Many companies, large and small, are faced with the idea that a brand name might die off, might have died off or be struggling. Macy’s killed off great brands like Marshall Field’s, Burdine’s, A&S, May Company, Foley’s and the like. They lost massive market share, and did not have to. TheirMORE HERE
NEW YORK – Colgate Palmolive is taking a smart path with some of its older brands, namely Speed Stick and Irish Spring. In recent weeks the company has updated advertising for the products, and included them in coupon supplements mailed with the Wall Street Journal and other publications. Colgate can illMORE HERE
* Editor’s note from 2021; the product is only available in limited quantities, and is no longer available as a new product in the U.S. BALTIMORE – There were no big parades in Baltimore in 2014, when Unilever’s brand Noxzema celebrated its centennial. It was hardly noticed there, though thereMORE HERE
Ever since Pinnacle Brands purchased Duncan Hines, they have shown that a tired old brand that seems to be tired can quite easily be revived if you pay attention to it. This week, Walmart has been displaying new products from the Duncan Hines brand, including a small “Perfect Size” cake andMORE HERE
NEW YORK – Part of the whole point of branding is to teach that as a company, you want to get to the eternal, the brand that never changes, the brand that customers trust and suppliers fight to sell to, the brand you never need to advertise because it is soMORE HERE
Yangon, Myanmar – In every city, there are dozens of historic local brands that once defined a city, but have disappeared. The challenge is that often they were retail brands named after people or families, and a revival is, seemingly, a bit challenging. The store goes, the city changes, and anMORE HERE
As a social service agency or company or government mandated service, the only brand you need is really your business name, and a decent level of service. Of course you need something written on letterhead, and an address, but your “brand” is really about how you deal with people. AndMORE HERE
Perhaps one of the better paper brands was Boise Cascade. It, according to the Boise website, became a craft paper brand in 1958 in Wallula, Washington. Over the years, the brand grew, with plants across the country. It was tied together, with all sorts of other lumber businesses, into aMORE HERE
Our occasional ventures into oddlots, dollar stores and the like deliver quite special brand extensions and brand licensing. Our tops for today (and we admit we spotted this over Christmas at a Tuesday Morning) were an Izod branded leash and tennis ball set, and a Laura Ashley dog pen. Sorry AlligatorMORE HERE
In the last few weeks I have been making some brand-related observations while out in the mad world of brands. Here are some of the good and bad, and in between. It’s a new feature here called On the Shelves, a sort of Hodgepodge Lodge of brand notes. Quarters for Cigs.MORE HERE