BrandCultureTalk

With Republicans accusing Obama of buying the vote and the uproar over $150,000 wardrobes just subsiding, it’s a dangerous time for an expensive half-hour infomercial.
While the Obama campaign has largely been a model of branding perfection, its occasional outsized confidence (Berlin? Greek Columns? Thoughts of delaying the Phillies’ victory when Pennsylvania is a game-changer?) may […]

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There are a few meta-brands that can be many things to many people (Coca Cola and McDonalds, for example), but the vast majority of brands can’t, and too many die trying. We submit that this is a lesson that every organization needs to learn, including a company we’re keeping an eye on: Zipcar.
In today’s economically […]

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It seems that Microsoft’s new Gates/Seinfeld TV commercial is the ad that everyone loves to hate. If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:

Now that you have (and if you’re not already navigating to your own blog to write yet another anti-Microsoft/anti-Seinfeld diatribe), we encourage you to sit back, take a breath, and consider […]

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If you can peel your eyes from the image below long enough to read the white text, this recent billboard for the CW’s teen drama Gossip Girl demonstrates a branding trend we’re seeing more of in the wild.

Apparently adhering to the adage that “any press is good press,” the billboard revels in its unfavorable review […]

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Let’s play a little game of “Match the Blockbuster Drug to its Possible Side Effect”:

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If you’re one of this blog’s innumerable devotees, you know that one thing we believe great brands have in common is that they make hard choices. Take one of our favorites: Scion.

Scion’s design and marketing target decidedly outside of the mainstream, even if you limit the audience to car buyers under 35. But if you […]

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In these modern times, there’s still a kitchen item you can give a woman as a present that counts as a real gift, rather than a gender stereotyping offense. I found out the hard way at Christmas ’06 that it’s not an immersion blender. No, it’s the KitchenAid stand mixer – a product whose throwback design and positioning hit a number of consumer sweet spots and command a serious price premium at retail.

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