Our thoughts on all things brand related.
Robot writing is not communication
A recent New York Times Sunday business column profiled the efforts of a startup that has developed software purporting to take data and automatically turn it into natural language articles that appear to be written by a real person. As someone who makes his living as a writer, naturally I am disturbed by the long-term implications.
The new technology is intended to be a way to present raw data in a way that is more understandable and consumable by humans, and thereby improve communication. However, it marks the top of a slippery slope. Technology has a nasty habit of changing how people think. It shapes our expectations and standards. Continue reading
What’s in a name?
A small yet important change is part of rebranding our firm – the presentation of our name. In print, it had been properly expressed as BrandLogic. Now, we’ve made it one contiguous word: Brandlogic.
Why is that important? It has to do with what a name communicates to the marketplace and what it says about the organization. In our case, we have two pieces of information that we need to get across. First, that we are at our core a brand consultancy, and second, our credo: Ideas that Drive Performance.
The name of the firm itself does a good …
Naming that works: Put yourself in their shoes
By now we’ve all heard the jokes about the unfortunately named Apple iPad tablet computer. (We’ll leave it to you to fill in the punchline for the name of a hypothetical widescreen version.) It’s clear that the company was a bit tone-deaf when the name was chosen, exposing Apple to the kind of derisive humor usually reserved for Microsoft.
Finding opportunity in perceived threat
With the holiday season upon us, we’re taking a look at one of the big hit gifts of the last few years and how a leading industry company leveraged it to create a brand-building opportunity. Continue reading
Hero Brands, Part II – The difference between “hero” and “zero.”
In my last blog entry I noted that some brands have taken on a certain leadership role in society. They have become today’s heroes – supplanting individual luminaries in that role – and as a society we’ve become very comfortable with the idea of turning to them for invention and innovation.
What does this mean for businesses today? It’s both an opportunity and a potential trap. Reaching the brand status of an Apple or a Google is certainly a worthy goal, but first we must ask what makes one brand a “hero” and another a “zero.” Continue reading
Hero Brands, Part I – The rise of brands as respected leaders
Having had one of the big “oh” birthdays this year, I’ve reached an age at which I find myself reflecting on how the world has changed since I was a kid. One thing that has struck a chord with me is how much we follow and look to big companies for new ideas. Brands have become our heroes.
