Brands We Love/Hate

Copyright gapinvoid.com

Brands We Love/Hate

by Brand Identity Guru (BIG) Scott White
from his branding blog

Here’s a list of consumer brands that I absolutely will avoid at all costs (and most likely never will sign as a client). Mostly these brands offend me in some way or make me feel bad. And we all know that branding boils down to making people feel good.

The Bad!

Wal-Mart; Southwest Airlines; Northwest Airlines; American Express; Burger King; Magellan; New York Yankees.

The Good!

Tweeter; Amazon; iRobot; Target; Jet Blue; Coca Cola; Apple; BMW’s Mini Cooper; NetFlix; ESPN.

A sample of S.White's good taste:

Coca Cola: What can I say? I don’t drink Pepsi, that’s for sure. It’s almost like I’m programmed. Diet Coke please. The leader of all leaders.
Google: They will eventually own the world. Their culture is second to none.
Apple: Pure genius.

Read All

So tell me, What exactly is a Brand?

Copyright 2007
Collage by Sugar Pop

If you have an in-house marketing team, call them into your office. If you use consultants, get them on the phone. If you're a marketer yourself, look directly into the mirror. Dispense with the small talk, and let some silence build dramatic tension in the room. Then, in a thoughtful voice, ask the one question that has the power to cleanse the earth of mushy-headed marketing. "So tell me, what exactly is a brand?"

By Christopher Kenton

What, Exactly, Is a Brand?

Don't believe the mystifying, long-winded explanations of trendy marketers. The answer is much simpler -- and absolutely essential to grasp.

Read More...

The Duck v/s Ronald

Batriq is the Kuwaiti version of Mc Donald. Only it is not a burger place but a 'nearly everything' fastfood.
Batriq's logo is McDonald's twitsted M morphing into a B, an identity, the Kuwaiti fast food obviously capitalised on.
Is this called short sight, the Ronald affect or point blank Creativity?

Believe it or not, Al Batriq (the Duck) has been doing as good as Mc Donald, if nor better; his loyal customers look so loyal, as the place is unbelievably crowded on a Friday night, Batriq Addict wouldn't obviously trade their Kabab sandwich for the largest Big Mc meal, that XXL juicy pack.
Well, why not a duck brand invasion instead of Ruler Ronald? E Que Viva La Brand Revolucion!!

Low-Go from Kuwait

Some SIMILARITIES, weird ANALOGIES, just a COINCIDENCE, form of TELEPATHY or simply low IMITATION??

Whatever you call it, one thing is certain: these logos fall under one BOX named: "COPYCAT MATERIAL: You're BUSTED!"

Ahilya Insurence, Warba Media Network, Safir Hotel, CBK (Commercial Bank of Kuwait), KREB (Kuwait Real Estate Bank) are Kuwaiti based companies that had to deal with an ill-defined corporate identity -- the least one can say. All in all, Brand Addicts say this is a low-class designing and branding effort.
These Kuwaiti corporations did certainly not assimilate--back then, the importance/power of brands and had to outsource short-sighted computer scribblers who failed in designing an identity for the long haul.
Unfortunately, copycat is a syndrome that is quite spread in the entire Arab world where similar cases abound.

'Copycated' brands is a topic we will return to, periodically, with such like distorted identities.
Just fasten seat belts, the best is yet to come.

Brand Addicts extend a warm thank you, to 'copycop' Louai Al Asfahani (Paragon ad agency, Kuwait) for a sharp-shark pick ;)


We are starting this blog with something that goes like this: 'as bad as it can get'... But Brand Addicts promise - like brand promises ;)- to showcase anything to do with lovemarks, emoticons, cult identities, brandmeisters talk & everything that goes around. BRANDS ARE US! Will just have to undress IT!