Not all branding is popular with the people; a word of warning if your planning a large scale marketing campaign. Although to be fair, your brand probably won’t have oppressed million of people, which is why with authorities in Georgia have taken down a statue of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin that stood in the central square of Gori, his hometown.

The six metre (20ft) bronze statue was removed unannounced from its plinth in the middle of the night. The statue will be moved to a museum in Gori dedicated to Stalin, said the head of the city council, Zviad Khmaladze. It will be replaced by a monument for the victims of Georgia’s 2008 war with Russia.

Though he was not a decisive figure in the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, he quickly rose through the ranks of the Communist Party after the revolution, securing his position as undisputed leader in the years after Lenin’s death in 1924. His forced collectivisation of agriculture cost millions of lives, while thousands were executed and millions sent into exile during purges in the 1930s.

Recently, the fate of the statue has been a subject of debate in Georgia, with supporters of the pro-Western “Rose Revolution” that brought President Mikhail Saakashvili to power in 2004 arguing for its removal.

One of the most prized assets for sports teams is the name of their home ground, and a massive benefit for a sponsor to have its brand inserted in the name of a stadium hosting FIFA World Cup matches. Despite forking out an arm and a leg, not all commercial partners will get access to this massive global audience however.

When the Argentina v Nigeria game kicked off in Johannesburg’s Coca-Cola Park last Saturday, you won’t have heard the TV and radio commentators referring to the soft-drinks company as the stadium’s sponsor, and newspapers refrained from mentioning it in their match reports.

Instead, media outlets used the ground’s original name, Ellis Park, which it was given in 1928 by JD Ellis, who owned the land on which it sits. In 2008, Coca-Cola paid an estimated £30m for the stadium branding, so why will it lose this just when the eyes of the world are turned toward it?

Coca-Cola is one of FIFA’s six official partners, each of which pays an estimated £86.9m for the privilege. Not exactly peanuts. In return, the company gets pouring rights at match stadiums as well as pitch-side advertising hoardings. Crucially, the premium paid by sponsors of football’s world governing body also secures them exclusive exposure, which is what prevents the stadiums from promoting their own tie-ups during the World Cup. Ironically, this ban extends to Coca-Cola’s naming of Ellis Park, despite the company’s relationship with FIFA.

Some branding works better then others, the United Arab Emirates branding of Highbury has been received well; but the Foster’s Oval anyone?

London 2012’s new mascots have been unveiled, and I’m wondering if I’m the only person who actually thought they were a joke. I mean, ‘Wenlock’ and ‘Mandeville,’ really?

This was the product of eighteen months of research and forty focus groups. From the top of my head I think a torch called ‘Flamey’ would have been a better idea. At least it would have been recognizable, had a catchy name and cost absolutely nothing to think of.

To be fair their unusual names do have meaning behind them as Wenlock in Shropshire is considered by many the birthplace of the modern Olympics. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC, visited the town in 1890 and took inspiration from the annual Games organised by Dr William Penny Brookes, a local doctor, to “promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants”.

Stoke Mandeville’s famous spinal injuries unit meanwhile was where the Paralympics movement began, and the naming of one mascot after the hospital is an explicit attempt to raise the profile of the Paralympics Games.

These mascots are all about making money however, with big businesses to be had from selling promotional merchandise. London 2012 say the key to meeting their commercial target has been developing a storyline that will lend Wenlock and Mandeville credibility in a pre-teen marketplace where they will be up against Dr Who and other established brands.

Lord Coe and the committee recruited former Children’s’ Laureate Michael Morpurgo, who came up with the concept of the mascots being fashioned from two drops of molten steel spilt in the making of the last steel girder used in the Olympic Stadium. Since when did children need a story line to be persuaded by something anyway? The Teletubies weren’t a success because of the interesting anthropological questions raised by their unusual gene pool. They were a success because they were fun and that’s it. 

