http://fblog.futurebrand.com Future-focused thoughts, views and insights from Global Brand Consultancy - FutureBrand Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:38:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It’s rare to witness the demise of a truly iconic brand. Yet this week comes news of not one but three brands that can claim this status staring into the abyss. First we have Hostess Brands, the maker of both Twinkies and Wonder Bread, filing for Chapter 11 protection. Wonder ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/best-thing-since-sliced-bread/ I came across this ad for Unicef in Sweden on Ad Week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF3Aqdbruy8 It’s made by Swedish agency Forsman & Bedenfors, and is obviously intended to shock. We see a cuddly, red-cheeked, stereotypical Santa Claus sorting out a miscellany of presents for people, full of good cheer – until he comes across ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/santa-doesnt-do-poor-countries/ Coffee Brands have come a long way in the past 20 years, and not necessarily for the better. There are many players in the coffee market that can be found dwelling on street corners and in shopping malls across the globe. Clearly Starbucks is the most dominant global player, but ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/guest-blog-the-lost-coffee-culture%e2%80%a6high-street-coffee-brands-need-to-reinvent-themselves%e2%80%a6/ The economy of the world is changing at a speed that would have been impossible to imagine just fours years ago. During the last decade we have seen the rise of financial power rise over manufacturing and entered into a situation in which the sum of all financial derivatives is ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/learnings-from-cbi-shifts-in-the-economic-balance-of-power/ Natural disasters tend to be much more than a series of events with unfortunate results. They create opportunities to reflect on our relationships with the environment, from the geographical to the human. At the time of a natural disaster, we depend upon human relationships with other countries for four reasons: 1) ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/learnings-from-cbi-natural-disasters-crisis-and-opportunity/ Innovation success depends more on culture and strategic alignment than R&D investment according to a recent report by Booz & Company (http://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_think/featured_content/innovation_1000_2011). Its analysis, which compares the top ten companies by annual R&D spend with a top ten ranking of the ‘most innovative’ companies by global innovation executives, argues that ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/why-vision-matters/ For FutureBrand methodology, brands are the result of the sum of reputation and identity. Reputation is the consequence of the brand promise and its proper compliance, integrated with brand pillars, attributes and personality. In turn, identity is composed of the elements that make a reputation truly tangible; verbal denominations, visual ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/learnings-from-our-cbi-building-country-brands/ As social protest and social media begin to exert and display true ‘people power’, the impact on political, commercial and social institutions is being manifested. The refusal of a (not-so) few, “the indignant”, to accept perceived societal and political injustices has ignited a new form of community and protest. ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/the-voice-of-the-indignants-and-its-impact-on-cbi/ Spending a lot of time in the corporate branding world, and often working with clients moving from a product to a solutions company, I have often been responsible for transitioning companies to a masterbrand strategy. One of the biggest challenges in doing this is gaining alignment and buy-in across internal ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/finding-your-own-place-within-a-masterbrand/ Style addicts and the global fashion industry are excitedly waiting for November 17 when H&M’s latest luxury designer co-branded ‘H&M By Versace’ collection debuts in UK. On the other side of the pond, the collection hits stores on November 19. On both dates, there will be women all around the world camping ... http://fblog.futurebrand.com/when-and-why-couture-meets-retail/