Brand Strategy articles from September 2006

Brand Strategy archives from September 2006

LEADER: A protection racket.(brand protection strategies, marketing management)
September 14, 2006... Picture the scene: a few long-haired guys sit in a garage in Nowheresville and discuss a crazy plan. They are sick of being broke. They plan to start a company, bringing new ideas and products to the world; they will bring people together and...

Marketing: Universal Music.(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Record label Universal Music is to make its artist catalogue available for free download through the Spiralfrog website. In a two-year deal, the programme will be funded by ads which are viewed while users wait for tracks to download. The...

Marketing: Google.(contracts)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Google has agreed an exclusive deal to run text ads through Ebay's non- US sites. Google is also linking with social network MySpace to provide ads and is expected to extend its reach across the News Corp network. Google has 380 million...

Marketing: Apple Inc.(Apple Computer Inc.)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Apple Inc is challenging other companies' right to use 'Pod' to describe products. The company has registered the term in more than 50 regions, including Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and Europe. It believes that letting others use the term...

Marketing: Timberland.
September 14, 2006... Footwear brand Timberland is tapping into sustainability concerns by offering a "nutritional label" on its men's casualwear. This educates consumers about the product they are purchasing, including where it was manufactured, how it was...

Marketing: Nokia.
September 14, 2006... Nokia has bought digital music provider Loudeye for $60m (#31.4m) and will incorporate its digital music purchase technology by 2007. The deal gives Nokia access to 1.6 million tracks which it can offer to customers with music-enabled mobile...

Marketing: Unilever.(mergers)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Unilever has agreed to sell its European frozen food business including Birds Eye and Iglo, to Permira Funds, a private equity group, for E1.7bn (#1.1bn). The deal does not include its businesses in Italy or Spain. Unilever will retain its...

Launches and rebrands: Myspace.(MySpace.com Inc.)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Social networking website, Myspace, is reportedly in negotiations with fashion and lifestyle magazine, Nylon, about launching a proprietary offline magazine. The site has previously collaborated with the title in an online version of its...

Launches and rebrands: Coty.
September 14, 2006... Cosmetics manufacturer Coty has launched Intimate, a new perfume duo that expands brand Beckham into new territory. The two scents, dedicated to both footballer David and his wife Victoria, follow the launch last year of David Beckham's...

Launches and rebrands: Ryanair.
September 14, 2006... Irish no-frills airline, Ryanair, proposes to launch an in-flight mobile telephone service by the middle of next year. It signed an undisclosed deal with technology firm Onair to provide the roaming service. The airline will take a cut of the...

Financial: Diageo.(company sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Diageo, which owns the Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff brands, saw annual pre-tax profits climb by more than 11% to #2.15bn after strong growth outside Europe. The drinks company reported pre-tax sales up nine per cent to #9.7bn but remains...

Financial: Dell.
September 14, 2006... Computer maker Dell has revealed that its quarterly profits fell by more than half. Net income at the world's biggest PC maker, recently hit by battery recall issues, was $502m (#265m) for the period, well below the $1bn (#529m) profit...

Financial: China Mobile.(company sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... China Mobile has overtaken Vodafone as the largest cellular company by market value. It announced a record number of users, boosted by demand in rural areas, reaching 278.3 million people. The company's net profit rose 26% to RMB30.2bn...

Financial: British Airways.
September 14, 2006... British Airways has unveiled a 57% rise in first-quarter profits but is warning that the airline industry faces a tougher winter season with more promotions and discounted tickets. Pre-tax profits rose to #195m in the period, driven by...

Financial: Wal-Mart.
September 14, 2006... Wal-Mart's quarterly profits have dropped for the first time in a decade, after the world's biggest retailer was hit by a $863m (#456m) loss from the planned sale of its 85 stores in Germany. Second-quarter net income fell 26% to $2.1bn...