Stephen Bayley, founder of the Design Museum, believes his daughter summed the mascots up perfectly when she referred to them as ‘rubbish earrings’. He said: ‘The logo was hideous enough but now we have these ridiculous, infantile mascots. Who is to blame for this I ask you? ‘Given the economic predicament that Britain is in at the minute, what right do they have to throw their money at such hideous creatures? They are atrocious.’

To be fair there has never been a decent Olympic games mascot. If you don’t agree, can you recall a single one? Waldi the multi-coloured Daschund anyone? I didn’t think so…

We’re all up for some self promotion here, one way another, you can get your message across. It doesn’t necessarily mean it will be well received though, as the Senegalese people will tell you.

Senegal has inaugurated a new monument, higher than the Statue of Liberty, costing a bargain £18m. The 49m (160ft) Monument of African Renaissance has been unveiled in Dakar as the highlight of the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence, but has drawn huge criticism over its cost and symbolism.

The Soviet-style bronze statue, built by North Korean workers, is the idea of President Abdoulaye Wade, who not one to miss an opportunity, said he should take 35% of the revenue generated by the monument because it was his idea.

Nineteen heads of state, including Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo, attended the statue’s inauguration, which coincided with the country celebrating 50 years of independence from France.

Deputy opposition leader Ndeye Fatou Toure said the statue was an “economic monster and a financial scandal in the context of the current [economic] crisis,” AFP news agency reported. Not only that, but now most of the Muslim community has got the hump, as scholars have labelled its scantily clad figures un-Islamic, while others said it was a waste of money and ‘idolatrous’.

On the eve of the celebrations, the Reuters news agency quoted a leading imam, Massamba Diop, as telling worshippers at a mosque in the capital: “We have issued a fatwa urging Senegal’s imams this Friday to read the holy Koran in the mosques simply to ask Allah to preserve us from the punishment this monument of shame risks bringing on Senegal.”

Apart from that, the ceremony went down very well. If you have a budget of £18m, or even less, talk to the promotion experts at Gift Selection who will share their expert advice.

How about this for a good piece of branding? A Hollywood-style sign spelling out the name of an Essex town has been erected along the A127. Basildon District Council hopes the giant letters will promote the town as a place to do business.

The £400,000 project is being funded from a grant from Thames Gateway. The glitzy sign, modeled on the famous Hollywood sign, is part of a package of measures to signpost the district better and make it easier for visitors to find their way. People in the Essex area can now, presuming they actually want to go Basildon, can just look up and follow their noses.

What I love about British council’s, is that they know how to save money sensibly. Spend £400,000 a sign – absolutely no problem. Council leader Tony Ball said: “The sign will be good if it makes people think ‘ah, Basildon’ when they drive past, rather than just driving through, and in no time finding themselves at Rayleigh Weir.”

It isn’t all about ex London gangsters, and girls wearing white stilettos and not much else. According to Denise Van Outen (Basildon born and bread), the girls have “moved from that image and now the girls are all into the WAG look.”

Changed beyond all recognition then. If you work for a council, and are looking for some more affordable ways to promote yourself. Investing in some value for money promotional material from Promostore isn’t a bad idea.

In the world of marketing and promotions, there isn’t much more important than one’s logo.

The logo for the 2014 Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia, was unveiled, becoming the first Olympic emblem to feature a web address. I must admit that I’d never heard of Sochi, but I prefer this logo to London’s confused looking emblem for 2012.

Their brand consultancy is carried out by Interbrand, with their organising committee featuring key figures from sport, branding and marketing, and the arts - strangely enough I wasn’t consulted. The word “sochi.ru” appears above the number “2014″ in an apparent reflection, symbolising the southern city’s water-based location on the Black Sea, something that was lost on me, but is pleasing to the eye non the less.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, the CEO of the Sochi organizing committee, said the new logo would help break Western stereotypes of a Russia stuck in the past, instead promoting the country as a dynamic and modern nation capable of reaching out to new audiences in a digital age. By “capable of reaching out”, I presume he means pointlessly spamming people 24/7 with completely useless information.

