Strategist, Marketer, Nerd
Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier from the Food Collective by the Spa Esprit Group (quite a mouthful isn’t it?!) has been all the rage in Singapore of late, with positive reviews from Lifestyle on the Sunday Times and very recently, on the website of the Wall Street Journal SEA website.
I thought I would approach this Bakery from the angle of branding instead. Indeed, this is quite an interesting example because of how eclectic the brand identity is. [Read more…]
If you read this blog closely enough, you would realize that I am an avid follower of Brand New, a site that critiques new brand identities from a design perspective.
The new University of the Arts London (UAL) identity caused a furore on the blog for its use of Helvetica. Pretty strong views there about what can arguably be the most common and well-loved font in the world. That might actually be a problem in itself. [Read more…]
This article I just read from Fast Company calls for a refocus on delivering quality products that consumers want instead of talking so much about the Brand. The author cites the example of Coke benefitting from shifting its focus back to its products after a long time on brand building. [Read more…]
Personal Branding has become a popular topic in the blogosphere and over social media these days. Personal Branding is about managing your reputation (online reputation being especially important these days) like you would manage an actual brand i.e. sort of a self-packaging exercise. [Read more…]
Sara Lee Corporation has announced that it would be splitting itself into two separate companies to refocus on specific product categories: Hillshire Brands for its meat-centric food products and D.E. MASTER BLENDERS 1753 for its coffee and tea business. This announcement follows the footsteps of Kraft which announced that it would be splitting into two last year.
Splits seem to be becoming a trend as companies seek to gain more specialisation in each category after a long period of consolidation. Brands can also benefit by being more nimble to changing consumer tastes and trends. In light of the rise of social media, companies have realised that they need to put in more effort in engaging their customers. People are no longer content to simply consume, but want to find avenues to participate in brand building. This is also coupled with an increased consumer awareness, making the consumer goods business more than simply selling a product and making sure that people know about it through traditional advertisements.
It might be silly nostalgia on my part, but I feel that such moves often disregards the brand equity existing in names. Sara Lee and Kraft are both globally known brands that consumers have interacted with for many years. Although a change in the corporate brand has no visceral impact its consumer products, these companies are giving up a name that comes quickly into the minds of consumers, and diminishes years of efforts in brand building.