BrandlandUSA

Israel does it. Virginia does it. Britain does it. Italy does it. They even do it on Marco Island, where old native Calusa artifacts helps to define an image of the city, and the Southwest Florida kingdom that they used to rule. It’s archeology, and it’s a very under-used weapon in tourism and place-branding. Most [...]

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SARASOTA – At the Mote Marine Aquarium here, there is a small cabinet of shark repellent brands. During World War II, the Navy tried to come up with ideas, and numerous brands were launched. They didn’t survive. Apparently, certain copper compounds do chase away sharks, but there has never been a definitive product that proved [...]

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MIAMI – There could not have been a more perfect Florida ambassador, and airline, than National Airlines. When the “Sunshine Airline” merged into Pan American World Airways in 1980, a uniquely Florida institution was lost. Arguably, it was the only airline that promoted a state as its marketing position and achieved national prominence with that [...]

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We get so obsessed with technology in advertising that we forget that it is still advertising. So it is great to see it when a simple advertising concept arrives. One such concept is Sarasota’s I Pedal Ads, a bicycle-powered billboard. In most areas, zoning and sign restrictions have become so severe that there are fewer [...]

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SARASOTA – Many of us can recall when IHOP wasn’t cool. Somewhere between 1980 and 1990, the chain got into the category of undesirable. It was so much so that the chain became a joke; comedienne Paula Poundstone’s “IHOP: It was a dream, I made it happen” routine about working at an IHOP came to [...]

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WINTER HAVEN – Cypress Gardens Adventure Park is thankfully ditching its disastrous foray into becoming a theme park, and will rename itself Cypress Gardens with an adjacent Splash Island Water Park. We wrote about the Cypress Gardens closing on Nov. 17 and the last day under old ownership for the park. Read our post entitled [...]

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PALM BEACH – Those search for defunct colognes and perfumes often have a hard time. An essay in The Wall Street Journal By André Aciman tells of his search for Aria Di Palma, a cologne his father wore at a New York store called Battaglia. Aciman found the cologne, after a long search, at the [...]

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PALM BEACH, NEW YORK – We all think we know the story of Lilly Pulitzer, of how she opened up a juice stand in Palm Beach, started printing up some fabric, sold it as skirts, and turned it into the fashion icon that it is today, with a little help from former schoolmate Jackie Kennedy. [...]

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WINTER HAVEN – Last weekend, the legendary theme park Cypress Gardens closed for four months while management said it would refocus on its water park and historic garden. In the process, it would drop its roller coasters and rides. This temporary shut down is not the first closure for the park, which has had a [...]

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A great brand can be a regional brand.And it does not have to be fancy or sophisticated. Ice. Beverages. Gas. What else do you need? It can be a ship’s store and a fishing tackle shop on a small island, like Gasparilla Island, Florida. Here, Whidden’s in Boca Grande. Whidden’s was founded in 1926, and [...]

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