Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

A sure mismatch for some Abercrombie and Fitch have decided they don’t want free publicity on TV. At least not the free publicity they’re getting from US make-out-like-a-macho TV series Jersey Shore. In a bold move they’re telling the stars of the show they will pay them NOT to wear their clothes. A kind of [...]

I had my suspicions about Unilever moving towards corporate branding (see gradual packaging changes here). Well it looks like my hunch was right. Unilever declares its identity The first brand I’ve noticed publicly outing its Unilever owner – ie, showing the new logo on TV – is Lynx (Axe outside the UK). It’s taken what [...]

Catch up competitors if you can. Here is a wonderful example of cobranding. Develey, Bavarian producer of sauces, mustard and condiments and supplier of ketchup to McDonalds in Germany, has a growing presence in supermarkets. McDonald’s has none. Develey has the technical and product know-how. McDonald’s as a franchise has, more-or-less, none. But Develey really [...]

Screenshot source: “Dove” chocolate website Amicelli, once called Dove, once called Dove Amicelli (and a couple of other things in between) has gone back to Plan A. It’s now called Amicelli. Mars hopes that this latest move will allow all associations with body creams and cosmetics to fly off like a silent white bird into [...]

Well, well. Do I smell a rat? Is Unilever going to gradually start telling us more about all of the brands it has under its umbrella – and start corporate branding? Bird’s nest – on your soup Nestlé have done it in certain areas, as you’ll know if you read this blog regularly (from some [...]

Are Coca-Cola going to start using their mother brand as an umbrella? In Germany I’ve noticed the packaging on their products – pictured below – increasingly features something along the lines of “made by the Coca-Cola company”. It used to be down the back of packs. Now it seems to be creeping round the front. [...]

This example of creative branding gets a strong thumbs-up from me, as a copywriter, especially as it crosses the language barrier and works ideally in German. To get it, you need to know golf. So if you not an aficionado of the hole-orientated sport, you might need to know that the “green fees” are what [...]

We all know about the big M’s ongoing problems with health issues, so what – now that most people have heard the controversial statements and seen films like Super Size Me – are they doing about it? Well, in the UK they’re sidestepping a recently introduced ban on junk food advertising (as if that’ll stop [...]

Of course logos need protecting. Of course you should stop people copying your carefully developed brand equity. Passing off your design could undermine years and millions of investment. But it looks like Lacoste went too far when it took a dental practice in the UK to court for “copying” its logo. That was back in [...]

Looking at a name like “TÜV Rheinland”, you’d have thought they’d be mad to launch in Spain with the same name as they use in Germany. The “German technical inspectorate” is well known in Germany – what they test, has to be good. A bit like the MOT in England testing cars. But to Spanish [...]