In a story that’s not 100% unique in the world of celebrities (think Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy, Diddy, and so on and so on), NFL player Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals legally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco (that’s eight five in English, which stands for his jersey number, 85).
Sure it’s a publicity stunt that celebrities love to use to draw attention to themselves and create a unique brand for themselves that can be dubbed as narcisistic, but it’s also a great way to drive word-of-mouth marketing. The result for Ocho Cinco has been tons of press, …read more

Today at Brandcurve we have a guest post from brand developer and designer (and one of my favorite bloggers) Prescott Perez-Fox.  You can read more about Prescott at the end of this post.  Without further ado, following is Prescott’s view on branding and the Olympic Games. 
Next month, all eyes will be on Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympics are a time for the nations of the world, in spite of their differences and animosities, to come together in the celebration of sport. While sport is still the focus, we have to acknowledge how the Olympics have become the …read more

The 2008 Summer Olympics are scheduled to begin in Beijing, China on August 8th.  Many companies and brands are investing large sums of money in advertising, promotion and sponsorship initiatives related to the Olympic Games.  Will their efforts give their brands a boost this summer?  NBC certainly hopes so.
In fact, NBC plans to carefully analyze consumers’ viewing habits during the 2008 Olympic Games to get a better picture of how those consumers are using and interacting with media, including on television and on the Internet.

It’s the end of 2007, so I thought I’d take some time over the next few weeks to talk about a few interesting events in branding this year.
Back in June, the logo was released for the 2012 Olympics in London amid much controversy.  The world was buzzing about the logo with most people saying they didn’t like it.  Some groups such as the Epilepsy Action went so far as to say it was making people physically ill.  Here it is six months later, and the world is still talking about the 2012 London Olympics logo.

Eighteen months ago, market research firm Turnkey Sports and Entertainment began a project to analyze the brands of professional sports teams using the following methodology according to SportsBusinessJournal.com:
“In late May and early June, Turnkey polled about 12,000 adult sports fans in the 47 North American markets that are home to a team in the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball, surveying at least 200 and as many as 500 fans in each market, depending on the number of teams in each town.  They asked 20 questions relevant to each team’s brand: 14 meant to measure popularity and six meant …read more