The news that General Motors is in talks with firms in China, Russia and India who might buy the Hummer brand is good news. There is no reason why the Hummer brand has to disappear, though it is obviously a niche brand. What it points out quite obviously is theMORE HERE
Great American brand names, when they return, not only elicit a burst of happy nostalgia, they can also make consumers buy things. Such is the case of the reintroduction of original formula Schlitz beer. Schlitz, with its unforgettable “Go for the Gusto” campaign, was one of the great national beerMORE HERE
There is an effort to bring back BNs, those British cookies with faces. The Bring Back BN site on Bebo says: “Remember those lovely curvey squared biscuits with the faces on called BN? Do you miss them? If so then this is your opportunity to help get them back inMORE HERE
Different brands get their mystique from where they are distributed. Shasta, the drinks brand, was born as a regional water company on the West Coast. The brand started as Mount Shasta Mineral Springs Company; according to the Shasta Museum it was founded in Dec. 6, 1889. The company also operatedMORE HERE
The news that the restaurant chains Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale have closed stores and filed for Chapter 7 means that two of the best-known groovin’ 1970s restaurant chains are now, well bankrupt, and many have lost their jobs. But there is a future for these brands. There is valuableMORE HERE
The game show What’s My Line might return to television, with David Hasselhoff as a regular. Hasselhoff, currently an America’s Got Talent judge, has been talking to producers FremantleMedia, the company that owns the rights to Goodson-Todman game shows. “They got a take on this. It is so friggin’ cool,”MORE HERE
On the re-naming process, when advertising folks gather in a room and cook up words, run them by trademark attorneys and focus groups, massage them with art direction, and bill companies for hundreds of thousands of dollars. They then send out all sorts of brand rules, and make folks onMORE HERE
It looks like Wal-Mart has become the museum of Great American Brand Names. Need a Vassarette undergarment? There it is, on the shelves, just like it’s 1942! For the last four years, Wal-Mart has sold Grapette soda. It sells the soda as a sub-brand of the Sam’s Choice store brand.MORE HERE
These days, the Brand Manager is a sort of oracle. Everyone talks about their “brand” and what happens to “brands” and protecting “the brand.” And even though there are brand managers everywhere, we wonder how great brand names could be lost, or be ruined. How are brands like Sears, Mercury,MORE HERE
On the way to church, walking down Palm Avenue in downtown Sarasota, a friend remarks on our daughter wearing a white smocked dress. She reminds him of his sister, wearing maBest & Co. and later shopping at DePinna with his mother. DePinna? What happened to DePinna? Lisa Birnbach in herMORE HERE