SUFFOLK – The home of the founder of Mr. Peanut, Amadeo Obici, is in danger of destruction, and has been named to Preservation Virginia’s Most Endangered list, just released this week. Obici was the founder of Planter’s Peanuts, and moved his company from Pennsylvania to Virginia to be closer toMORE HERE
QUEENS, N.Y. – We are reading the AIA history of New York City architecture and we spy a forgotten name. Russ Togs. The guide mentions the Russ Togs Manufacturing and Distribution Center at 27-09 49th Ave. at the SE corner of 27th Street. The building (more particularly its sign) wereMORE HERE
SAVANNAH – Entries are just out in the Savannah College of Art & Design’s Phoenix Project. (See a full list of entries here.) At right, the entry for RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) by the student team of Rodrigo Mitma and Josh Finkelstein. Brand Problem: Big-Box and online electronic stores are superiorMORE HERE
SAVANNAH – Entries are just out in the Savannah College of Art & Design’s Phoenix Project, an yearly contest of Prof. Sean Trapani, a specialist in branding and copywriting. The idea? Take an old brand and reinvent it for today. A full gallery of all the entries is at PhoenixMORE HERE
NEW YORK – The branding firm Graj + Gustavsen said that Founding Partner Simon Graj has been named to Intellectual Asset Management magazine’s inaugural list of the World’s 250 Leading Intellectual Property Strategists. The IAM 250 – A Guide to the World’s Leading IP Strategists debuted in the publication’s AprilMORE HERE
SARASOTA – From $40 in 1998 to $3.80 in 2009. That’s not good. Some see disappointment. But not everyone. The news recently was that the Italian luxury shoe maker Tod’s had purchased shares in Saks (NYSE: SKS). Apparently Diego Della Valle, Tod’s Chairman (called the Italian Ralph Lauren), purchased 8.48MORE HERE
LONDON – The UK seems to have been a holdout in the brand-washing category, namely dumping old brands in favor of invented ones. But this is no longer the case. We heard about the news that the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands are to be scrappedMORE HERE
Europeans are trying to bring back Polaroid and its SX-70 instant film. This points up a very important idea in brand preservation, namely that it is important to keep something continuous going as it is hard to start something completely from scratch. Today, as companies morph and change, it isMORE HERE
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – They were, and are, icons of America. The windmill, specifically the Aermotor windmill. Pictured at right, an Aermotor windmill tail in a museum in Palmetto, Florida. The Aermotor was ubiquitous across the U.S., and helped build farms across rural areas. Few realize that they are stillMORE HERE
Fun recent searches that landed Americans on BrandlandUSA. Chrysler Factory Tours. To bad they don’t have them; they might actually make some cash as I would love to see a restored Plymouth with Torque-Flite! Discontinued Charles of the Ritz. Once a great brand, now gone. Revlon made a mistake whenMORE HERE