The changing face of banking

Banking as our parents and grandparents knew it is now part of history. Gone are the days of long queues and piles of paper to fill out and sign. Welcome to the world of digital banking. Challenger banks have entered the market. What are they? They do what they say on the tin: they challenge the business model of the traditional clearing banks.   The big 4 clearing banks in the UK have traditionally provided savings and loans products to…

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Do you know your brand history? (True or False series #8)

Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do? Test your knowledge thanks to the sixth part of the True or False series.   In 1994, Jeff Bezos resigned from his well-paid Wall Street job as the vice-president of a global investment management firm and moved to Seattle to launch a start-up. He ended up founding Amazon, which was originally called Cadabra; the name was later changed to Amazon partly because the Cadabra sounded…

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Do you know your brand history? (True or False series #7)

Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do? Test your knowledge thanks to the sixth part of the True or False series. René Lacoste (1904-1996) was a French tennis player whose victories in both national and international tournaments were notorious during the 1920’s. His tenacity on the tennis courts gained him the nickname “the Crocodile”. When the first tennis shirts were produced, René Lacoste took to wearing one on the courts and personalised…

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Do you know your brand history? (True or False series #6)

Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do? Test your knowledge thanks to the sixth part of the True or False series.   Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield met in their early teens when they both attended the same gym class in high school. After Jerry had failed to get into medical school and Ben had dropped out of college, they decided to partner together and open their own business. They both completed…

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Do you know your brand history ? (True or False series #1)

Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do ? Test you knowledge thanks to this first part of the True or False series. Asics is a Japanese company that was originally named Aoki Shinjiro Ikuso Sportswear: Aoki Shinjiro (the founder’s name), Ikuso (Japanese equivalent of “Let’s go!”) and Sportswear (to give the name an international and “cool” touch). When the company decided to go global, the brand name was shortened to its initials…

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How nicknames can damage or benefit a brand, Chevy vs. “Fix it again, Tony!”

Fiat entered the American market in 1908. At the time, it wasn’t yet known as “Fix it again, Tony!”; the nickname was actually crafted some 60 years later in the 1970s and 1980s when some Fiat owners reportedly encountered problems with their cars. From then on Fiat got a reputation for making unreliable and poor quality cars. The nickname “Fix it again, Tony!” was coined as an acronym for Fiat and intended as a joke. However it stuck, to the…

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Life in a playful world : advergames, gamification & serious games

When I was a child I liked going to McDonald’s because of the little promotional toys given away in ‘Happy Meals’. I didn’t even like the food that much but I would often beg my parents to take me to McDonald’s anyway. The fact that the toys changed so often and were always goodies from the last hot anime series or Disney movie only increased their appeal to the child I was (By the way, do you know that McDonalds…

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VIDEO: An introduction to brand naming

In May this year I gave a talk at the Great British Business Show held in London’s ExCel centre.  The talk was called An Introduction To Brand Naming.  It’s a short overview of the basics of naming, and highlights some of the issues you will need to consider when looking for a brand name.   For those of you who missed it at the show, or if you wanted to see it again, here it is below.   Or to…

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Generic top-level domains at top-level prices

We currently have 22 international generic top-level domains (such as the good old .com) with an additional 250 national-level ones (.co.uk for example) that we have got used to over the years. But when you get used to something, it is most likely that something will change… The applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are soaring, which will revolutionize the way domains work. It could be any extension imaginable, such as www.pedro.pizza or www.kindle.amazon. The price of applications aren’t…

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What if brands were one of us?

Brands are acting more humane to get in touch with the consumers and build up relationships. With social media, this is easier than ever before. But, how do we pick a brand over another brand? If brands are more personal, then we must treat them more carefully as well just like the people we surround ourselves with. They are part of our everyday lives and we want to make sure that we can trust them. Meeting As we are faced…

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