There must be an infinite number of possible names for someone tasked with re-branding a motel, yet on a recent trip to Iowa City to interview an amazing pool of law students, I captured some photos of what has been — for as long as I can remember — a Motel 6, and is
Re-Branding Can Be A Painful Experience
This roadside sign near exit 115 on Interstate 94 in Wisconsin was hard to resist capturing.
My first thought: I hope more care goes into the tattoo removal process than it took to create the cold, basic sign shown here.
And, hearing how painful tattoo removal is, the stark blood red letters don’t demonstrate an
Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…
—Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlashSM Name Development
Naming contests. Sounds like a good idea, right? A company needs a new name and it decides to engage its employees to come up with a new name. What could go wrong?
Well, you could end up with a name like Mondelez.
Just to be clear, I’m
7 Parenting Tips I Learned from Branding
—Ellen Sluder, Director at CoreBrand, LLC
Working in the brand strategy industry for the past eight years has irrevocably changed the way I view the world. It is nearly impossible for me to hear a company name, see their logo, or view their marketing messages without a critical eye. But I never really imagined the
Incongruity in Advertising?
My post from a couple of days ago, commenting on Chick-fil-A’s EAT MOR CHIKIN slogan and the associated Cow Campaign and advertisements, neglected to discuss an issue — one so important — that I’m compelled to raise it now, as it appears to have disturbed my otherwise healthy cognitive system.
It has disturbed me as much as one of my amphibian-loving
Visa Branding: A Combined Alpha & Brand Verbing Alert
We have been following the truncation trend to single-letter branding symbols for some time now.
Visa appears to be heading in this direction with the relatively new V logo:
Based on trademark filings at the USPTO, it appears Visa began using this single-letter V logo by itself back in 2008 with the launch of
Unintended Irony in a Business Name?
Common sense probably dictates that if you take the time and effort to create, build, and position signage to help sell what it is you’re selling, the sign should be visible, right?
Especially in these tough times, when you’re selling real estate, and this is the view from the road:
Then again, maybe not, especially if you’ve adopted a business
How Do You Know?
—Mark Prus, Marketing Consultant at NameFlashSM
I received a lot of terrific feedback on my recent Duets Blog post “When Should You Change Your Name?” Consider this Volume 2 in the series.
After you have decided to change your name, “How Do You Know When You Have Identified a Great Name?&rdquo
What’s Up with Dogs?
—Karl Schweikart & Susan Hopp, both of 45 Degrees/Minneapolis
I bet you’ve noticed this long-time naming trend: Having the word “dog” in the names of brands that have nothing at all to do with dogs or pets or even animals. What gives?
A quick Google search of the term “black dog” turned up these
When Should You Change Your Name?
—Mark Prus, Marketing Consultant at NameFlashSM
In my NameFlashSM name development business, I sometimes get asked by clients, “Should I change my brand name?” From a purely selfish standpoint my answer should be “YES!” because I get paid to generate names! But the reality is that there are times when you should not