Brand Strategy articles from June 2002

Brand Strategy archives from June 2002

When strategists get it wrong. (Leader).(Consignia PLC, rebranding effort)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The demise of the brand Consignia should be a lesson to us all. The whole rebranding exercise has been costly and has hit employees the hardest. When you are conducting a rebranding campaign of this magnitude one of the most important...

Plain sailing for kids' water? (Leader).(flavored bottled water, marketing to children)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Ruth Mortimer's article (BS May 2002) rightly identifies the kids' market as a huge potential growth area for bottled waters. But while the right packaging is essential, the role of still flavours may have been dismissed too quickly. ...

The art of rebranding--a crisis in credibilty. (Leader).(corporate rebranding; analysis)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... It's a very British tragedy. A company that previously made so much money that the Treasury was able to cream off 1m [pounds sterling] a day in the mid 1990s, announces a loss of 1.1bn [pounds sterling] and 17,000 job cuts. After investing 2m...

Launches and rebrands. (News Round-Up).(companies, rebranding efforts and new products)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Post Office has announced that it will drop its much-maligned Consignia identity and adopt the corporate name Royal Mail Group by the end of the year. The troubled comPanY is also axing another 17,000 jobs after confirming 15,000...

Diary.
June 1, 2002... International Marketing in a Recession Buffeted Industry Shell Aviation, Teddington,West Surrey 10 June 2002 Mike Harle from Shell discusses how companies operate in different cultural environments. www.cim.co.uk New Concepts in...

Easyjet. (Appointments).(Easyjet Airline; new marketing director)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Easyjet is appointing David Magliano, sales and marketing director at airline Go, to its top marketing position once its planned acquisition of Go is complete. The move could see a change in Easyjet's marketing strategy. Easyjet's previous ads...

Chanel. (Appointments).(cosmetics firm, new marketing director in United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Dominic de Vetta joins cosmetics brand Chanel as UK marketing director. De Vetta was formerly sales and marketing director at Conran Restaurants and was also marketing director at cosmetics brand Lancome until 1998.

Microsoft's UK. (Appointments).(Microsoft Corp. promotes UK marketing executive to general manager post in Asia)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Microsoft's UK head of marketing Oliver Roll is being promoted to general manager for marketing in the Asia Pacific region. Roll originally joined Microsoft in 1992 as a product manager but only held his most recent UK post for a year--he was...

Safeway. (Appointments).(Safeway PLC., new marketing executive in United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Safeway has appointed its first marketer to oversee its premium own-brand, The Best. Roger Hart, previously at Mars and Seagram, is concentrating on new product development. The Best range has rivals in Tesco's Finest and Sainsbury's Taste the...

Marketing. (News Round-Up).(advertising news briefs; United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... ITV has signed a 320m [pounds sterling] ad deal with household goods business Unilever. The FMCG company has agreed a four-year spending commitment with ITV, which means that it will get cheaper advertising rates for the channel's airtime....

International. (News Round-Up).(South African Breweries acquires Miller beer brand from Philip Morris)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Philip Morris has sold its US Miller brand beer to South African Breweries (SAB) in a deal that makes SAB the world's second largest brewer by volume. The exchange gives Philip Morris a 36% share in the new company SABMiller and the brewer also...

Attention seeking syndrome and changing brand behaviour; Linda Hodgson on how me, me, me brands yearn for tie-ins and exposure that will seduce the narcissistic consumer. (Trendspotter).(brand name products)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A desire for ordinary people to stand apart from the crowd, to put themselves in the spotlight and achieve the attention that they crave, is not going to go away. If anything it is going to get worse. Twenty years ago it was the preserve of...

If I could get my hands on Pret a Manger ...; Npower's head of marketing David Andrews thinks that Pret has more substance than just sandwich filling. (In An Ideal World).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... I am fascinated by the Pret a Manger brand. Because I'm running a service myself, I was quite interested in the way that it had evolved to become as much a service as a sandwich brand. Look at where it's got to at the moment--its brand...

Calypso and Gerber foods tango over luvvly jubbly: Morag Cuddeford Jones digs up 70s favourite Jubbly Orange Drink and sets out the pitch for a potential battle of the juice giants. (That Was The Brand That Was).(Gerber Foods International, Calypso Soft Drinks; trademark dispute)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Allegedly the inspiration for Del Boy's ubiquitous `luvvly jubbiy', Jubbly Orange Drink was at its peak in the 60s and 70s. Made by juice company Sun Ray which, according to drinks research company Canadean, ceased trading in the 1980s, Jubbly...

Brandspeak.
June 1, 2002... Bandalism: the defacement of public buildings and spaces by corporate ads or logos www.logophilia.com

Artfully crazy promotion for Absolut vodka. (Brand Stunt Of The Month).(Absolut Co., vodka promotion)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Sweden's Absolut vodka brand has made an art form out of its branding. The premium alcohol brand has teamed up with The Lighthouse (Scotland's National Centre for Architecture, Design and the City) and Idler magazine for a July 2002 event that...

