Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Segway PUMA – Missed Branding Opportunity

pumaWhat do you think of when you hear the brand name PUMA?  Most people respond to that question by saying, “shoes”. 

Yes, there is already a PUMA, and while it’s in a very different market than the new Segway PUMA, and it’s unlikely the products will be confused with one another, the problem is that the name is already taken and consumers already associate it with another product.  PUMA already communicates a brand message, image and promise.  [Read more…] about Segway PUMA – Missed Branding Opportunity

How to Make Your Brand Like Chocolate

chocolateThe numbers are in and chocolate sales are up, sometimes to record levels, with the economic downturn.  Each of the major chocolate manufacturers in the U.S. (and major Swiss chocolate companies) are reporting growth in 2009.  What does that tell us?  Two things:

  1. When consumers can’t afford luxury items like plasma TVs and new cars, they replace those luxuries with chocolate. (Okay, that one might be a stretch, but #2 is more important anyway).
  2. When times get tough, consumers don’t give up comfort items.  In fact, they buy more of them!

So that leads us to this question — how can you leverage consumer buying habits during a recession?

The answer is simple — make your brand like chocolate. [Read more…] about How to Make Your Brand Like Chocolate

Home Depot Gets a Slogan Makeover

home_depot_taglineFor more than half a decade, Home Depot has been the leader of the do-it-yourself, cheap home improvement retail industry (and the second largest retailer overall behind Walmart).  To hammer that message home to consumers, the company used a simple slogan, “You can do it.  We can help.”  It was inspirational.  During a time when everyone and their brother was watching HGTV and more home remodeling and redecorating programs on television than any sane person had time for, the slogan worked very well.  Consumers heard it and said to themselves, “you know what?  I can do it!  I’m going to Home Depot.”

Usher in 2009, a time when the economy is no where near turning around, unemployment is up, and remodeling your kitchen is at the bottom of the priority list.  Time for a new slogan for Home Depot! [Read more…] about Home Depot Gets a Slogan Makeover

Social Media – The ‘Always On’ Focus Group

focus_group-meetingI read a really interesting post on the PR Week website today called Intent is the New Demographic written by Tyler Pennock, SVP and director of social media for Ruder Finn.  In the post, Tyler provides three essential steps that all brands should follow in the world of social media marketing and branding:

  1. Join the conversation and contribute new content that’s relevant to the brand and adds value.
  2. Fulfill unmet needs.
  3. Offer an incentive.

There is no doubt that adding value to the online conversation is imperative in any social media initiative, and Tyler’s three steps are certainly valid.  However, what I found most interesting about Tyler’s article was written in the last paragraph of his post, and I quote:

“One of the main benefits that comes from understanding the audience’s intent, is that we as PR professionals can begin to tap into to the always-on focus group that is social media. Looking to add value for users means that we are gaining insight about how to optimize not only our communications, but the brand itself.” [Read more…] about Social Media – The ‘Always On’ Focus Group

Monster Battle for a Monster Trademark

Let me preface this post by saying I’m a strong advocate of protecting your brand and your trademarks.  However, there comes a time when a company can go overboard in its efforts.  Enter Monster Cable Products Inc., a California-based audio, video and computer cable manufacturer.

Monster Cable Products Inc. owns 70 trademarks related to its brand, and fights anyone and everyone who even thinks about using the word Monster.  Not even Monster.com (who had to pay Monster Cable Product Inc.’s legal fees and include a link on their job search site that says “are you looking for Monster Cable?”) or Disney and Pixar (for the movie title – Monsters, Inc.) were safe from the trademark violation and litigation wrath of Monster Cable Products Inc.  Even the Boston Red Sox were targeted by Monster Cable Products Inc. when they tried to use the word monster in naming hot dogs and certain seats in Fenway Park, and the Discovery Channel was called out for naming a television show Monster Garage.  Even Energizer was attacked for using the name Monster Powercells for its alkaline batteries.

Other products that had to give up the use of the Monster name at the hands of Monster Cable Products Inc.’s lawyers include an energy drink, carpet cleaning machines, auto transmissions, slot machines, a vintage clothing company, and kids’ T-shirts with the phrase “Junk Food Monster” on them to promote healthy eating in kids.  More recently, Christina and Patrick Vitagliano were sued by Monster Cable Products Inc. for $80,000 and immediate cessation of using the name Monster Mini Golf for their new miniature golf business.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Monster Cable Products Inc. has won or successfully settled many of the very long list of lawsuits related to the protection of its trademarks citing “confusion in the marketplace” (the company claims it has fought about 190 battles with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and filed about 30 lawsuits in federal court). 

The result for Monster Cable Products Inc.?  A lot of bad publicity and a word, Monster, that consumers still don’t connect to the California company but that the founder, Noel Lee, believes has owned the status of “famous mark” for the company akin to Camel cigarettes.  Are you buying it?

Following are a few examples of what overactive trademark protection brought to Monster Cable Products Inc.  Keep in mind, despite the bad press, company founder Noel Lee, whose formal title, Head Monster, seems appropriate, does not plan to change the companies policy of protecting its trademarks vigilantly. [Read more…] about Monster Battle for a Monster Trademark

Oprah Winfrey Extends Brand to Her OWN TV Network

Discovery Communications (owner of the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and more) announced on Thursday that a new channel with revolutionary programming, similar to the launch of MTV in the early 1980s,  is coming — OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which will take the place of the Discovery Health Channel. 

According to Oprah’s production company website, Harpo Productions, the new channel is actually part of a multi-media initiative that will also include Oprah’s popular website, Oprah.com, with a mission to: “create multiple platforms for women, men and their families with a purpose and a passion: to celebrate life, to inspire and entertain, empowering viewers around the world to live their best lives, and by doing so, lift the lives of those around them in ever-widening circles.” [Read more…] about Oprah Winfrey Extends Brand to Her OWN TV Network