Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Book on Branding


There are a few things we have to say about branding – what it is, why it matters and how it is done. It's all in a book now - RTFM! -, available at very carefully selected distributors. If you are experiencing difficulties obtaining the printed version, then there's an e-published edition too.

Or, alternatively, here's an estonian version. Have a good read!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Whoops!


An interesting court case is taking shape in Sweden. A dairy created a Turkish yogurt and commissioned a label that would make people feel that real Turks also ate the stuff. Going to Turkey to photograph someone was obviously prohibitively expensive so they went to the photo bank instead and bought a picture that would fit what they had in mind. Everything should have been OK.

Unfortunately, it turned out not OK. Namely, the gentleman illustrating the Turk is actually Greek. And when he found out that his face is illustrating a Turkish yogurt he decided to sue the dairy in question for 50 m SEK.

Which contract is enforceable, who missed what fine-print et cetera will come out in the next weeks and months. However, the larger issue to consider is cultural sensitivity. In an increasingly globalizing world, where the speed of communication is reaching the speed of light, companies and people are advised to seriously consider the implications of their actions when stepping outside of one's home-culture comfort zone.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Brand Manual's first b-day!


On April 1st Brand Manual celebrated its first year. When we started this business, it was in the depths of the Great Recession and we had no clients, no office, no money but we had experience and an idea. We also decided to practice what we preach and build our brand from the inside out, sticking to our simple core belief that we either do it right, or we don't do it at all.

Celebrating our first year with clients and friends was the icing on the principle cake.

For more feelings from our shindig visit our Facebook page or go to Best Marketing.