Just saw this on the website of my local UPS Store and am now wondering if they cater mainly to ex-chemistry teachers who’ve turned to meth manufacturing.
We’ve been having some fun with the letters of “Interbrand” while we’re waiting for new signage.
[This post was originally published on Interbrand's blog.]
Meteorologists today predicted a “parade of storms across the US” next week. As citizens of Northeast and Midwestern cities battle the severe weather, they may also have to contend with a blizzard of new names like “Plato,” “Q,” “Rocky” and “Saturn.”
The last time a big storm hit the Northeast, I wrote a post about how it got its name—Sandy—and the naming system used by the National Hurricane Center to name tropical storms and hurricanes. But if you check the Center’s list of potential storm names, you won’t find “Nemo,” which everyone, from Gawker to Michael Bloomberg, is now using for the latest storm to hit the Northeast.
So where did “Nemo” come from?
continue reading…
[This post was originally published on Interbrand's blog.]
Hasbro announced plans to update its beloved, 77-year old board game, Monopoly. Literally changing the game piece by piece, Hasbro will replace just one of its iconic, pewter game tokens before the end of this year. The familiar wheelbarrow, shoe, dog, racecar, top hat, iron, thimble, and battleship are each at risk of “going to jail,” to be replaced by a robot, diamond ring, helicopter, cat or guitar.
This change may seem trivial to many, yet some diehard fans of the game are up in arms, arguing against any change at all. Of course, Hasbro must have expected—perhaps hoped for—exactly such a reaction.
Other iconic brands like Gap and Tropicana have learned the hard way that refreshing a cherished cultural symbol is sure to spark debate, even when a corporation owns that symbol. Gap infamously redesigned their own logo in 2010, only to switch back a week later after consumers and the design community reacted vehemently. Tropicana saw sales plunge after a redesign to its packaging that did away with the popular straw-in-an-orange image.
While the Monopoly change involves neither a logo nor packaging, similar principles apply in terms of how to handle such a shift.
So far, Hasbro has done a lot right: continue reading…
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