The Department for Transport (DfT). (Brand Mot).(United Kingdom; new executive head, agency's management of its public relations)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Department for Transport (DfT), or `daft' as some unkinder souls would have it, is undergoing another change of captain at the helm. Alastair Darling is taking over from the beleaguered Stephen Byers and his portfolio of crumbling transport...

The sweet taste of loyalty: Ruth Mortimer asks why big brands are signing up for Nectar and if the loyalty card really is the ultimate reward. (News Analysis).(point-collection scheme)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... We all enjoy added value. But nobody appreciates a wallet bulging with customer loyalty cards. Nectar, a new scheme bringing together Sainsbury's, Debenhams, BP and Barclaycard, claims to have found the solution to this problem. One loyalty...

Tobacco sponsorship heads for the pits as IT takes poll; Morag Cuddeford Jones finds out what will fill the hole left by the impending ban on tobacco sponsorship. (News Analysis).(sports sponsorship)
June 1, 2002... The 2002 Fifa World Cup has been awash with brands manufacturing tenuous links with the tournament in a scramble for heightened visibility. British American Tobacco (BAT) must have been hoping it could also join the free for all. It...

Suicidal business: Allan Leighton reveals the ingredients to a successful company and explains how not to play corporate suicide. (Opinion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Every big failure used to be a huge success. The business that I'm spending most of my time on now, the Post Office--Consignia, Royal Mail--used to be a fabulous success. It was renowned for being the best postal service in the world. It's...

Brand calculations: Laurie Young argues that financial and marketing techniques need to be merged to create necessary brand value. (Opinion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Many people I meet are surprised that a firm such as PricewaterhouseCoopers is being drawn into discussions with its clients about their brands. Historically, brand strategy has been seen as the province of specialist design boutiques or...

Joseph fine tunes the M&S brand promise; Anna Joseph displays a unique poise and confidence in her role at M&S which may have something to do with her previous career. Elen Lewis finds out how she's helped the stalwart British brand regain its appeal. (Profile).(Marks and Spencer)
June 1, 2002... Once you've played solo violin live on national radio from the Barbican, boardroom presentations don't have the same capacity to terrify. Anna Joseph, head of marketing plan and brand at Marks & Spencer casually admits this musical experience...

Breakdown and beyond: the AA brand has strong emotional ties with its customers but does its brand architecture support the various offerings available? Morag Cuddeford Jones analyses the impact of the 'Just AAsk' campaign. (The AA).(Automobile Association)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... The Automobile Association (AA) enjoys a level of consumer trust quite unlike that of any other UK company. Whether you associate it with a very, very nice man or the more dramatic concept of the fourth emergency service, the AA breakdown...

National pride and prejudice: Elen Lewis discusses the notion of nations as brands and looks at how a 'made in' tag can persuade the global consumer. How does foreign policy affect branding and when do brands deliberately play down their origin? (Nation Branding).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Nation branding was invented long before branding consultants arrived on the scene. During Louis XIV's reign in France, his finance minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert, deliberately engineered the `Made in France' cachet. Colbert transformed...

Estonia gets eurovision; when creating a brand from zero equity there is only one place to go. Elen Lewis assesses Interbrand's rebranding initiative to move Estonia's image from a poor eastern country to a modern Nordic state. (Case Study).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... It has been said that 46 of the largest 100 economies of the world today are companies, not countries. Fiona Gilmore, chairwoman of brand consultancy Springpoint, suggests that it can be helpful to think of running countries in the same vein as...

Flying through turbulence: the slump in air travel since September 11th and new competition from budget flights have shaken the airline sector. Can BA use its brand strength to compete? Elen Lewis talks to marketing director Martin George. (British Airways).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Managing an airline brand is a tricky business. Often its equity can be damaged by external events entirely outside the carrier's control. Take September 11th. Martin George, director of marketing and commercial operations at British Airways,...

Vouching for better schools; Ruth Mortimer examines a cause-related marketing scheme aiming to change the role brands play in education. (Special report: kids).(Schools Plus voucher fund raising scheme)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Schools and brands aren't natural playmates. Branded initiatives involving education are contentious and many companies steer clear of this difficult area. But a new voucher fund raising scheme--Schools Plus--claims to offer benefits for...

TV branding isn't for show: how can you turn a children's TV programme into a brand? Ruth Mortimer looks at BBC's The Saturday Show. (Special report: kids).(Saatchi and Saatchi Design creates brand identity)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The camera sweeps through the door and swoops into the bedroom. The Saturday Show's title music drags children out of their beds and into the realm of early morning weekend TV. The Saturday Show launched on BBC1 in September 2001. The BBC...

Branding that's on the ball: Ruth Mortimer looks at the brand and marketing opportunities available when creating kids' sports events. (Special report: kids).(Fox Kids sponsors youth football tournament)
June 1, 2002... They say you should never work with children or animals. So why would a satellite channel--appropriately named Fox Kids--organise a global children's football tournament? The links between the media company and the beautiful game are less than...

