (MET), by...

Brand leaders in business to business.(Research)
February 1, 2004... * DHL, Virgin and Intel are household names around the world but it is rarely acknowledged that they are also brand leaders in the business to business world. The Brand Council's Business Superbrands 2003 Awards have revealed that these brands...

UK top advertisers, December 2003.(Big Spenders)(Illustration)
February 1, 2004... UK top advertisers, December 2003 New position (previous month) Brand Spend 1 (5) PC World 5,492,875 [pounds sterling] 2 (3) Orange 5,439,664 [pounds sterling] 3...

Facial skin care, UK, year ending 4 Jan 2003.(FMCG bestsellers)(Illustration)
February 1, 2004... Facial skin care, UK, year ending 4 Jan 2003 Rank Brand Company 1 Oil of Olay Procter & Gamble 2 Boots (own brand) Boots Group 3 Plenitude L'Oreal 4 Nivea...

Bottled mineral water.(Market focus)(consumption and market growth)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 1, 2004... The British bottled mineral water market has enjoyed explosive growth over the past three years. According to the latest quarterly data (released end of December 2003) from the Target Group Index'(TGI) survey, 53% of adults now drink it,...

The problem with global seduction.(Sponsor's Foreword)
February 1, 2004... The world's getting smaller, right? Not if you're a brand strategist it isn't. Just when we were getting used to globalisation and homogeneity, not only has the former become a dirty byword for economic imperialism, but it seems that we never...

Branding across borders: a panel of branding experts share their thoughts with Brand Strategy on marketing a product across different regions and striking a balance between local flavour and global positioning.(Forum)(Fiona Gilmore, Michael Harvey, Robert Schwarz, Peter Stringham, Andy Wheatley, Yonca Dervisoglu & Mark Allatt)(Panel Discussion)
February 1, 2004... Elen Lewis: Should a global brand mean the same to different consumers around the world? Fiona Gilmore: The positioning can change and shift over a period of lime and some countries might be lagging behind, Take a company like Vodafone,...

Mapping a brand new world: Simon Anholt examines the phenomenon of emerging markets producing brands with global ambitions and warns that traditional Western brands have a battle on their hands.(New World Branding)
February 1, 2004... Brands create economic growth in more ways than is sometimes appreciated: and they are starting to contribute to the emergence of certain developing countries. Yet it is well known that having strong and well-known export brands enables...

Chinese web whispers: Ying Fan exclusively reveals a study of global brands' Chinese websites which examines whether brands take a localised or standardised approach online.(New World Branding)
February 1, 2004... The internet is a worldwide medium that should make global communications a reality. However, differences between countries and cultures present a complicated challenge. Although the English language is widely accepted as the primary language...

Russia's new national pride: Piero Leone and Alex Gorshkov demonstrate that the cachet of international brands is fading in the face of Russia's changing consumer market and new masculine national view.(New World Branding)
February 1, 2004... Russians have experienced an intense learning process in every possible way. From seeing black and white Soviet time reality, where only one opinion was correct, to embracing the diversity and nuance of life. From a commodity market with...

Poland's marketing paradox: Jacek Slotala and Michal Sosnowski describe how international brands are muscling into the changing market of Poland where consumers are aspiring to a better lifestyle.(New World Branding)
February 1, 2004... Poland, a country with a population of 39 million, is one of the most interesting markets in new Europe. In the last 14 years it has changed so dramatically that many aspects of the previous era no longer exist. There are no more shops...

Attitudes to globalisation: Martin Hayward and Tamar Kasriel discover that American brands are still synonymous with globalisation, but that not all consumers consider this a negative influence.(New World Branding)
February 1, 2004... In the global-local debate, Americanisation is frequently substituted for globalisation. While this ignores a large part of the globalisation issue, it is certainly where most of the debate tends to focus. The American invasion of Iraq...