- Debbie Laskey, MBA There has already been too much written, rewritten, and discussed about the funny vs. annoying vs. heartwarming ads, the surprising power outage and why it happened, and the close score of Sunday’s Super Bowl, so don’t worry. I’m not going to focus this post on any of that. Instead, I have… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Budweiser
Product Placement in Movies
Posted in Branding, MarketingAs someone fascinated by the movie industry, I am always curious about product placement in movies. I wonder how strategic the placement of a product is. Sometimes product placements can be rather ostentatious, as in “The Devil Wears Prada,” where fashion is central to the movie’s plot, and other times it is much more subtle…. Continue Reading
Grab Some Buds and Pop a Red Top (or Tab)?
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Product Packaging, TrademarksGiven how much we know you enjoy the subject of non-traditional trademark protection, here is a recent one from Anheuser-Busch: The description of the mark reads: “The mark consists of a design feature of product packaging, namely, a red colored tab on a can, which features a crown design that is transparent. The dotted lines… Continue Reading
Budweiser: Not The King of Generation Y
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, Goodwill, Guest Bloggers, International, Marketing, Television—David Mitchel, Norton Mitchel Marketing Budweiser, the self-proclaimed King of Beers, announced a marketing initiative this week to broaden its appeal to drinkers ages 21-30. Although Budweiser is an immensely popular global brand, it has had difficulty in the United States market in recent years. In the US, Budweiser sales volume was down 9% in… Continue Reading
What Sells Your Product?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Domain Names, Marketing, Search Engines–Dan Kelly, Attorney Which of these two signs (generally speaking, not these specific signs) do you think has sold more beer? or It stands to reason that COLD BEER signs have probably moved more product than BUDWEISER signs in the history of time, but, as with all things, context is important. Merge the above train of thought with… Continue Reading
To Sponsor or Ambush? Part II – The Ambushers
Posted in Mixed Bag of Nuts–Susan Perera, Attorney As promised, here are the ambush ads in direct competition with the FIFA sponsors shown yesterday. Are these companies deceptively benefiting from these ads? Please share your thoughts. Pepsi: Nike: Carlsberg:
To Sponsor or Ambush?
Posted in Advertising, Infringement–Susan Perera, Attorney The World Cup has come to a close. Have you fallen into football withdrawal? Well don’t despair, I thought we could enjoy it a bit longer with a discussion of ambush marketing and some of the advertising campaigns that came out of this year’s championship. Clearly, major sporting events are financed largely by sponsorships,… Continue Reading
Super Bowl Advertising: A Super Media Buy?
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, TelevisionThe Super Bowl is much more than a football game to determine a champion; it is a cultural phenomenon. One of the most important elements of Super Bowl Sunday isn’t the on the field action; it is the commercials on television during the breaks in the action. For companies that want to advertise during the… Continue Reading
G Doesn’t Grasp Successful Marketing
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Product Packaging, TrademarksIn November, I wrote about how Gatorade’s 2009 re-branding as G has been a complete failure. G was an ill-conceived approach to slowing sales in 2007 and 2008. It damaged brand equity, confused consumers and didn’t reverse the trend of falling unit sales. In the final paragraph of my last blog, I noted that PepsiCo… Continue Reading
Duets Blog Authors
Steve Baird
Just so you know, I'm all about brands and the law, both professionally and personally. I regularly annoy family and friends in retail stores by focusing on product labels—not to buy the product, but to read the fine print and ask, "Who owns these brands" and "Did they really register those marks?" More...
Brent Lorentz
Although I wish I could say my path to the law was the result of a lifelong dream or calling, it was more the result mere curiosity and an affinity for leather-bound books. More...
Tiffany Blofield
Although my initial career path was to be one of the Supremes (not the musically talented ones with platform shoes and sequins, but rather, the nine wearing sensible shoes and pressed black robes in DC), I will likely stay in Minnesota as I have never lived anywhere else. More...
Brad Walz
My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). More...
Derek Allen
In hindsight, writing about creativity and the law may have always been in the cards for me. I began training for a career in litigation at an early age by finding ways to disagree with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. In my longest-running “case,” I argued with my middle school math teacher, Mrs. Jabs, for the better part of four years over whether, even if I got the right answer, I had to show my work to get full credit. More...
Martha Engel
Although my interest in gadgetry and my aptitude for math eventually led me to become an engineer, my ad executive father and artistically gifted mother fostered an appreciation for the creative from a young age. More...
Anjali Shankar
When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved writing short stories. Creativity and imagination seem to come naturally to people when they are young. More...
Timothy Sitzmann
I have always considered myself to be a creative person. Full disclosure: I'm not claiming that I've created anything good, merely that I have created things that exist.More...
Cathleen Dahl
Trademarks and I met through a small job advertisement in the back of a local newspaper, and little did I know that I would spend the next 18 years (and counting) deriving a living from their existence and importance. More...