In recent new from their Global news room, Sony Ericsson announced that they would be realigning their brand strategy to fuse entertainment and communication for their customers. They plan on doing this by adopting a new brand message, “make.believe” in collaboration efforts with the Sony Group.
As part of their rebranding, Sony Ericsson plans to add seven new color variations to the brand logo which is a “liquid identity” as shown to the right. The overall look will stay the same, just that the inside color will be used to create color variations.
Another component of their rebranding will be to involve …read more

In this economy, small to major business are mergering to survive. When they merge, one of the things that is affected are the brands of each business. When they are merged, different decisions have to be made in order to make the merger successful.
Below are a few questions that need to be answered when merging brands:

How will the color schemes for each business merge together?
What are the key components that should be included from each logo?
How will the brand management strategies for each business work together?
What type of brand strategy is currently in place?

Also according to a ebook by CoreBrand.com …read more

Have you found that when consumers refer to your product with a different catch phrase than your product’s actual name? Do you find that consumers ask for a particular product with a shortened or different name than what you have branded it with? Then maybe it’s time for you to rebrand your product’s name.
One case of rebranding can be seen with the Radio Shack company. One of the original names was Tandy then they changed to Radio Shack and now have chosen to rebrand themselves as “The Shack”. According to the company…
Our customers, associates and even the investor community have …read more

What would it take for you to “fire up” your brand? What types of things would you have to do to make your brand known more widely than it currently is? How have you used the media to fire up your brand? Let’s dive into the concept of “firing up” your brand to see what a business owner would need to do.
To get things started, we are going to look at ways you can use the media to “fire up” your brand. Recently, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) received a “fire up” to their brand from Oprah. She suggested that her …read more

The quick but healthy lunch destination Lettuce Eatery recently rebranded as Freshii.
They needed to be consistent with their offering, and by expanding to provide snacks, wraps and soups, a name change is in order. Proprietary research at Name Development shows that “more than 300 companies in the US change their name over the course of a year because they have outgrown it.”

NameWire.com, Name Development’s blog, reported on the reason to rebrand. “The name change is mainly due to Matthew Corrin, who originally wanted to be the “Starbucks of Salads,” but slowly widened his positioning to offer healthy meals and snacks. …read more

Billy Bob Thornton, famous actor – definitely.
Billy Bob Thornton, screenwriter and director – that too.
Billy Bob Thornton, previously married to Angelina Jolie – sure was!
Billy Bob Thornton, singer and drummer of The Boxmasters – uh… ok?!
Despite his obvious and established movie fame, Billy Bob Thornton, over the weekend, insisted on being branded not as a Hollywood star but as member of the band The Boxmasters. In an interview for Q, a CBC Radio One show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, Billy Bob threw a first passive-aggressive then downright childish tantrum after his film career and screenwriting and directing success were mentioned …read more

… Out of a Bad Economy
Tough time all around, but those who are getting creative and innovative in order to ride out the storm are the ones who may come out in a better position once the dust settles. That might translate to better products, more tailored services, more thoughtful approaches, or simply a repositioning of a brand message.
What better industry than banking to step up and declare yourself a leader – differentiating from the big bad banks and giving the people a safe haven to keep their money secure.
Earlier today, First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union announced a new marketing …read more

I’ve been postponing a blog post about Nigeria’s rebranding effort because I didn’t want to get into political speak that I couldn’t handle. With articles flooding my inbox still, I figured I’ve waited enough. But rather than engage in a conversation that I might not have the political know-how (or even geographic know-how) to keep up with, here are some bits and pieces culled from the articles found on the web. Click through to read full articles or follow-up with comments.
The Rebrand:
The initiative: To rebrand Nigeria
The leader: Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili (Prof. Akunyili “fought drug barons …read more

Consider the effort involved in rebranding. Is it wiser to realign instead?
While there are several reasons to make changes to a brand, whether it be refocusing the audience, reworking a promise, or something as little as keeping the design fresh, does it make more sense to realign the product instead?
Shifting the positioning of the product or service will inevitably produce a new design of the brand, but it happens organically rather than redesigning for the sake of redesigning. There’s less risk of alienating the consumer by a redesign born out of a shift in positioning since it’s about selling a …read more

In preparation for a blog post about Nigeria’s rebranding efforts, I thought I’d tackle a slightly lighter example of branding geographic regions.
Recently, the governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, unveiled a new logo and tagline for the state. The logo features a silhouette of a person doing a cartwheel atop Wisconsin written in bold yet whimsical lettering. The tagline is “Live like you mean it.”
The new logo is the first step in Governor Doyle’s initiative to create a unifying competitive brand and followed his request to the Department of Tourism to explore what features differentiate Wisconsin from its competing – in …read more