My favourite comment on the subject was made by Fred Burt, managing director of design agency Siegel+Gale London, said: “I’m no fan of London 2012 identity so it’s a relief to see Sochi 2014 restore some sanity.

Marketing site Brand Republic recently interviewed the great British public, asking for their opinions over the proposed plans to change the image of dear old Mickey Mouse. The consensus was that Mickey should not be changed into cunning and cantankerous character as it would “spoil the essence” of the 71-year-old Disney character and be “a very expensive mistake. Not only that, but how many six year olds know what cantankerous means anyway?

Similarly when ordering promotional products, I always advise people to use the same branding across all their products, and only change your brand if you’re absolutely certain. It is unwise to have your branded mugs clashing with your branded pens for example.

Unfortunately Disney hasn’t got wind of their research and, in a bid to make him appeal to a new generation; the iconic character will now take on a “cunning and cantankerous streak” for a new Disney video game, ‘Epic Mickey’, to be released in 2010. The industry in general agrees with this survey; “There’s a distinct risk of alienating your core consumer when you tweak a sacred character,” said Matt Britton, managing partner of brand consultancy Mr. Youth.

Epic Mickey, designed for Nintendo’s Wii console, is set in a “cartoon wasteland” where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations live….The game also features a disemboweled, robotic Donald Duck and a “twisted, broken, dangerous” version of Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World.”

The Mayor of London’s office wants to rebrand London and is inviting agencies to tender to create the new image.

Mayor Boris Johnson and his team have allocated a budget of £600,000 to create a new logo and identity for the city ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and want to have this in place by next spring.

The Mayor’s office is inviting agencies to tender for four contracts related to the new identity: designing the logo; brand activation, which could include advertising and experiential activity; tracking; and evaluation and events.

Dan Ritterband, the director of marketing at the Mayor of London’s office, described the activity as “strategic” and said that it was separate to the current £30 million activation business for bodies such as VisitLondon and ThinkLondon, though the new logo is likely to appear in this activity.

The Mayor’s office is also looking to sell London sponsorship packages to advertisers in key areas such as “culture”, “transport” and “sports”.

The creation of a new identity is seen as a way to build London’s image both in the UK and overseas ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

Ritterband said: “We always realised that there would be a right time for a rebrand before the Olympics to get the messaging right, now we’re three years out from the games there is an opportunity to look at the London brand.”

Liverpool’s new stadium could be named the ‘Carlsberg Anfield’ as the scousers American owners need to get back into the red. Carlsberg have been sponsoring Liverpool for a record 18 years, but seem ready to take things to the next level, by having their whole name emblazoned across the stadium!

Liverpool FC will be following in the foot steps of Arsenal, who sold the naming rights to their stadium to Emirates for a whopping £100m, over a thirteen year period. There may be significant fan backlash on the cards, but for the that kind of money, it may be difficult to refuse.

Gareth Roberts, UK director of sponsorship at Carlsberg, told The Independent that a re-naming deal would be “part of the discussion” but that there had been no certain decisions. Realistically for the new stadium to be built, it was always going to be a case of naming rights being sold to the highest bidder in order to secure some funding for it.

If you ask me I don’t think Carlsberg Anfield is that bad a name anyway. What do you think about the potential re-brand?

Since the French parliament has passed an advertising ban for public television there has been strikes around the capital. A couple of weeks ago, the National Assembly decided that from 2011, the four major state-financed channels, will no longer be allowed to broadcast advertisements. This legislation took affect from the 5th of January, while in the mean time TV ads will only be allowed before 8 pm.

However before any advertisers start feeling to sorry for their French cousins, the state is to compensate for a loss of advertising incurred. President Sarkozy new law means that €800m (£600m) in advertising revenue, will be immediately transferred to private stations. As much as the poor old BBC is slated from domestic viewers, the French President’s advisors have been studying the BBC’s model in an effect to improve the quality of French television. Public station journalists are understandably concerned that without commercials, they will not have enough money to make good programmes and their audience share will diminish.

With TV ads being off the menu, and French media works starting to calm down, promotional products may be order of the day for French businesses to market themselves with.