According to The New York Times, Portugal is spending over $4 million dollars to rework and bolster its image in the international business community. Manuel Pinho, Portugal’s minister for the economy and innovation said that 19 percent of the country’s power comes from renewable sources like the wind or the sun, putting Portugal in third place in Europe, behind Sweden and Austria. That might come as something of a …
Crantastic Recall
Barkley's Sonic Drive-In TV spot for cranberry iced tea was one of the most highly recalled restaurant commercials of the year, according to an IAG Research report. The No. 1 most-recalled spot according to the report was a Subway spot featuring Jared and Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, while the Sonic spot tied for second with another Subway spot, one featuring Jared and New Orleans running back Reggie …
A Safer Corn For Popping
According to Media Post's Marketing Daily, ConAgra—the nation's largest popcorn maker—will use an integrated campaign to tout the fact that its reformulated Orville Redenbacher and ACT II microwave brands no longer contain added diacetyl, a creamy, buttery flavoring. Other popcorn makers have already made similar moves, following the discovery in 2002 that diacetyl was making popcorn factory workers ill. ConAgra says …
Don’t Try This At Home
USA Today knows how to write a lead. There's a new twist on consumer-generated marketing: Ellen DeGeneres-generated marketing. Chris Bryant, 23, now starring in his own Nike ad, got the gig thanks to the funny woman's interest in his unusual abilities. With Bryant appearing as a guest on her show, she rang Nike CEO Mark Parker during the broadcast and pushed the company to make an ad. The rest, as they say, is …
Ditch The Portfolio. What You Need Is A Scrapbook of Cultural Activity.
I happened to stumble upon the following passage from Douglas Holt's book, How Brands Become Icons: The Principle of Cultural Branding today. To systematically build iconic brands, companies must reinvent their marketing function. They must assemble cultural knowledge, rather than knowledge about individual consumers. They must strategize according to cultural branding principles, rather than apply the abstracted and …
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Good Tidings To All (Except Wal-Mart and Their Chinese Suppliers)
Just in time for the holidays, Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota is getting up in Wal-Mart's grill. According to The New York Times, Dorgan said that Christmas tree ornaments sold at Wal-Mart Stores and other major retailers were made in a Chinese sweatshop employing workers as young as 12 and others who work more than 100 hours a week. “There is virtually no enforcement anywhere on these issues,” said Dorgan. …
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However You Slice It
In this time of Facebook this, MySpace that, a nice print ad has the power to bring me back. One like this, from McCann Erickson, London. [via Shedwa] …
Crispin Gets All “Last of the Mohicans” On Runners’ Asses
Eyebrows were raised earlier this year when Nike awarded a piece of its business to CP+B. After all, Nike's top of mind presence can be traced directly to the decades of outstanding work from Wieden + Kennedy. I guess, loyalty doesn't mean much when you have shoes to sell. According to The Wall Street Journal, CP+B hoped to break away from all that history. "We didn't want it to feel like a Nike commercial in the …
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