May 2009

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A picture can say a thousand words; so does a face. The same is probably true of non-verbal logos, including the several federally-registered “Chief Wahoo” logos, shown above (all apparently still in use by the “Cleveland Indians” professional baseball team, according to their latest trademark filings).

So, what do they say to you?

My take? I can think of quite a few words to describe them, but none includes the word “honor,” as is often the claim made by those in favor of keeping Native American mascots.

From my perspective, “Chief Wahoo” is the non-verbal equivalent of the Redskins racial slur that I blogged about last week.

Last month I blogged about Non-Verbal Logos That Can Stand Alone, and while “Wahoo” certainly can “stand alone” as a non-verbal logo, unlike the famous Nike Swoosh and McDonalds Golden Arches, “Wahoo” should simply “stand alone” in the corner of a dark closet with the door shut and locked.Continue Reading “Chief Wahoo” Re-Branding Underway? A Painful Lesson on Saving Face

What is Twitter? What’s a Tweet? Can I be Tweeted?  Will a Tweet hurt? Twitter is a micro-blogging portal that allows for sharing messages and links that are 140 characters or less and it is being talked about everywhere. This buzz is causing clients to ask questions, similar to those above, about what this space means for

Memorial Day is another example of successful re-branding: Memorial Day apparently used to be called Decoration Day.

Although most appreciate and understand that this federal holiday since 1971 comes on the last Monday in May, there is a concern that “many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day.” It is more than a three-day weekend, it is a day to remember those who have died in military service for our country.

After you have paid your respects on this Memorial Day, I have a suggestive branding challenge for you, below the jump, if you’re interested.Continue Reading A Memorial Day Suggestive Branding Challenge

It seems everyone is re-branding these days. George Stephanopoulos was talking about the need for the Republican party to re-brand during his show “This Week“. Should the party change its mascot from the elephant to a pig? Probably not. Pigs over-consume and that is not in vogue with the current state of the economy. In addition, the swine flu

–Dan Kelly, Attorney

The Minnesota Twins are opening a new outdoor ballpark next year.  At the end of last year, the Twins mailed me a nifty little digital timer that was pre-set to countdown to opening day for the 2010 season.  (These timers hit 500 days back in November.)  While I am an enthusiastic Twins fan, I am also admittedly a geeky engineer, and my first thought was, “I wonder if the battery is going to last until opening day 2010?”

Yesterday morning, I discovered the answer:

Let us hope that this is not some sort of portent for opening day 2010!

The Twins should look into getting their money back from the supplier.  This is a good reminder that in a contract for a supply of promotional goods, especially ones with batteries, make sure the seller warrants that they’ll do the job.

Now, for the really geeky engineer types, it looks like I will be able to replace the batteries and reset the clock.  Innards detailed after the jump.Continue Reading When Promos Go Wrong

Re-branding occurs all the time.

Re-branding occurs in business. Remember when Bell Atlantic became Verizon? Andersen Consulting became Accenture? How about when Philip Morris became Altria?

Re-branding occurs in politics too. Just days ago, Judson Berger discussed a kind of “re-branding madness” consuming Washington, D.C. right now: “Terrorist attack is out. — ‘man caused disaster’ is in.” Our friends at Catchword Branding had a lot of fun with the political re-branding of Swine Flu.

Re-branding even occurs in the world of professional sports. Remember when the NBA franchise Washington Bullets became the Washington Wizards in 1997 out of concern that the Bullets name of some twenty-three years (1974-1997) had acquired “violent overtones”.  How about the recent re-branding from the Seattle Supersonics to the Oklahoma City Thunder? Even the NFL has decided to recognize Cincinnati Bengal Chad Johnson’s re-branding to Ocho Cinco.

Re-branding changes, according to Wikipedia, are “usually in an attempt to distance [the brand] from certain negative connotations of the previous branding.” So, given the widespread meaning and understanding of “redskin” as “offensive slang” and that it is “used as a disparaging term for a Native American,” given the pain the term has caused, and given that the team’s helmets sport a Native American profile and not a certain variety of spud on them, why won’t the Washington Redskins get on the re-branding bandwagon in our nation’s capital? After all, even one of the attorneys at the same law firm hired by the team apparently has spoken out, read about the details here.Continue Reading “Re-Branding Madness in Washington” Overlooks Obvious: The Washington Redskins

Branding is a business of tiny rock hammers and wrecking balls.

Hear me out.

I’ve always believed that we can cull lessons from movies, so let me share one on branding success from one of my favorites, The Shawshank Redemption.

The main character, a banker named Andy Dufraine (Tim Robbins), is sentenced to life in