BrandlandUSA

Editor:

BrandlandUSA started in 2006 when writer and editor Garland Pollard decided to start about his favorite brand names for the web. He was hooked, and then he found out lots of other people missed their favorite brands too. In 2006, he started blogging on the subject, and found intense consumer interest in the history and lore of notable brand names and launched BrandlandUSA.com on its own site in the fall of 2008. He lives in Sarasota, Florida, where his company Black Cow Press builds and helps companies develop websites. Visit his freelance writing website at www.garlandpollard.com.

Contributing Editors:

Covering everything from Aaron Burr and 1920s architecture to women’s boxing and the most improbable high school football champion in Virginia history, Matt Gottlieb has written for magazines and newspapers since his long-haired days in 1998. His articles have caused small — but fundamental — historical revisions in the Old Dominion’s race relations and Japanese-American football. Currently living in subtropical Okinawa and sporting closely cropped hair, spends his spare time snorkeling.

Being from a large South Carolina family, Devane Hope has always had an interest in product families (brands and their “family trees”) and their often fascinating genealogies and surprising relationships. With a great fondness for anything retro, dating products by their logos, packaging, and advertising also provides hours of fun, especially for mid-century modern “baby boomer” classics. Finally, as a wordsmith and lover of great storytelling, he relishes discovering all the great iconic brand “characters” that lurk everywhere: their names, advertising, design, history, and cultural impact. He is especially interested in brand loyalty and how these inanimate objects garner such strong emotions in the hearts of consumers.

Jackson, Mississippi native Dooney Tickner has been a Destin, Florida resident since 1987.  He holds a B.A. in History and English from Belhaven College. For 12 years, he was director of the public library in Destin, then worked as a manager for iconic shoe brand Johnston & Murphy and for Books-A-Million.  His first “real job” was as a “Johnson Guy” at the Howard Johnson North restaurant in Sarasota. The study of brand history has been a lifelong pursuit. He currently owns Dooney’s Book Company in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Contributing Writers and Guest Columnists:

BrandlandUSA publishes guest columns and book excerpts on branding from advertising executives and thought leaders. Recent columns have included insights by Bob Seelert, Steven Addis, Tom Parrette and Ed Foster.