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ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has voted to allow an unlimited number of new Top Level Domains. That means companies won’t be limited to just .com, but can go for.mcdonalds and .starbucks. On the face of it, the decision looks good for brands. But think again. The result could just be more [...] Last week, I had the pleasure of talking to Christopher Ibsen, Chief Marketing Officer of the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain. I was on the receiving end of his charming rebuttal of my comment about Pig Swig (Piggly Wiggly’s private label beer) being one of the growing ranks cheap beers fighting to be the lowest price [...] Are the SEALs the best? They sure have the best brand–especially after the bin Laden raid. Disney is just the latest company to try to trademark a SEAL brand, reserving “SEAL Team 6,” for entertainment uses, toys (including snow globes!) and clothing.
The other Tier One counter-terrorism unit, Delta Force, has not attained the same [...] The March 2011 issue of Success magazine features the article “Spend Your Way to Prosperity,” with recommendations for the best initial investments entrepreneurs should make. The article (you can preview here) includes a quote from Merriam Associates on spending money upfront to protect your brand with a trademark and by owning your brand in the [...] Anyone watching a minute or two of the Super Bowl knows how important brands are in the beer category. Yet some retailers are trying the generic angle again. In the 1970′s retailers tried plain white cans emblazoned with the word “BEER”. Thirty years later, they are taking a slightly more sophisticated approach. Last year, 7-Eleven launched [...] We’ve covered political brands and the subject of brands who are people or with value closely tied to a real person, but today, the web site Mediaite has broken the story of the trademarking of the name Sarah Palin. Pretty soon, that “R” next to her name won’t mean “Republican,” but “Registered Trademark.” It’s not unusual [...] Sports Business Daily reports that Los Angeles has got a corporate name for a stadium that hasn’t been built (it doesn’t even have permits or an architect) and has no NFL team. AEG, owner of Farmers Insurance, just paid $600 million for a 30 year lease on naming this non-existent thing. Farmers Field is being [...] Since Motley Fool has named 2011 “The Year of the Spin-Off,” we have covered a number of companies who have made a confusing mess of their brands. Corporate spin-offs have led to brand spin-outs for companies like Marathon and Motorola. Sara Lee is doing it right. The company is keeping its core food business under the [...] Bloomberg News is reporting that KFC is defeating all other fast food brands for dominance in China. By getting in early, tailoring its menu to local tastes (hamburgers are foreign, while fried chicken is well accepted), and hiring local decision makers, KFC stores in China contribute 36% of parent company Yum’s global operating profit. Bloomberg even [...] |
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