We continue to have Super Bowl LII on our minds here in the Twin Cities. It’s hard to avoid thinking about the upcoming “Big Game” with ads like these blanketing our skyway maze:
Turns out, everyone wants to have a little piece of the action in this upcoming event, even without the
Let’s suppose you’ve been asked to search and clear the name of a bar, without seeing the design mark in the upper right and lower left hand corners of this photo (from a recent trip to Boston):
When I first saw this design logo, I thought the name was probably W Bar, so you know
Absorbing all the television commercials in between football action on the field can be as much fun on Super Bowl Sunday as the actual game itself, at least for trademark and marketing types, especially when your favorite team isn’t even on the field.
One of my personal favorites from this past weekend’s Super
Earlier this month, Seth Godin wrote an interesting blog post called "The overwhelming fear of being wrong." In it he writes:
"Almost every marketer I know underestimates how widespread this fear is. It is the lone barrier almost every product and service has to overcome in order to succeed."
Fear of being wrong
Would it surprise you to learn that not all trademark types are created equal? I didn’t think so. Like any profession, some of the professionals are better and more gifted than others. A few are much better. And, if bell curves have any application here, a few are much worse too.
In the inaugural post for DuetsBlog, last March, we introduced a type of trademark attorney known as "Dr. No," and we discussed how he or she likes to focus on the "Parade of Horribles" instead of creative solutions to difficult and important problems:
The underlying personal brand promise for this lawyer is to say “no,” early and often, believing an enormous hourly rate is still justified by citing a multitude of technical and valid legal reasons in support of the unhelpful answer. He is obsessed with saluting to the Parade of Horribles. He is typically part of the problem, not the solution. Perhaps repeated frustration with this kind of Dr. No is what motivated one cartoonist to brand (uh, jab) the “trademark attorney” as “the most basic figure," at least in the world of Art.
Avoiding the "Dr. No" moniker and mindset should not be the only goal of trademark types. There is clearly room for improvement in our profession in other areas too.
Gather ’round, it’s time to meet J.D. Waffler.Continue Reading J.D. Waffler: The Art of Taking a Position
Last month I came across this enormous, larger than life, banner advertisement hanging from the exterior of a casino on our way to the backwoods of Wisconsin.
Of course, this promotional piece took me back to my early childhood and called to mind my long lost enormous collection of Matchbox brand Hot Wheels toy cars and racetrack, but it appears there is no connection with the miniature toy vehicle maker — the winning prize was not a toy replica, but a genuine 2011 Ford Mustang.Continue Reading “Hot Wheels” Casino Promotion: Apparently Not a Toy Story