Gear shift for car makers; Simon Williams suggests there will be new household brand names in the automotive retailing market following the relaxation of the European Union's block exemption rule. (Brand Papers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Historically, automotive retailing has been an incredibly fragmented marketplace. Global oversupply, low margins, manufacturer push, and rigid operating standards have all been huge barriers for a national or international retail branded...

Intangible connections: Chris Macrae says mapping stakeholder's needs is the key to valuing intangible assets. (Brand Papers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Understanding how the brand fits in with a company's intangible assets can help an organisation become a brand leader. Among large companies, intangibles now figure as 85% of the market value of the S&P 500. Other values, such as social...

Next generation branding: Suzanne Livingstone argues that brands are extending their language and fighting back against disinterested consumers with a less structured approach to marketing core values. (Brand Papers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In response to the reported threat of their imminent death, brands are changing. To those who said that they wouldn't be able to survive the web, that consumers are no longer interested and that the death of logos could bring about a better...

Brands and so-called CRM: Merlin Stone says that CRM can have a positive affect on branding providing companies don't rush headlong into it. Above all it is important for brand managers to preserve the human touch. (Brand Papers).(customer relationship management)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... CRM, e-business, multi-channel marketing, and perhaps even e-CRM (where e stands for electronic or enterprise depending upon your tastes) or m-commerce--these are the potion-pedlar's cries so often heard in the market for marketing-related...

Simply smart advertising: Cristina Garrigues from Bird & Bird law firm offers advice on how official sponsors can minimise the effect or at least protect themselves from ambush marketing. (Brand Papers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Sports events provide golden opportunities not just for athletes but for companies seeking to have a global impact on their audiences. Some companies invest millions of pounds to secure exclusive sponsorship rights to one of the main...

Managing brand me: Thomas Gad and Anette Rosencreutz explain the art of building a personal brand. They argue that a strong Brand Me will lead to improved financial social and mental standing. (Brand Papers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Do you really want to stand in the supermarket of life and be compared to others as if you were a product or a package? Imagine being manufactured and standardised like a commodity on a shelf, being compared with `other brands' on design,...

Man U's brand takes a beating. It's a Real big deal. (Trends).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... * Real Madrid is the biggest international football club brand, according to a survey from Landor Associates. The qualitative study saw the UK's Manchester United beaten into second place by the worldwide reputation of the Spanish club. ...

Eurobrands survey on changing fortunes. (Trends).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... * Fifty-eight per cent of European consumers think that Nokia's brand has grown stronger over the last two years, according to a survey from Euro RSCG Worldwide/Harris Interactive. Only 18% thought that the Heineken brand was stronger than it...

Readers Digest `trust' survey tops Nokia. (Trends).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... * Nokia is the most trusted brand in Europe, according to the Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Survey 2002. The results for Nokia topped polls in 18 countries and are closely followed by those for Visa International and Nivea skincare. Nokia...

The universal language of brands. (Research).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... * Brands mean different things to planners, creatives, clients and consumers. Over the past eighteen months, in an attempt to clarify some of the differences, Young & Rubicam has developed a language that all can understand based on extensive...

TNS European brand loyalty. (Research).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... * Europe's borders are expanding. But the single community is not reflected in a pan-European attitude to branding. UK consumers place far more importance on brands than central and eastern Europeans, according to a report from market research...

Camels might fly. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In a case of coals to Newcastle, the Central Australia Camel Industry Association (CACIA) has undertaken a trial shipment of 220 camels to Saudi Arabia. Destined not for the tourist trade but the dinner table, Association spokesman Peter Siedel...

Salt n Yasser. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... As the world continues to revolve amid unrelenting tides of football induced patriotism, brands in nations sans qualifying teams are looking for any excuse to join the party. Lacking a suitable substitute for Beckham, Zidane or Totti to splash...

The method school for margarine. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The makers of American margarine brand, Parkay, obviously decided that its marketing materials didn't `speak' loudly enough to the consumer. The company has therefore installed chips (of the electronic kind) in the base of tubs to make them...

La vieja alianza. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Scots, famed for `la vielle alliance' or the `Auld Alliance', used to gang up with their French cousins against the English (naturally). The World Cup however, has found another potential chum for the chaps north of the border. While...

Subscription offer. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Microsoft and Brand Strategy are giving away a free pair of tickets for the athletics at the XVII Commonwealth Games. The Games are taking place in Manchester from the 25th July to 4th August 2002. Microsoft is the official software sponsor and...

Listening to your customers: companies are not only looking to customers as providers of custom, they are looking for another valuable resource: information.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Over the past few months I've become a consultant to some of the biggest and best brands around. No, that's not because they're clamouring to sign me up as a marketing guru. Rather, it's because as a customer, they're falling over themselves to...