Noteworthy for their often highly controversial ad campaigns, some previously pulled or outright banned, Dolce & Gabbana released their Fall 2008 fashion ad campaign (top right).
Much to common fashionistas’ surprise, this clean-cut campaign may just spur buzz and debate for lacking the consistent and expected high-fashion-high-controversy material (Fall 2007, bottom right).
The question is whether or not this campaign a good representation of a brand often uniquely exploitive and controversial. Do the domestic dolls hinder the brand image or behoove it? Perhaps the clothes alone hinder the brand this time.
Amidst the McCain-Obama-Paris-Britney bullying, and in effort to garnish a previous Dove “Chocolate Skin?” post, we bring you Schwan’s UGLY Pizza. Just when you caught onto “looks aren’t everything” in the dating arena, and more recently in the democratic arena, it’s gone deeper into the dining arena.
Much like Dove’s approach to “Campaign for Real Beauty” Schwan markets their latest pizza shedding light on healthy foods, in a less-than-glamorous package.
And much like McCain’s recent celeb-based mudslinging tv spot, the new product also waves a red flag to look beyond glamor and more towards substance; Advocating that natural, high quality flavors leave a lasting mark.
del.icio.us is simply delicious.
The “del.icio.us” domain name was an example of a domain hack, an unconventional combination of letters to form a word or phrase. Del.icio.us, though not the first domain of this nature, is the best-known and most frequently-accessed domain hack. Del.icio.us and delicio.us now redirect to the new domain, delicious.com.
In an interview, Schacter explained how he chose the name: “I’d registered the domain when .us opened the registry, and a quick test showed me the six letter suffixes that let me generate the most words. In early discussions, a friend referred to finding good links as ‘eating cherries’ and the metaphor stuck, I guess.”
On September 6, 2007, Schachter said the website’s name would change to “Delicious” when the site was redesigned; the design went live 31 July 2008.
Now, this is Delicious.
While it’s no secret that Wal Mart products last about as long as a modern marriage, the impulsive Superstore child, Sam’s Club, has recently wed with Geeks on Call for PC service.
Admitting that the products they peddle are destined for failure, select Sam’s Club outlets will now offer on-call technology services in-home and in-office for participating members.
Notice that the Geek is playing pocket pool, and his glasses need a bit of repairing themselves, which is somehow supposed to signify that this guy really knows what to do with an allen wrench and a pair of tweezers. Your broken gizmo is in good hands.
Coming soon, on-call repair service for Wal Mart’s very own broken-when-you-buy-it iLo TV. Guaranteed broken with on-call repair service. Nice.
Brandweek has published their ranking of The Top 2000 American Superbrands, and it’s a real head-scratcher. Relying on a suspect “methodology” that is based on many factors, but highly weighted toward ad spending, here are their Top 5 American Superbrands:
- AT&T
- McDonalds
- Verizon
- Macy’s
- Sprint
The problem is, they are trying to quantify what a “Superbrand” is, and their numbers may add up, but not to anything that a consumer would recognize. This is the same fallacy that leads focus-group decision making toward weak names that have the ability to excite statisticians, but not people. For instance, if you look just at press, word-of-mouth buzz, overflowing retail stores, people lining up to buy their products, advertising and general cultural ubiquity, most people would agree that Apple should probably score very highly on a list of Superbrands. That, however, is not the case here.
The only two Apple products in the Top 100 are “Apple Macintosh Computer Systems” at number 86, and “Apple iPod Digital Audio Player-Recorder” at number 91. No clear reason why other entries are for a company, while for Apple they are for individual products — certainly “Apple” as a company entity would rank pretty highly on a rational list of top U.S. and international brands. Not only that, but some of the “Superbrands” that outrank Apple include, “Chevrolet Silverado Trucks” (32) (maybe Brandweek intends “Superbrand” to be understood in the same sense that Superfund is), “Empire Today Home Repair Services” (55), E-Surance Insurance-Auto (66), and in a head-to-head deathmatch of the brand titans, PeoplePC Website Internet Service Provider (90)!
