Banking, technology, retailers, and food/beverage all made a strong showing on research agency Millward Brown’s inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands.
China Mobile Ltd., the largest mobile carrier in the world’s most populous country, ranked No. 1 among the top 50 Chinese brands.
The Chinese mobile carrier had a brand value worth 56 billion US dollars this year. The market researcher said China Mobile has been on its list of the top 100 most valuable global brands for the last five years.
The telecom brand was closely followed by the nation’s four largest banks. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ranked second; Bank of China, third; China Construction Bank, fourth and Agricultural Bank of China, sixth. Continue Reading
If you think Meals on Wheels, and you’re thinking “fuddy duddy” think again.
At least that’s what the service had in mind for you when it engaged Husbosch (creators of the new woolies and updated Qantas logos) to redesign its national identity.
At the launch of the revamped brand in Sydney today, it was explained that the new look would help encourage new donors and clients (probably quite important since I imagine the cost of the new logo would be, well, significant).
Meals on Wheels delivers more than 50,000 meals each day to frail, older people as well as younger people with disabilities. Over the course of a year, 15 million meals are delivered by 80,000 volunteers to about 50,000 recipients Australia-wide. Meals on Wheels originated in Britain during World War II and was started in Australia in South Melbourne in 1952.
Washington, Oct 12: An American professor, Harold Lewis, has branded global warming as “the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud” he has ever seen.
(His temperature might have risen a little higher had he got a glimpse of this “communication strategy” for alarmists (PDF). I’m sure you know the drill… don’t scare the bejeezus out of children, etc.)
The Professor, 87, described his “revulsion” at last year’s leaked “Climategate” emails which appeared to show scientists at East Anglia’s world-leading Climate Research Unit rigging evidence in favour of man-made climate change.
(You can still get the emails and data files here. (It’s a big file, I’m warning you). Alternatively, you can get up to speed with this hilarious parody that Michael Mann (through his lawyers) unsuccessfully tried to get off the Internet.)
Lewis branded man-made climate change a “scam” driven by “trillions of dollars” which has “corrupted” scientists, making the remarks after formally resigning from the American Physical Society (APS).
He claims that the APS, the society for America’s top physicists, has refused to engage in proper scientific debate about climate change and ignored climate skeptics.
He compared the APS now to the organization he joined almost 70 years ago which he said was “much smaller, much gentler, and as yet uncorrupted by the money flood”.
“How different it is now. The giants no longer walk the earth and the money flood has become the raison d’etre of much physics research,” the Daily Express quoted Lewis, as saying.
“It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist,” he added.
Back in Australia, now that the on-off-on again carbon price scam, oops I meant to say BIG NEW TAX ON EVERYTHING, is back on the table, and Australians brace themselves for skyrocketing electricity bills, we all might need a bit of this foot-tapping, cheer-me-up kinda Minnesota singalong:
Found this great little gem in CNN, How to Brand A Disease – And Sell A Cure, which discusses what pharmaceutical companies do to get their drugs on the government subsidy lists.
They brand a disease. (How come I never thought about that before?)
The thinking goes along these lines:
Think less about selling and more about creating conditions for sale.
Persuade journalists to write about “new trends” (that’s the disease, folks)
Once the disease is well-known and, well, socially acceptable, drugs are made available.
To brand a disease is to shape its public perception in order to make it more palatable to potential patients. Panic disorder, reflux disease, erectile dysfunction, restless legs syndrome, bipolar disorder, overactive bladder, ADHD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, even clinical depression: All these conditions were once regarded as rare until a marketing campaign transformed the brand.
Once a branded disease has achieved a degree of cultural legitimacy, there is no need to convince anyone that a drug to treat it is necessary. It will come to him as his own idea.
According to CNN, the disease branding strategy works well for 2 types of diseases:
Those that are shameful conditions that can be destigmatized and
Those conditions that can be plausibly portrayed as under-diagnosed.
