Brand Tagging
My daily quest for branding industry news led me to an interesting Blog project by Noah Brier. His project, called Brand Tags, aims to get reactive consumer perceptions of specific brands/brand logos. The voter is asked to give the first top-of-mind word or phrase that comes to mind when seeing the brand logo.
See how your favorite brand is viewed.
Brand Tags
By: Kelly Wilson
Hurricane Naming
The start of hurricane season is upon us and I was curious as to how do they go about deciding on the names for hurricanes? Do several meteorologists sit around a round table and brainstorm over a few cocktails? Well after researching the topic on the National Hurricane Center’s website, I discovered that there was quite a whirlwind of a history surrounding naming hurricanes (no pun intended, of course).
Originally hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the closest Saint’s Day in which the hurricane occurred. Then, latitude-longitude positions were put to use to differentiate among hurricanes. This naming strategy led to difficulty in communication and it was decided that distinctive names were more succinct and less prone to error.
1941: In George R. Stewart’s 1941 novel, Storm, a women’s name is first used to designate a storm.
During World War II, female naming strategy was put into practice.
1951: United States decided to develop a methodology to name storms by a phonetic alphabet. This was method was slightly confusing.
1953: U.S. weather services returned to using female names.
1978: Both genders were being used to designate storms in the Eastern Pacific.
1979: Male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico as well.
The name lists are agreed upon at international meetings of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Six lists are used in rotation (again no pun intended). Thus, the 2006 list will be used again in 2012.
By: Trista Thielker
Sign Language & Branding
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As I was reading (and watching) more about The Gratitude Campaign, I noticed that the sign in the video for “Thank You” was different than the American Sign Language (ASL) one I knew.
That got me curious about how the Deaf community creates new signs. New words are introduced all the time, in all languages, by new inventions, new slang, and, our favorite, new brands.
NASCAR-mania
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If you love stock car racing, surely you’ve been in a souvenir shop and pondered purchasing yourself a NASCAR mug or hat. And if you’re a big fan, maybe you’ve visited the online NASCAR superstore and ordered a checkered flag dog collar for your poodle, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. denim shirt for that special someone, or a Jeff Gordon pacifier for your kid.
But for those uber-fans out there, the NASCAR name stretches far beyond what you can buy at the official store. Dozens of companies use the name under license, making it possible for race junkies to literally eat, sleep, and breathe NASCAR. Check out just a few of the items I found online:
NASCAR bandages
NASCAR burger patties
NASCAR caskets (yes, you read that right)
NASCAR chainsaws
NASCAR cologne
NASCAR couches
NASCAR grills
NASCAR high heels
NASCAR hot dogs
NASCAR mangoes
NASCAR salami
NASCAR sunscreen
NASCAR underwear
NASCAR vacuums
And my personal favorite, NASCAR romance novels (through a partnership with Harlequin).
Happy shopping racecar fans!
Contributed by: Maghan Cook
NASCAR, Marketing, & Receding Economy
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Every media channel is buzzing with talk of a possible receding economy and I started wondering how this might affect future marketing initiatives. I then came across an article titled, Racing through Recession: Brand Lessons from the Daytona 500.
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You say tomato, I say Mortgage Lifter?
Spring is upon us and I’ve spent a lot of time flipping through gardening books, perusing the local nurseries, and trying to decide what to plant. Every time I thought I had made a selection, ok so I’ll plant the tomatoes here, another question would inevitably crop up. (Who knew there were that many different tomato varieties out there?)
Looking through seed catalogs I was actually struck by some really interesting tomato names. One of the tomatoes I came across, the Mortgage Lifter, turned out to have a great back story. Apparently, sometime in the early 20th century, a West Virginia auto repairman known as Radiator Charlie created an extremely popular tomato. In just four years, Charlie paid off his $6000 mortgage by selling his tomato seedlings for $1 each. How ‘bout them love apples?
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Vamos a Wal Mart!
It’s rough out there. The GDP is growing at an anemic rate, and while experts may not be using the R-word just yet, there is no doubt that we are in an economic downturn. And with a sluggish economy comes consumers who are more and more selective about where and why they spend their money.
So one can assume that this is probably not the best time for a value superstore to rebrand one of its flagship stores . . . right?
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Repositioning Your Look
Liposuction: the removal of fat from deposits beneath the skin using a hollow stainless steel tube (called a cannula) with the assistance of a powerful vacuum. Umm, no thanks.
Mommy makeover: a cosmetic procedure to help moms regain their youthful, confident, self-assured figures after pregnancy. Wait a minute … that might apply to me …
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Half Greek, Half Latin: Politics !*@!
C.P. Scott, a British journalist, publisher and politician was once quoted as saying: "Television?
No good will come of this device. The word is half Greek and half Latin. "
Some of you might have wondered about the “good” of another device this week: the telephone. Although the origin of the word telephone is completely Greek, prior to the North Carolina primaries on Tuesday, I myself pondered its overall merits. In truth, I was ready to unhook the thing. Hounded by Hillary, barraged by Barak, I actually experienced a sense of relief after seeing the no message light on my answering machine Wednesday evening. Nothing like an election year to make one think about the meaning of the word campaign (especially, a Linguistics geek like me).
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Defending the Empty Vessel Approach to Naming
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Maghan Cook, Verbal Branding Associate for Addison Whitney, was recently published in the May 2008 issue of PharmaVOICE. Please click here to view an abstract of her article on Defending the Empty Vessel Approach to Naming.
By: Trista Thielker