It’s not like we’re trying to fluff up Apple, or join the iBandwagon, or drink their KoolAid, but whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to admit that Apple is a very powerful brand, and any list of “Superbrands” that puts them well behind the Chevy Silverado, a dinosaur facing extinction, and “Empire Today Home Repair Services,” makes you wonder if the statisticians who figured all this out might be the same ones who recently lost their jobs in the financial sector after failing to notice the tsubprime tsunami.
May the debate on Apple and religion continue. From Sunday Mass to Sunday Mac. Communion to Computer. All Mighty God to All Mighty Mouse. Eve’s real Apple. Circulating discussions about Appelism, the Apple Church, and various other religious exchanges on the overall Apple faith merely scratch the surface of an increasingly monopolistic Apple Inc. kingdom to sweep the Altars.
It is safe to note that Apple Inc., at the forefront of the digital world, continues to redefine “sacred time” — keeping designers, video monkeys and other creative worker bees at their office cubes working those iApps on their iMacs, with the iTunes from their iPods ringing in their iEars, occassionally interrupted by calls on their iPhones with their little iFingers clicking-beeping-tapping-buzzing-chatting away in their own little iWorld created by some iGod.
One can only imagine the iChurch, iCar, iFood, and then of course the line of pharmaceutical iDrugs to cure the iPsycho, iCrazy, iLost, iConfused illnesses.
But we’re not complaining. We’ve already drunketh from the grail of iCoolAid. Cheers.
Sometimes imitation is flattery, sometimes it demonstrates a complete lack of originality and / or corporate ethics.
Naming and branding parody site Landor has posted an article which they claim authorship of called “How not to name“, accompanied by a photo of Anthony Shore, head of global naming at Landor. It is posted on a section of their website that they ironically named “Thinking”.
Here is an except (from point 2, paragraph 3):
This “positivity principle” explains why a scandalous name (Virgin), a slur (Banana Republic), and a small, hairy larva (Caterpillar) are perceived positively.
And here is how this thought was written five years earlier, both on the Igor website and in the Igor Naming Guide:
Unless everyone understands the positioning and the correlation between it and an evocative name, this is the type of feedback that evocative names will generate:
Virgin Airlines
- Says “we’re new at this”
- Public wants airlines to be experienced, safe and professional
- Investors won’t take us seriously
- Religious people will be offended
Caterpillar
- Tiny, creepy-crawly bug
- Not macho enough – easy to squash
- Why not “bull” or “workhorse”?
- Destroys trees, crops, responsible for famine
Banana Republic
- Derogatory cultural slur
- You’ll be picketed by people from small, hot countries
The Landor article “How Not to Name” is written in a format that states popular misconceptions and the debunks them. Here they attack the mistaken idea that focus groups are helpful in choosing company or product names (from point 6, paragraph 1):
As a rule, it’s smart to entrust strategic business decisions to someone who trades an hour of their time for $25 and a few handfuls of M&Ms.
And here is how Steve Manning, co-founder of Igor, expressed the same idea 5 years earlier in an article in Elsevier Food International :
“If you’re trusting the future of your brand to a bunch of people who are willing to give up their time for $45 and a stale sandwich, you’re in trouble.”
Was Mr. Shore of Landor aware of Mr. Maninng’s quote? Of course he was, Mr. Shore was quoted in the very same article as Mr. Manning.
The final insult comes at the end of this “Landor authored” naming article:
© 2007 Landor Associates. All rights reserved.
Reached for comment, Anthony Shore, head of global naming at Landor had this to say.
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P.B. Loco admits they’re crazy up front with peanut butter a la curry, sun-dried tomato, and sun-ripened apricot, to name a few. Marketing themselves as the ‘Adult Peanut Butter’ P.B. Loco explores mature ways to incorporate peanut butter into a grown up diet.
Enjoy P.B. Loco in a variety of gourmet dishes like chicken satay and shrimp stirfry. These food folks were the kids in grade school who dipped their Cheetos in chocolate pudding, pretzels in yogurt, and now mix drinks while they cook. Not yet in California, P.B. Loco is inevitably bound for the SF kitchen crazies. P.B. Loco, P.B. Loco, P.B. Loco!
Fatten up your computer storage space with bacon, pizza, a slab of pork, or a burger. Simply inject the food into your computer’s USB outlet, and try not to get hungry while you’re working. Keep out of reach of children and animals (hungry people included).
NOTE: This product is not available to purchase with food stamps.
