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Need to get your brand noticed but don’t have the resources to get the word out by traditional means?  The Challenger Project in the UK is published by eatbigfish, a strategic brand consultancy with a single focus: challenger thinking and behavior. I love the way these…

Donald Trump has one of the strongest brands in the world right now, and he didn’t have to change a thing to get there. Donald Trump has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, with the Trump boom continuing to grow every day. Trump has demonstrated…

There’s been a burst of innovation to the fitness categories in the last number of years which has been both inspiring from a brand perspective and also motivating from a get up off your ass and sweat a little perspective too! What is playing out…

  See what you get food packaging, once it’s not the amount sugar. The Australian Government has just launched a new food labelling initiative that highlights the food’s country of origin with a campaign declaring ‘See what you’re getting’. The new labelling must be rolled…

Managing brand reputation is becoming increasingly challenging A plumber in the US state of Texas is suing a car dealer for US$1m after a truck he traded-in appeared in a propaganda video from Syrian rebels in an attack on the city of Aleppo. When he…

Iconspeak – a new fashion brand designed for travelers They say a picture is worth a thousand words – and this is never more true than when you’re traveling and don’t have a dozen words of the local language (let alone a thousand). Created by…

The Sleep Revolution – A book all about the Zzz’s. We all know the effects of a bad night’s sleep. THE SLEEP REVOLUTION is a newly released book by author Arianna Huffington written to educate people about the benefits of sleep and how often this is overlooked.…

Online Branded Content – Layer Upon Layer Upon From the (not-so) new world of created content for brands comes the curated ‘out-take’ footage. When Apple co-opted the Cookie Monster to star alongside Siri in their online promo for the iPhone 6, they were looking to…

Global hotel brand AccorHotels taps into key consumer trend to build brand affinity In the highly competitive world of hotel brand loyalty the battle is raging for the hearts of consumers. Air bnb – the worlds largest hospitality brand that doesn’t own a single room,…

Calvin Klein founder discusses how current practices within the fashion industry are not good for the long-run The power of a brand essence has diminished over time within the fashion world. In the past, iconic fashion labels have endeavoured to ensure all touch points within the market…

The Brand Strategy of Stand Out Personality In the world of retail and hospitality, so many businesses get caught-up in the operational whirlwind of attracting, serving and delivering product to their customers that they find it challenging to take a breath, step back and assert…

From DIY home solutions and affordable furniture, to fashion and bicycles – IKEA has a plan to expand globally and meet the demands of the modern consumer. As the retail environment is ever-changing and adapting to new consumer needs, IKEA has been quick to recognise the…

One year on, evidence that Woolworths Rewards has caused brand damage and impacted the bottom line. When Woolworths relaunched their rewards programme in 2015, we commented that had the potential to alienate loyal customers and cause brand damage. Now, a Fairfax media report shows how…

Monash University encourages the audience to look beyond the conventional and accepted, and challenge the status quo. Monash University has launched a new integrated campaign starring Australian actor David Wenham, which thanks people who accept what they’re told, for creating a world where answers should…

It turns out the browser you use determines job performance, commitment and innovative thinking. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant in his TED Talk; ‘The surprising habits of original thinkers’ presents an insight into browser choice as an indicator of innovative and original thinking. Grant says; “There’s…

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio is all about bringing people together and celebrating the environment. A closer look into the design of the logo, by Fred Gelli. The 2016 Olympic Games are fast approaching and this year it will be held in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil…

Watching a TED Talk recently from Organizational psychologist Adam Grant I came across a brilliant insight that challenged the long and firmly held belief of First Mover Advantage. For as long as I can remember in business and brand the ‘first mover paradigm’ dictated that…

HP has just unveiled a new logo for its premium range of ultra-thin laptops, the Spectre, but it isn’t actually new. The brandmark was originally unveiled in 2011 but HP backed-off implementing it. Designed by Moving Brands, the stylised, simplified marque is a sophisticated evolution…

Finally a green car brand without compromise. The huge challenge for all ‘Green Brands‘ is to meet or exceed consumer expectations on price, quality and design/functionality allowing those brands to then leverage their environmental credentials as a powerful differentiator. Almost without exception green brands offer-up…

Loved brands are profitable brands Is the whole ‘Loved Brands’ thing a fluffy piece of feelgood PR from the branding community or a commercially savvy strategy? That so much cynicism surrounds the brand industry must be a reflection of the inability of the industry to…

As Instagram announces its changes to their timeline, are brands already planning for the future? Instagram have recently announced they will be gradually rolling out a new algorithm based timeline replacing the existing chronological format, with a broad roll out expected in the coming months.…

Automotive giant, BMW celebrated it’s 100th birthday in March this year and to mark the centenary have launched their vision for the next 100 years, to further instill their core ethos of ‘Sheer Driving Pleasure’ to their customers. They aim to make their fascinating driving experience even…

Yesterday Qantas Airlines have launched an addition to their diversified business portfolio, Qantas Assure, health insurance for Qantas Frequent Flyer Members. Their big budget ATL campaign features cool-as-f*ck Hollywood actor, Christopher Walken, so you can only imagine how much they’ve spent! This big move is significant for both the…

A true surfing legend – a snap of myself with Kelly Slater at the 2016 Rip Curl Pro. I was lucky enough to meet Kelly Slater over the long weekend at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, and it’s fair to say I am a pretty…

A questionable brand strategy In response to the UK Governments announcement it plans to increase tax on high sugar content soft drinks, Coke has announced plans to sue. As the soft drink market continues to decline globally Coke has been doing a good job of…