Renowned for making vehicles driven by James Bond, it came top of the annual poll, reclaiming the number one spot from Apple’s iPhone which came second.
Apple’s iPod was named third coolest, followed by Blackberry and stereo and TV maker Bang & Olufsen.
The survey was run by The Center for Brand Analysis which creates league tables based on the opinions of marketing experts, business professionals and thousands of British consumers.
Key factors in the selection process included, style, innovation, desirability and originality.
Vivienne Westwood topped the fashion brands in the poll, which began in 2001, while Ray-Ban was judged the coolest fashion accessory.
Google and YouTube were the only Internet brands to make the Top 20. Continue Reading
Looks as though Aussies love affair with Vegemite might be on the wane, according to a study conducted last month by Y&R Advertising Group’s, Brand Asset Consulting (BAC).
Our much-loved iconic spread has been replaced by tech brands such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Nokia.
The study, in which 2000 Australians participated, found that Vegemite and Toyota had taken brand hits potentially as a consequence of major problems both companies faced the year before.
Vegemite lost six places, from 4 to 10, after the launch of its iSnack product disaster. Toyota, the top auto brand since 1997, slid to 6th place following the recall of cars due to a stuck accelerator problem (and the ensuing negative publicity).
It seems Aussies are much less forgiving than overseas counterparts, stripping 18% from trust levels in the brands compared to a 6% average globally.
The biggest losers included nappy brand Huggies, Venus razors, slimming brand Ultra Slim and Dare milk. BP has also suffered in the wake of the environmental issues it has been battling in the US. Continue Reading
Interbrand’s List of 2010 World’s Best Brands. Coca-Cola retains its top spot as the number one ranked brand on the list.
A number of prominent brands faced extraordinary crisis in 2010 resulting in stalled growth, value loss and in the case of BP, failure to make the ranking this year. BP’s environmental disaster and inability to make good on its brand promise of “Beyond Petroleum” led to it falling off of the list and helped competitor Shell emerge as an industry leader.
Although the Toyota (#11) recall caused the brand to lose -16% of its brand value, its long-standing reputation for reliability, efficiency and innovation helped it weather the crisis better than expected.
Goldman Sachs (#37) was once the envy of Wall Street, but now faces the dichotomy of strong economic results and an angry public that will continue to lash out until the company begins to demonstrate that it is making sincere efforts to better align its ethics with its brand. Continue Reading
General Motors Co. is pressing ahead with plans to shut down Saab, but will continue to hear bids for the Swedish car brand, according to reports.
GM is eliminating Saab along with Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn as part of a restructuring plan that will leave it with four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick.
It will continue to focus on its European Vauxhall and Opel operations.
The Saab motor company was given a late reprieve when General Motors agreed to extend the deadline for a potential suitor to raise the funds needed to buy the loss-making Swedish brand.
GM had originally demanded that Spyker Cars conclude a deal by 12 o’clock 31 December but has now decided that the Dutch sports car company can have another week.
The future of the 60-year-old Swedish marque and the 3,400 jobs in that country hang in the balance, though Spyker continues to speak confidently of its ability to reach some kind of deal with GM. Continue Reading
That’s a tough lesson for brand Tiger Woods, rename Cheetah Woods, to learn the hard way.
Hot on the heels of Accenture, Gillette and others, AT&T has joined the crowd, severing its ties with the golfing pro, joining a growing list of marketers distancing themselves from the golfer amid the public furor surrounding allegations of his infidelities.
“We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future,” said a spokesman for AT&T on Thursday.
AT&T’s relationship with Mr. Woods began more than five years ago when the telecommunications company started sponsoring Tiger Jam, an annual star-studded concert that is the biggest fund-raiser for the Tiger Woods Foundation.
That contract gave AT&T the right to have Mr. Woods conduct golf clinics for its customers, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The phone giant further expanded its relationship with the golfer in February to include having its corporate logo—a blue and white sphere—appear on Mr. Woods’s golf bag. Continue Reading