Financial: Adidas.
September 14, 2006... Adidas has reaped financial rewards from its World Cup sponsorship after second-quarter sales rose a bigger-than-expected 20% to E1.8bn (#1.2bn). The German sports-wear maker concentrated its marketing budget on the event, so overall costs rose...

Financial: Toyota.(company sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Toyota has overtaken Ford as America's second-largest car company by sales. July figures show that the Japanese carmaker's sales jumped 16%, while Ford's dropped 34%. Ford is also warning its second-quarter loss will be $254m (#134m) and...

Financial: Procter & Gamble.
September 14, 2006... Procter & Gamble has reported a 36% rise in quarterly profit. In the three months to June, particularly strong sales of the group's beauty and healthcare products helped lift earnings to $1.9bn (#1bn). The maker of Pampers nappies and Crest...

Financial: Unilever.(company sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Unilever has reported a four per cent rise in three-month sales growth and says it is confident of three to five per cent sales growth over the year. But some analysts claim that Unilever is being outperformed by Nestle, Danone and P&G. The...

Financial: Amazon.(company sales and earnings)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Amazon says quarterly profits have dropped to $22m (#11.6m) from $52m (#27.5m) in the same period last year, because of higher technology investment. The world's biggest online retailer has been spending heavily on development, including...

Numbers: IGD.(consumer spending)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Own-label food and grocery products will account for more than a quarter of the market across Europe within four years shows research from grocery research company IGD. By 2010, Europeans will be spending around E430bn (#290bn) on supermarkets'...

APPOINTMENT: Pepsico.(Indra Nooyi)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Pepsico has appointed its first female chief executive, Indra Nooyi. Currently the company's chief financial officer, Nooyi takes over from chairman and CEO, Steve Reinemund, in October. Reinemund will continue as executive chairman until he...

APPOINTMENT: SABMiller.
September 14, 2006... Brewer SABMiller has named former Cadbury Schweppes commercial chief, Nick Fell, as group marketing director. Fell has experience in the alcohol sector after a spell as global marketing director for Guinness and global brands director for...

APPOINTMENT: BMW.(Norbert Reithofer appointed)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Dr Norbert Reithofer, head of production, will succeed Helmut Panke as chief executive of BMW with effect from this month. Mr Panke has been forced to retire nearly a year before his contract was due to end. He will turn 60 and BMW has an...

APPOINTMENT: Vodafone.
September 14, 2006... Vodafone has appointed David Erixon as its global brand chief to replace Neil Simpson, who left the telecoms giant earlier this year. He will report to David Wheldon, global director of marketing and brand communications. Copyright:...

Brand Stunt of the Month: Happy hour in Hoxton.(Hoxton Hotel's marketing strategy)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Claudine Baker finds a luxury stop at a fraction of the price From Pret a Manger to 'Pret a Dormir'; Sinclair Beecham, who co-founded the sandwich chain, is offering holidaymakers and business travellers a place to stay for less than the...

Trendspotter: Get clued up.
September 14, 2006... Alfred Tong finds esoteric messages make brands more desirable American clothing brand Edoc is one of the first to tap into the cryptic message. Its t-shirts and hats look like those from any other skate or streetwear brand, but interwoven...

OPINION: Building partnerships in the new ecosystem.(Column)
September 14, 2006... Kevin Lewis, vice president of global business development at Philips Consumer Electronics calls for in-depth partnerships in an 'ecosystem' culture A good business is built on in-depth, wide-ranging partnerships. This is especially...

OPINION: A local brand for local people.(Company overview)
September 14, 2006... Niels Christiansen, vice president of public affairs at Nestle describes corporate social responsibility as a critical tool for the company strategy If we believe consumer surveys, the public has a very different view of corporate social...

Brand therapy: Airbus survives turbulence.(Airbus S.A.S., marketing strategy)
September 14, 2006... Airbus has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Its A350 plane has been deemed a poor relation to Boeing's more efficient, faster and ultimately less costly 787 Dreamliner. The company also announced delays in the production of...

Global trends watch: On the face of it.(marketing management)
September 14, 2006... How intimate should branding get? Ruth Mortimer asks if brands developing 'authentic' community personalities to interact with consumers will give companies that extra emotional appeal 'Anything but Cute' is a sweet little story full of...

PROFILE - SIMON THOMPSON: Answering the call up.
September 14, 2006... He shocked the marketing community when he announced he was leaving Honda and Simon Thompson's new role at Motorola is a real change of pace. Will he last the distance? By Morag Cuddeford Jones Simon Thompson, European marketing director of...

Q&A - SIMON THOMPSON: First, fast and fantastic.(question and answer with Motorola Inc.'s executive)(Interview)
September 14, 2006... The mobile phone market is fast, fashionable but above all fickle. Simon Thompson explains that pulling emotional strings is the way to keep customers loyal. By Morag Cuddeford Jones MCJ: Technologies seem to be converging into...

CASE STUDY - SEGA: Play it again, Sonic.
September 14, 2006... Games console maker Sega all but disappeared from the video games arena when it pulled out of hardware in 2001. Now it's back in a big way, but vows never to make consoles again. Claudine Baker reports Remember this slogan: "Genesis does...

CASE STUDY - SEGA: Timeline.(Chronology)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... 1983: Sega enters video game console market with SG-1000. 1989: Sega Mega Drive introduced worldwide - its most successful console. Sega was the second largest vendor of consumer video games behind former rival, Nintendo, but Nintendo still...

PROPERTY BRANDING: Branding the cities of god.
September 14, 2006... Property developing is no longer about showrooms and brochures. Kate Walsh looks at projects in progress around the globe and explains branding must be on the agenda from the outset For this story, I made a call to Clarence House, the...

PROPERTY BRANDING: Projects in progress.(major real estate development projects)
September 14, 2006... * New Songdo City in South Korea is being developed on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along Incheon's waterfront, 40 miles south of Seoul. Building work on this 10-year project commenced this summer. Its estimated cost is in excess of $20bn...

PROPERTY BRANDING: Hydropolis - the underwater city.(a planned resort in Dubai)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... While new branded cities and resorts on the moon are still just science fiction, architects have turned their attention to the sea. Hydropolis claims to be the first undersea resort, being built off the coast of Dubai, and its architects...

PROPERTY BRANDING: Poundbury.(real estate development in the town)
September 14, 2006... Poundbury is a new town located on the outskirts of Dorchester, England. The idea was conceived by Charles, Prince of Wales and is located on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Its design was heavily influenced by the New Urbanism movement,...

BRAND PAPERS - VIETNAM: Good morning Vietnam.
September 14, 2006... Vietnam may be behind India and China economically but its geography, infrastructure and work ethic set the scene for a boom, says Ralf Matthaes Vietnam: the name itself used to conjure up images of helicopters, soldiers clad in black,...

BRAND PAPERS - UNIFORMS: Dressing up the brand.
September 14, 2006... Increasingly, marketers recognise that a company's brand is not only communicated through expensive ads but a multitude of touch-points - from the livery on company cars to the uniforms worn by employees. Ensuring continuity of branding...

BRAND PAPERS - UNIFORMS: The public's perception of uniforms.
September 14, 2006... The public's perception of uniforms can inform design considerations and influence decision makers as to whether they should be introduced for employees. Nearly half of British adults (45%) said the main purpose of a uniform was to make...

Book review: Inclusive branding.(Book review)
September 14, 2006... Peter Simpson, chairman of agency Data Lateral and former commercial director of First Direct and head of marketing for parent bank HSBC finds Stefan Engeseth's ONE: A consumer revolution for business contains inspiration and few holes ...

Book review: Three from Peter Simpson.(Book review)
September 14, 2006... Life's a Game so Fix the Odds by Philip Hesketh Capstone Publishing (2005), #12.99 This book comes from another brilliant public speaker, focusing on the psychology of marketing. It helps us understand ourselves and our persuasive...

