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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 [...] The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers is different in the same old way again. Today they announced they are the Association of Global Automakers, which from 1975 to 1990 was known as Automobile Importers of America. Oh, and they have a new logo made of interlocking swooshes in varying shades of blue that symbolizes how [...] Another brand slips into the past. The once great General Foods brand has been dropped from the last product Maxwell House Coffee (will that brand survive the decade?) Once one of the biggest brands in the grocery store, General Foods died slowly through acquisition. The generic nature of the name (confused with General Mills from time [...] Corporate restructuring can make perfect financial sense, yet create a perfect mess out of the brand. Take Marathon Oil, which just announced it is spinning off its “downstream” refining and retail operations. Those low margin businesses drag down the finances of the whole company, so a spin off is a shrewd move. Still, calling one company [...] This blog has railed against the dishonesty behind doublespeak and the long-term damage such “cleverness” can do to the integrity of your brand (i.e. Toyota renaming a “recall” as a “special service campaign”). Using gobbledegook in your brand communications is less sinister, but it still inhibits clear, compelling communication and it definitely can bore your [...] Today’s Wall Street Journal Law Blog has an interesting article on naming laws and statutes. This is an area I have covered a time or two from a branding perspective. Naming anything is actually an act of persuasion–your name says something about your company, product or idea for a new law or policy. It’s no [...] Automotive News is reporting the Jeep Wagoneer brand will be back in car showrooms come January 13th. The Brand That Invented the SUV The brand pioneered the concept of the sport utility vehicle in 1965. Though it was discontinued in 1993, the brand still has it’s fans: “That was such an awesome rig!” enthuses one Wagoneer devotee. [...] The book Doublespeak by William Lutz defines the term as language that: Pretends to communicate but does not Language should serve communication, but doublespeak is about “misleading, distorting, deceiving, [...] Interpublic’s hyper-local media agency Geomentum (whose brand name was created by Merriam Associates last year), was selected by MEDIA magazine as a specialty agency of the year for 2010. The awards was based on the company’s strategic vision, innovation and industry leadership. A profile of Geomentum and its achievements will appear in the [...] |
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