Author: Colin Finkle
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Hot Wheels id Sub-Brand, and Mattel’s Big Problem
Hot Wheels id is an exceptional example of a sub-brand. It solves Mattel’s big problem: kids and pre-teens are choosing video games over physical play.
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What is Visual Language?
Designers and brand managers are told that a consistency of design is important for the brand they are working with. But do we really know what this means? Or why it’s a good thing? Prior to my work in brand strategy, I was an industrial designer for 11 years. I have worked with brands that…
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Logos With TM
14 examples to help you understand why and how to use the TM symbol. If you cannot protect your brand from other people using your name and logo, then investing in a brand at all makes little to no sense. Someone will benefit from all of your brand marketing if they can copy your logo.…
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Taglines of the Top 100 Brands
“The Ultimate Driving Machine” to “Finger Lickin’ Good.” Here are the taglines of the top companies in the world. A couple of readers were asking for guidance on taglines. Frankly, I don’t know much about slogans or taglines; I have worked for over a decade helping big brands with their retail marketing, and taglines are…
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What does Brand Safety mean?
If you pay to advertise your brand, then you are trying to make it easier for your brand to sell products in the future. What if your display ads ended up doing the opposite? What if it became harder to sell after you paid money to advertise? That would be tragic, but it does happen.…
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Examples of Successful Umbrella Brands
Understanding what an Umbrella Brand or Family Brand is and exploring 15 examples. It can often be a challenge to understand the relationships between products and their brands. Brand architecture can take many forms. The key is to understand examples, and here we have a wide variety of umbrella brands across sectors, from aviation to…
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The ‘Wow’ Logo Colors
Highlighting the best logo color combinations. Feel free to use them! It is a challenge to find colors for our logo designs that our clients will like, and we will feel proud to present. The trick is to pick colors that are on-trend but work and will not go out of style in a few…
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100 Thieves brand profile
Looking at the culture, apparel, and history of one of the fastest growing lifestyle brands. I have been hearing people in my circles talk about this new name, 100 Thieves, that is doing some exciting stuff to build their brand. Then I watched their video touring of their compound, and I was fascinated. I researched…
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What are Table Stakes in Business?
Have you ever heard your colleague or a business pundit, like Jason Calacanis, use the term “table stakes” and wondered what they meant? I researched it, and have the answer for you. Table stakes highlight an essential concept in branding: meeting minimum customer expectations.
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Allen Adamson Interview
The author of Shift Ahead speaks with Colin Finkle about the pace of market change and how to keep up. It is easy to think of brands that were once dominant but fell off the map: Sears, Blockbuster, Oldsmobile, etc. It is also easy to play “what if?” What if Sears move their catalog business…