brand

Understanding branding and viral marketing with A Bathing Ape

The best examples of corporate and product branding are usually found in consumer goods--companies like Apple, Coke, Nike etc. provide the rest of us with models to follow and relate to software. A great example in the fashion world is A Bathing Ape, a brand obsessively built and managed by Nigo and profiled on Portfolio.com. Back in 2001 I went to Japan and become semi-obsessed with the A Bathing Ape (BAPE) brand. Every hipster kid had a cool BAPE t-shirt or hat and I just had to have one. We finally found the store in Harajuku where the line … Read more

Netvibes now feeding business customers

This morning Netvibes is launching Premium Universes, a new program for businesses to get their own branded start page that can be integrated into their existing site, without jettisoning users off elsewhere. The intent is for site users to get the same functionality they'd get at Netvibes.com, while at the site owner's page. Site owners in turn, can place as much advertising outside of the Netvibes page as they'd like, supplementing the use of the service--and hopefully their revenue.

In terms of features, there's really nothing new from the Netvibes Universe program that launched in mid-April. … Read more

Years into project, Sun releases Linux-on-Solaris software

In a new update called 8/07, a long-awaited feature of Sun Microsystems' Solaris 10 has finally arrived: the ability to run Linux software on x86 machines.

Sun originally billed the technology as one of the standout features of Solaris 10, which the company launched in 2005, but the company went back to the drawing board before unveiling it. The first version of Solaris 10 also introduced a technology to slice a single version of the operating system into separate, largely independent "containers," and the second incarnation of the Linux-on-Solaris technology, called BrandZ, puts the Linux applications in … Read more

Study: Coca-Cola, Microsoft hottest global brands

Coca-Cola and Microsoft are the two top global brands, according to an annual ranking by BusinessWeek and branding company Interbrand. Coca-Cola has kept the No. 1 spot and Microsoft has stayed No. 2 for the last seven years.

IBM, GE and Nokia made it into the top 5. Google is climbing and has reached the 20th position; the search giant has raised its brand value 44 percent compared with last year and 45 percent since 2005, breaking into the top 20 in just two years.

The ranking, called Best Global Brands 2007, compiles a list of 100 companies worldwide, a … