Sometimes the conventional wisdom — no matter how fervently believed or widely accepted — deserves to be reconsidered in a new light. There is no shortage of perspectives on brand strategy, but when all the pundits agree, it’s time for a second opinion.
If we were to hold a contest to find the single word that at once inspires unbridled joy and abject horror, "clown" would undoubtedly make the short list. From the lovable cigar-chomping "King of Laughter" vagabond portrayed by Red Skelton to the malevolent mischief of the WWF's Doink the Clown to the classically trained <a title="Aguste C
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Ever wish you were more aware of the incredible things around you? Millions have answered this rhetorical question posed by location-based social media Wunderkind Foursquare, with an enthusiastic "Yes!" and have "unlocked their worlds" to earn points, props and perks by publicizing where in the world they are — also known as "check-ins." And where the people are, brands will follow. <a href="https://brandculture.com/blog/wp-content/up
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Another dispatch from our man on the Continent, this time probing deeply into...refuse bins? Two things caught our eye about this recycling container: <img class="alignleft" title="ENFO Brochure
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The usually illuminating Tony Spaeth has let our industry down big time. In his review of Starbucks' new logo, Spaeth repeatedly refers (and quotes Starbucks Chief Design Officer Steve Barrett referring) to the move as a 'rebranding'.
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Deposit Interest Retention Tax - that's what the Irish government formally named the tax levied on interest earned in bank accounts. In practice, the government and its taxpayers call it DIRT. It must be somewhat satisfying for Irish citizens to get to pass judgment on the tax every time they invoke its name, but somehow we don't think catharsis was what the Revenue Commission had in mind when they came up with this doozy. Rather, we think it's a case of monumentally bad naming. Pre
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Cartagena de Indias was formally founded as a city on June 1st, 1533, but the area in and around what is now Colombia's 5th largest urban area has been inhabited since 7000 BC. 9000 years later, the City's Tourist Office and Spanish design firm CIAC have unveiled the city's new identity:
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Welcome back loyal readers. We hope you all sent 2010 out with a bang, and enjoyed a restful and restorative start to the new year. Now let's get to it, shall we? We recently saw these nicely designed pieces on climate change and it got us to thinking - will 2011 be the year it's finally possible to look 'green' without using green?
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At the risk of broadcasting old news to those of our faithful readers who are current on their cover-to-cover perusals of The Economist, we offer the story of Ford Motor Company: an organization that understands the inextricable links between culture, operations and brand.
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Yesterday Sir Richard Branson announced the launch of Virgin's new magazine Project, available only on the iPad. We think that giving it an independent brand is an instructive decision for business leaders grappling with the brand architecture issues surrounding the launch of any new product or service.
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Our man in Ireland brings back this report in our intermittent series on poor choices in typography. In a nod to the Thanksgiving holiday and an effort to dull the sting of the government's latest austerity plan, he stepped into one of his wee locals, The Old Reliable – a pub so authentic that it still smells like a roomful of lit cigarettes, nearly seven years after the last one was sm
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