Salience is a much bigger challenge than differentiation, and codes are the way to achieve it – but using them creatively first requires decades of consistency.
By adopting Liverpool FC’s red colour to celebrate its long association with the club, Carlsberg continues to play with its distinctive assets in a way that revitalises the brand.
Mastercard dropping its name from its logo demonstrates branding strength most companies lack – and it’s all down to the sustained and consistent use of highly distinctive assets.
Byron Sharp’s recent claim that it is ‘impossible’ to place a value on brand perceptions is not just mistaken, it is a rejection of true scientific method.
Leeds United last week conspired to create the worst rebrand in history, but the club’s response to fans shows how much passion and character still surrounds a brand languishing far below its competitive peak.
Burberry has finally parted ways with its totemic chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, leaving a tough task to find someone equally able to represent its brand DNA of functional, accessible luxury.
The Natural Environment Research Council’s competition to name its new boat is the latest in a cavalcade of crowdsourcing disasters, demonstrating that consumers are a bunch of brand-haters.
What a week for rebranding eh? I simply can’t remember a seven days like it in the whole history of marketing.
Even by the most horrendous standards, 2014 has been an astonishingly bad year for Malaysia Airlines. First came the disaster of MH370 and the ongoing search for the crew and passengers lost somewhere across the Indian Ocean. Then came the equally haunting loss of MH17 over the Ukraine.
When the concept of near field communication payment, or NFC mobile payment platforms, as they are known, became popular at the start of the decade, there was a rush from several suppliers to claim the lead.
After the M&A people have done their work, then comes the branding bit. With the Dixons and Carphone Warehouse deal complete, the newly merged leadership team must get to work on how they will brand their new beast.
Accounting powerhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers completed its acquisition of management consulting firm Booz & Co last week. The deal instantly added about $1.5bn (£897m) to PwC’s top line. It also threw up something of a branding issue.
Don’t let the Simon Bramhall brand fade. Wield your argon gas with pride, and if you need a branding consultant, I’m your man.
Regular readers will know that there is no bigger fan of the big accounting firms than your humble columnist. Over the years their combined attempts at branding have provided me much fodder as examples of strategies that undermine the firms’ respective positions as advisers on corporate strategy.