An overwhelming number of social media “experts” are calling for companies to surrender control of their brands to a social media empowered public. Even Forrester Research went as far as to suggest that the day of the “brand manager” is dead, calling for a complete overhaul of marketing, in which brand managers are replaced by “brand advocates.”

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Contrary to what some believe, Santa Claus was not created by the Coca-Cola Company, but rather was a combination of many myths and legends, cultures and influences.

Snopes confirms that the myth is just that. However, in the spirit of the holiday we have provided a brief history of Jolly Old St Nick.

The American version of Santa Claus was brought to New York by 17th century Dutch settlers. They called him “Sinter Klaas.” The name “St. A Claus” appeared in the American press as early as 1773. But it was Washington Irving who, in 1809, first popularized Saint Nicholas with his History of New York, published under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. Irving described a Claus who rode horseback and arrived each “Eve of Saint Nicholas.” Fourteen years later Clement Clarke Moore penned The Night Before Christmas and gave solidity to the tale with names for reindeer, a distinctive laugh and winks, as well as the famous “lays his finger aside of his nose” (taken directly from Irving’s 1809 description).

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Marketing and finance don’t always see eye to eye on the subject of branding (or should we say, the value of branding). Many creatives don’t fully understand the numbers and few finance people can quantify or qualify creative. These issues may stem from semantics, as each defines “value” quite differently.

Depending on whether you’re on the marketing side or the financial side of the business, branding is either viewed as an investment or as an expense. Those who see it as an expense, are unlikely to see returns, and those who can’t articulate the value that branding can bring are unlikely to attain a budget that is sufficient to carry out their claim. If your message isn’t being well received, it’s up to you to change the delivery—when talking to finance people, talk brand in financial terms. (more…)