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...

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...

The Institute of Sales Promotion has now officially been re-launched at the Institute of Promotional Marketing, with the organisation’s new corporate identity being unveiled at the last ever ISP Awards at the end of May and was designed by integration agency Forth Generation. Clive Mishon, the Institute’s chairman, says that the new name “far better reflects the breadth of promotional marketing activity now being created – it is more than just about sales, though that is important too”. Mishon stresses that the decision to change the name was not entered into lightly;...

Recent research by Leapfrog shows that consumers will be pleased to know their favourite brands are home grown, and business should be keen to show off this fact.   Just over a quarter of people (26%) say they actively support British business because they want to keep money in the country. And 23% worry that if a brand is sold to a foreign company, it will lose its British identity. Understanding a product’s provenance is also a reason for 22% of people to buy British.   When people are out shopping, they like to see British brands on supermarket shelves, says research director Sarah Buckle....

If you’re involved in the promotions industry, you may have come across the fascinating design insights that I’ve come across recently from Martin Lindstrom, author of ‘Buy•ology’.   Lindstrom, through a study of the human psyche, throws light on the subconscious mind and how that plays a major role in deciding what the buyer will buy. In doing so, Lindstrom breaks a number of existing myths related to advertising and promotion.   An interesting theory of his, is his idea of a “smashable” product. In 1915 the Coca-Cola company decided that it needed to do something about the design...

Retail giant Argos (not the Peloponnesian city)  is one business who is no stranger to investing in promotional products such as branded mugs. Tomorrow the Home Retail Group-owned business is to launch a new logo and shift in tone of voice over the coming weeks, beginning with its spring/summer 2010 catalogue – and lots of branded mugs. Argos hired branding consultancy The Brand Union, to create an identity which would help to “modernise perceptions” of the brand. In other words, to stop Argos’s current association with chavs. Their new identity will roll out to its 750 stores over a...

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...

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...

I don’t know about you but I love a good sausage. However Wall’s has been criticised for branding their “Lincolnshire” and “Cumberland” sausages in packets that do not state the meat comes from Europe.   Their owners the Irish food producer Kerry Group, said ‘Lincolnshire’ and ‘Cumberland’ only refer to the recipe and not the origin of the meat, which apparently comes from Denmark, Holland and Germany, as well as Britain.   It is The Sunday Telegraph (amongst others) who are been campaigning for greater clarity in food labeling, and who brought this to the attention of the...

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...