From the bookshelf of... Sarah Mason, marketing, Club Med.(The Baffled Parent's Guide to Sibling Rivalry )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 14, 2006... The baffled parent's guide to sibling rivalry By Marian Edelman Borden Marian Borden's book attempts to arm parents with a 'how to' manual and afford them a fighting chance at navigating sibling relationships. Her writing style is...

RESEARCH - BRAND MANAGEMENT: Tried and trusted branding.
September 14, 2006... Branding is becoming increasingly important as companies look to differentiate themselves in a global and competitive marketplace. Worldwide adspend topped $369bn (#199bn) in 2004; total worldwide communications services expenditure, including...

RESEARCH - CHINESE SPORT: China flexes its muscles.(sports brands targets China for marketing their products during 2008 Olympics)
September 14, 2006... The Olympic Games are coming to Beijing in 2008 and China is getting athletic. Sports brands are targeting the country like never before, while new sport-oriented retail chains are fast emerging. But how do the Chinese relate to sport,...

Brand Stats: September.(storage batteries usage and forecast)(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Market focus Dry batteries The purchasing levels of dry batteries vary substantially across Europe - from a low of 55% of adults buying them in Germany up to 79% in Britain. France leads the way for 'heavy users' (spending E20 (#13)...

ROUNDTABLE - SUSTAINABILITY: Branding for the future.(Discussion)
September 14, 2006... Global resources are diminishing but few are willing to claim responsibility. Is it up to big business to lead the way in sustainable behaviour? Brand Strategy assembles leading brands to examine the question Brand Strategy: How would you...

Nike: not just doing it for themselves.
September 14, 2006... Hannah Jones, vice president of corporate responsibility at Nike, outlines how it has made the business case for corporate accountability, sustainability, and answered the brand's critics Her name is Paw Wah. She's 15, plays guitar, sings...

Nike: Ninemillion.org.
September 14, 2006... Nike's involvement in ninemillion.org grew in part out of the company's work with refugee communities. We wanted to address education and other issues facing refugee girls. For example, we recently created specially designed and...

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL: No holiday from reality.(Thomson Travel Group undertakes socially responsible tasks)
September 14, 2006... Tourists are taking stock of their impact on far-flung destinations. Kimberley Kay outlines how travel company Thomson is moving towards sustainable travel for the ecologically-minded tourist Travel is all about escapism. It's about...

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL: Green projects.(travel industry services )(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... * Thomson Malta Heritage and Environment - was created in 1998 to work with local conservation groups to restore and preserve some of Malta's historical monuments. The scheme also gives donations to schools and a number of other Maltese...

RESEARCH - CLIMATE CHANGE: Consumption crisis.
September 14, 2006... Sophy Bristow and Simon Glynn demonstrate through their research that consumers want solutions, but lack the necessary information and signposting to make educated brand choices Concern about climate change is widespread. People's...

RESEARCH - CLIMATE CHANGE: Barriers to overcome.(Brief article)
September 14, 2006... Knowledge: Consumers' explanations of why the climate is changing are sometimes good, but can be non-specific and confused. Some say: "Ice caps are melting" with no real understanding why. At one extreme, a respondent believed the earth was...

RESEARCH - CLIMATE CHANGE: Roles for consumer brands.
September 14, 2006... Educator: Consumer brands can help overcome the knowledge barrier through education that caters to different consumer objectives. Some people will pay more to maintain their standard of living in a climate- responsible way. Others would rather...

SUSTAINABILITY: Green means go for dissatisfied consumers.
September 14, 2006... Sustainability is not about giving brands a 'green' label. It's an integrated approach to products and marketing that is driven by consumers' changing attitudes. Julia Hailes explains The buzz around the broad issue of corporate...

RESEARCH - MOST SUSTAINABLE BRANDS: Sustained leadership.(brand management)
September 14, 2006... What is the good behaviour that sets certain brands apart from the competition? Femke de Man and Aysa September reveal experts' advice about how to become a successful and sustainable company Concerns about climate change have increased...