Jan|18|2010
Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher
Having a great product is no longer a guarantee of success. A Bain & Co. survey notes that 80 percent of CEOs believe that their product is differentiated, but only 8 percent of consumers agree. To truly stand out in the market, a product must embody the characteristics of its brand. But, with all the hoopla around branding, it’s no wonder that companies are continually lured into believing that their brand is their product and their product is their brand.
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Posted in Brand Expression, Brand Identity, Brand Management, Brand Strategy
Dec|28|2009
Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher
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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Posted in Brand Expression, Brand Management, Brand Strategy
Dec|14|2009
Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher
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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Tags: Clement Clarke Moore, Coca-Cola, Diedrich Knickerbocker, Haddon Sundblom, History, Jolly Old St. Nick, Origin, Santa Claus, Sinter Klaas, The Night Before Christmas, Thomas Nast, Washington Irving
Posted in Brand Expression, Brand Identity, Brand Management, Brand Signals, Brand Strategy
Coca-Cola and Santa Claus
The “Value” of Brand
What is strategy?
Subtractive Thinking
