Does it make you happy

It's not often that I say brillant but this ad deserves it.

The Brand Game

Do you ever think about what brands you chose to use every day and how that defines who you are? Try writing down all the brands that you encounter in your daily life. Mine is below. It can be very revealing about who you are, your personality and your lifestyle.

tom's of maine, wallby's, soy balance, boston organics, jacob, polo sport, elie tahari, campers, nissan, paper source, apple, nokia, yahoo!, lotus notes, google, adobe, safari, aiga, northern telecom, firefox, holmes, poland springs, jalsberg, vermont bread company, merrel, h&m, crystal geyser, fage, anna sui, diebold, marino, master, trimline,everlast, nissan, apple.

sleep and repeat.

Trick or Treat

It always good to take a walk when you are looking for inspiration. On a short stroll to City Feed and Supply, I found a clever street marketing campaign for Nutella, the European breakfast staple. Little bags filled with individual wrapped saltines and Nutella hung on doorknobs awaiting residents after a hard day. It certainly got my attention and my appetite☺

The Art of Media Buying

I never realized how much ad placement can really effect the message. In the Boston Globe's new campaign, site specific ads point arrows to neighborhoods and landmarks around Boston. Please note that this is a different campaign than the more generic thought bubbles discussing Boston issues. These are clever and eye catching ads (almost theratical installations) aimed at car driving commuters as opposed to the rest of the campaign that is targeted to users of public transportation.

The above ad reads "Transportation" (arrow points to the Ruggles T station) and "Education" (points to Northeastern University). Other examples include "Real Estate" pointing to the pricey South End and "Religion" pointing to the iconic Christian Science Center. It is rather fun to see them around town and proves that a good concept will beat a big budget every time.

growth spurts

Hello. I'm sorry I have not posted much lately. Let's call it stage fright. I have about 3 posts in draft mode because I wanted to get it just right before publishing it. But that's missing the point of blogging, so enjoy!

Gooble, Gooble

As much as I care about branding, I usually opt to buy local, small or alternative brands. In the past few months, I have become a victim of 2 rebranding campaigns: my bank and my cell phone. Both have shifted their color palettes and it has left me with a disharmonious perception of their brands.


Banknorth, a small New England bank chain, was bought by TD in March. TD Bank Financial Group owns Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada's second-largest bank, and the investment firm TD Waterhouse. The shift was commemorated by buying the naming rights to Boston's Fleet Center (formerly the Boston Garden) and turning the brand color from blue to green.


Sprint bought Nextel for $35 billion in December 2004. Aside from the usual merger problems, they are dealing with customers on different technologies. Usually the buyer shallows the buyee brand, but Sprint ditched their red for Nextel's yellow.


Now that the dust has settled, I have noticed the stages of acceptance for customer's undergoing a major rebranding campaign:
1. Shock- Why would Banknorth sell to TD?
2. Repulsion- How dare TD swallow my cool, funky bank?
3. Numbness- Fine, but if another bank comes along I might jump.
4. Acceptance- It's just a bank, I shouldn't care so much.
5. Forgiveness- At least they kept my overdraft protection.