Saatchi Goes Green

The goal of the venture is to establish a "sustainability agency of record for brands," said environmental activist and Act Now CEO Adam Werbach, who will lead the new unit, "as opposed to [environmental sustainability] being a philanthropic or PR afterthought."

Saatchi Opens Green Consultancy

Don't Stop Diddy, Diddy

Who among us has not considered changing our names to match the brand we originally created as an ode to ourselves?

Rebranding Diddy

TREND: The Expectation Economy

"The EXPECTATION ECONOMY is an economy inhabited by experienced, well-informed consumers from Canada to South Korea who have a long list of high expectations that they apply to each and every good, service and experience on offer.

Their expectations are based on years of self-training in hyperconsumption, and on the biblical flood of new-style, readily available information sources, curators and BS filters. Which all help them track down and expect not just basic standards of quality, but the 'best of the best'."

February Trend Briefing

Think Glolocal

"This time, Novak's idea might be the right one at the right time. The menus at East Dawning restaurants don't offer overtly American fare but still attract Chinese consumers because of the quality and service associated with an American brand. The formula developed by Yum's other banners overseas--cheap food delivered in cheerful surroundings--has provided a welcome mat for the company. Diner Frank Li, a project engineer on a trip from Suzhou, says the restaurant's link to KFC and Pizza Hut is a draw, not a drawback. 'Those places are good quality,' he says. 'You know what you're going to get. They are a very professional company that must know what it's doing, and I think the quality here shows that.'"

Kentucky Fried Rice

Lighting Up a New Identity

"A branding effort being introduced Thursday will seek to play down the full name and instead highlight the nonprofit’s initials, U.N.C.F. An updated logo will seek to communicate the changing direction of the group while putting renewed emphasis on the well-known slogan."

Revising a Name, but Not a Familiar Slogan
UNCF Case History by Landor

Now On Sale

"It's a growth rate issue, not an absolute product positioning issue. The ones they're selling aren't growing as fast as some other brands," said Bret Parrish, principal and portfolio manager at Johnson Investment Counsel in Monfort Heights.

Why is P&G on selling spree?

Are You Not Entertained?

Watch this. Smile. Chuckle. Nod knowingly. Pass it on.

The Mail on Sunday

A Good Reminder

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."

— Winston Churchill

Brand U

“While a traditional approach to brand building works for products that have identical characteristics, it is difficult to apply to service organizations, and other non-profit organizations that benefit from their complex characteristics. If we follow this view with respect to colleges and universities, then we understand the necessity to get as many people within the organization as possible involved in creating experiences that provide meaning and benefit.”

Two Schools of Thought on Branding Education

Aroma-Sell Fresh

"Female study participants in a room with a hidden chocolate-chip cookie scented candle were much more likely to make an unplanned purchase of a new sweater -- even when told they were on a tight budget -- than those randomly assigned to a room with a hidden unscented candle (67 percent vs. 17 percent)"

Aroma Of Chocolate Chip Cookies Prompts Splurging On Expensive Sweaters

Book It

"Smart managers will focus on innovation during the tough months ahead and come out swinging by the end of the year. This is what Apple tends to do so look to Apple—not for its products—but for its strategy."

10 Best Books On Innovation To Get You Through The Recession.

Auto-Rad

"Brown emerged as a luxe stand-in for black in the early 2000s, when Valentino, Donna Karan, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others, showcased suits, ball gowns and knits in saturated chocolate, toffee and caramel shades; the color recently filtered into automotive preferences. In 2007, 25% of Buick Enclaves sold were painted 'Cocoa Metallic,' and BMW AG's 2009 Mini Cooper Clubman will soon hit the streets in 'Hot Chocolate,' a warm brown."

How Clothes Make the Car

We're All a Little Misunderstood

New logo? Copy.

"Xerox and Interbrand, a brand consultancy that is a unit of Omnicom Group, spent more than 18 months interviewing some 5,000 people across the globe about their associations with the Xerox name. Then they set about figuring how they could best retain the nice things it stands for (dependability and stability), jettison the not-so-nice (formal, somewhat stodgy) — and, most importantly, add in such attributes as modern, innovative and flexible."

Xerox Hopes Its New Logo Doesn’t Say ‘Copier’
Xerox, The Very, Very, Very Shiny Company

Green Bee Gone?

"Today, the couple’s quirky enterprise is owned by the Clorox Company, a consumer products giant best known for making bleach, which bought it for $913 million in November. Clorox plans to turn Burt’s Bees into a mainstream American brand sold in big-box stores like Wal-Mart. Along the way, Clorox executives say, they plan to learn from unusual business practices at Burt’s Bees — many centered on environmental sustainability. Clorox, the company promises, is going green."

Can Burt’s Bees Turn Clorox Green?

Boxed In

"Andrew S. Grove, the co-founder of Intel, put it well in 2005 when he told an interviewer from Fortune, 'When everybody knows that something is so, it means that nobody knows nothin’.' In other words, it becomes nearly impossible to look beyond what you know and think outside the box you’ve built around yourself."

Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike

Under New Management

"Mark Serrianne, owner and CEO for the past decade of Cincinnati's Northlich, is stepping down and selling the agency to longtime Chief Operating Officer Kathy Selker."

Northlich Ownership Changes Hands but Stays Independent

Now About That Resolution ...

Navigating New Waters

"In Roberts' formulation, the brand navigator devises an overall message, then subcontracts the work to the relevant people--interactive shops, direct marketers, and so on. He is attracted to the concept, in part, because Saatchi would get paid based on the performance of the entire campaign rather than on the hours spent making ads. That would help him extricate the agency from the flagging traditional ad business. Roberts isn't the only advertising executive scrambling to reposition his agency as a brand navigator. Big names like TBWA, BBDO, and Ogilvy & Mather are doing so, too."

Struggles of a Mad Man