Here’s a well put together video that aims to help people comprehend just how powerful Google is, and how incomprehensibly powerful they may become.

Is it possible to command such power and retain the principle “don’t be evil”? Or on the other hand is it possible to command such power and have people believe the brand isn’t evil whether their intentions are good or not?

With more and more reports and videos such as this Google is going to have to do more and more to demonstrate that Google really does have our best interests at heart. Google must remain transparent, continue to let the user retain a sense of control, and of course some brilliant emotive advertising can do wonders for a brand…

What do you do with massive poster ads that have been replaced? Well if your Sony Japan you turn them into jeans.

I spotted this great little campaign in the Sony building Tokyo. On the outside of the building there hangs a massive promotion poster which is changed monthly, Sony decided to take these old posters cut them up and turn them into a jeans.

Wanting to make sure I actually understood what they meant by ‘jeans created from a used ad’ I did a little searching and found this youtube video that shows you exactly how posters become jeans.

It’s a great idea that highlights the brand’s eco-awareness, furthermore the campaign helps attach Sony’s much desired values of style, creativeness, and individuality (think ‘like no other’) to the brand.

Here’s the latest TV ad for TV advertising, which I ironically saw on youtube.

Don’t get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed the ad, it brings back memories of some great ad campaigns of the past and the context and comic timing does raise a smile. This ad would have been perfect before the emergence of digital media channels, but then of course back then there would have been no need for such a campaign.

The message of the ad is that TV can get through to your audience like no other medium, you can use it to push your message and it will get through. When the psychiatrist delves into the patients ‘deep subconscious’ he discovers nothing but classic TV ads. The context of this ad seems to represent the old way of approaching marketing, as a one way communication channel, where brands simply push their messages at their audience. However in our new digital world things are changing and as so is the  model, the brand audience now have the option to communicate with the brand, and with other member of the actual and potential brand audience.

The audience will no longer be satisfied with one way communication aimed at them (they might not want to be a a gibbering mess on a psychiatrist’s couch). Furthermore, brands should not be satisfied with this approach. No longer are they limited to aim at simply trying to push their messages into the audience subconscious, they can now truly engage with their audience, and can aim at building a relationship with can be of benefit to both brand and consumer. I’m not saying TV advertising doesn’t have a part to play, just that its approach will have to change, and integrated properly with other mediums it can play a key part in many campaigns.

The evolution of communication channels means that the brand audience can easily talk to brands, and to fellow audience members, and with a bit of luck they won’t have to talk to psychiatrists.

Here’s a couple of nice examples from recent weeks, seen any other good ones?

Mr Bump and Bruise Soothers cold pack (you can get plasters/band aids as well)

via boingboing

Selfridges and Coca-Cola

via Hypebeast

Puma are not the only sports brand to collaborate with other brands to produce some interesting trainers. Here’s 5 of the best examples:

Adidas & Disney

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Levi & Nike

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Onitsuka Tiger & Mini

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Reebok & Hasbro (Monopoly)

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Adidas & Goodyear

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Want people to promote your brand where ever they go? Just get your brand on their feet!

A brand can be defined as a personality, people respond best to personalities that they can relate to and that they respect.

A large brand has the advantage of containing a large number of personality traits which can help them appeal to more people. On the other hand, this large number of traits can reduce the feeling people feel they can relate to a brand. To combat this, large brands need to make good use of sub-brands.

Lets demonstrate this by looking at the Spice Girls and Girls aloud (why not?!). Both are 5 piece girl bands from the UK, both successful, but the Spice Girls were successful on another level and at their peak they were one of the biggest global brands. So why could this be? The Spice Girls didn’t make better music, they weren’t more attractive, but when it comes to sub-branding they win hands down.

The Spice Girls sub-brands were the individual band members, each totally distinguishable by their personality and looks, they were even all given names such as sporty  or posh to emphasise this. They all had some consistent traits that held the main brand together and ensured they reached as many people as possible, but they also had these specific sub-brands which people could actually relate to and consequently embrace the brand when it reached them. In comparison the Girls Aloud sub-branding is limited, the members appear similar, and have no defining or distinguishing names. If Girls Aloud want to become a Major Global Brand they might need to work on their sub-branding.

If you’re not convinced by the Spice Girls example take a look at how sports brands such as Nike and Adidas have created successful sub-brands to help build the brand but maintain a close link with their audience.

I recently read a post on the challenges faced by brands when the time comes to change the brand name. The post pointed to the recent brand change from Virgin Radio to Absolute Radio which has resulted in the loss of 461,000 listeners.

It has never been easy to ensure a successful brand name change, and in this digital age it has never been more difficult.

• At one level you have the problems related to people finding the brand online such as incorrect URLs, new domain name purchasing, and falling down the search lists.
• Further issues arise from current online content, it might be possible to rebrand or remove old content on brand sites, but the nature of the Internet means that this content will be linked from and live in various destinations that brand won’t have access to.
• What’s more the brand has no control over new content and conversation about the brand currently occurring. The brand can no longer simply tell customers of any changes, they must discuss it with them.

It seems if the brand is performing well there is very little justification to change the name. Take Carphone Warehouse for example, logic might suggest that seeing as no one refers to their mobile as a carphone and there are in fact negative connotations involved with using a mobile in your car that the name should be changed. However, the name has remained, and probably for the best, while people understand what the name represents they have no problems (unless these are negative representations of course).Furthermore, they might have gone for phone warehouse, but then these days a mobile is a mobile device not just a mobile phone, so then they’d be down to warehouse which I believe is already taken.

This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to change a brand name, brands just need to take note to how the rules have changed. Nor does it mean they shouldn’t change their name, if the brand name creates the wrong connotations in the minds of the majority then it might be time to have a rethink no matter what the effort.

This is the somewhat controversial Ad for Pepsi Max created by BBDO Dusseldorf (who said the Germans had no sense of humour?!). It plays on the single calorie in Pepsi Max and how it’s loneliness might drive it to drastic action. It gets your attention, you remember the message, it gets publicity, but it might upset a few people.

I’m pretty sure using suicide as a theme for an ad is pretty controversial in any country, but what might be considered slightly controversial in one country might be considered boarderline illegal in another. This ad and the negative worldwide response demonstrates how global brands need to remember thanks to the Internet whenever they do any branding they need to consider that it could reach every corner of the globe. You can’t change the regional brand without effecting the global brand, so you need to be very careful and considered with everything you do (perhaps unlike here).