Popularity Doesn’t Equal Brilliant Brand Naming There’s a fascinating and more than amusing story playing out right now in the world of brand naming. The Natural Environment Research Council NERC) in the UK is launching a new multi-million dollar research vessel and has asked the…

American Apparel returns to its roots in an attempt to revive the brand American Apparel, the Los Angeles based clothing manufacturer and retailer known for basic apparel and risqué marketing campaigns, has decided to bring sexy back, and propel it back to being at the…

Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.  Anthony Bourdain is a reality TV personality, chef and author who has been exploring the world and sharing his travels with us all on his series No Reservations, The Layover, and Part’s Unknown. Bourdain has been in…

Offshore Processing – A Piece of Art with Heart Nothing we love more than seeing a great idea take hold of someones imagination and take flight. A few years back we raised money for the Asylum Seekers Resource Center with our charity art show; Art…

99 designs‘ business model puts emphasis on quantity over quality with their multiple designers and claims of “incredible results”, as designers compete to give you a “great custom design solution”.  Yes, I said COMPETE. With 4 offices in Australia, USA, Germany and Brazil, 99 designs…

Sponsors using Sharapova’s news to kill two birds with one stone. Choosing not to stand by Sharapova because of recent events? Or was it just the perfect excuse to move on without facing public backlash? Nike, the same company that stood by Tiger Woods and…

Business card design is still an opportunity to make your brand identity stand-out. The challenge with business card design is creating a tool that stands out from the crowd whilst leaving the receiver with a memorable impression. The advent of email and email signatures have…

Truly Deeply founder; Dave Ansett talks place branding at the Greater Geelong and Bellarine Tourism Excellence Summit. In his conference presentation today, Dave will be presenting the 12 attributes of loved brands with a particular focus on building place brands. Presenting to a host of…

Is sexism in advertising diminishing? Getty Images released a statistic this week citing that search terms for “empowered women” has increased by over 700% in the last year, which is showing the seismic shift towards brands portraying women in a more positive, non discriminatory, non sexist…

Not-for-profit providers pushed to market The National Disability Insurance Scheme, NDIS, was designed to support a better life for Australians with a significant and permanent disability, and also their families and carers. But the implementation of it, is having far reaching and costly implications for the not-for-profit…

When it comes to SEO, content is king, but distribution is queen. Despite understanding the importance of quality, not everyone is fully benefiting of their content marketing efforts. Simply put, having a solid content strategy and committing to quality is not enough to put your…

If there’s one sure sign you’re a global brand, it’s when you’re recognized by your first name alone; think Madonna, Beyonce, Adele and Kylie. A trademark battle has broken out in the US where Kylie Jenner of Kardashian fame has been seeking to legally own…

If you’ve got a positive brand association, flaunt it! Brand placements in feature films is big business. Brand owners like auto maker FCA who own Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and FIAT brands in the US market clearly see a Hollywood blockbusters as an A grade engagement…

Would you launch a new newspaper brand today? Newsprint is dead, or so we keep hearing. So what do you do if your business is Newsprint? This is the kind of challenge lots of brands have. What do you do when your whole category is heading…

The embargo has been lifted, so what’s next for brands wanting to enter Cuba?  When the US embargo was first placed on Cuba in 1960 (a whopping 55 years ago), it was referred to as “the blockade”. The embargo restricted trade and exports to Cuba, except…

How Brand Focus can be the best Brand Strategy One of the most powerful truisms of branding is; ‘You can’t be all things to all people’. Yet when we think about the supermarket category, and even the innovations in this space of convenience stores, mini-supermarkets…

Big food’s short term thinking on sugar Every day there seems to be more and more information surfacing about the activities of major food brands in response to the obesity epidemic the western world is facing. There’s little doubt they’re using their financial muscle and…

US burger brand disrupts the category with old school American attitude. Carl’s Jr. also known as Hardee’s, is the latest burger brand to hit the Australian shores. It’s bold, irreverent and unapologetic and it is focused on young hungry Aussie blokes.

You’ve got a great business idea, now it’s time to take the plunge into the world of brand to bring it to life. Not that we have favourites, but we do love a good start up business branding project. There is usually bucket loads of…

Like it or not, social media is the new frontier of brand engagement. The role of brand owners, managers and marketers has never been tougher. With the channels to market that a brand needs to master increasing and morphing by the day, it’s all-but impossible…

Like many others, I have eagerly been following Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman’s most recent side project: 12 Kinds of Kindness. (…yes #squadgoals!) Now aside from wishing I had come up with such an intelligent project myself, I do believe it has the power to create some…

Brand engagement remains critical for challenger brands. We love when one of our brands takes flight. The task for any brand that seeks to challenge their market is how to stand apart when engaging through mainstream media. TVCs for example are a high cost/high risk/high…

‘Enrich not exploit’ becomes new brand belief for The Body Shop After 40 years, The Body Shop is seeking to reaffirm its position as a leader in ethical business with a new commitment to its audiences. The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick has always wanted…

Bulgarian architect Yasena Popover’s unique view of everyday objects reminds us there is always room for creative expression of you subject no matter how mundane they may seem. Taking ordinary objects, ordinary brands she transforms them using recoloured photography into beautifully complex works of art.…

What exactly is a Challenger Brand and why are they so interesting? We’ve long been fans of Challenger Brands – businesses with the mindset to disrupt their category, to unlevel their playing field and upset their competitors’ apple carts. We categorise ‘challengers’ by mindset – what’s…

Has the West has reached it’s peak of Consumerism? During a recent interview with NPR in the US, IKEA’s Global Chief Sustainability Officer, Steve Howard opined: “If you look at things like oil–well, actually, oil sales have peaked in the U.S. and Western Europe. Beef sales have pretty…