Stefan's Branding Blog

Momspit

The 'most wonderfullest' name I've come across lately, via BB: Momspit! Honest, alive, showing ingenuity and cojones--what more could one want from a brand name?

Silver at Pentawards

Well, good things just don't wither. Transavia's old product packaging just won a Silver award at Pentawards, a dedicated worldwide competition. Yay!

The Bank Of New York Mellon

Nice rebranding job following an M&A process, spotted on a blog you all should read. Too bad the name now calls for a horticultural emergency response, prossibly in the form of an apple-shaped, -sized and -tasting (water)melon.

And to think a simple dash would have prevented the odd name... What is wrong with 'Mellon-Bank of New York' or 'The Bank of New York-Mellon'? That is, while we all wait for the BNY Mellon moniker to gain currency (the bank's own web address is already using it)?

Employer branding

I met Richard Mosley last Tuesday at a conference on employer branding, a topic he helped introduce a few years ago into the minds of CXO's and HR managers across the world.

If you want to do corporate branding nowadays, his book on the topic is mandatory reading.

Mind the (New) Product

Read this article. Now. The finale reads:

Every CPG company needs new products to generate organic growth. And most marketers recognize the need for and value the involvement of "creativity" in the new-product-development process. So why, then, are most new products dull and boring imitations and duplications? Incorporating creativity in the new-product-development process can help grow your brand and your company and help your product become a media darling.

I sense an opportunity for branding specialists to start offering creative thinking to their corporate clients that goes well beyond a brand strategy, identity or communication campaign. A consultant that were creatively involved not only in the brand but also (and equally) in the product development process may well be tomorrow's killer agency and a possible way to prevent the demise of the traditional marketing shop. Oh yes, the business model would also change under such circumstances, more likely going towards profit-sharing and renouncind fee-based thinking.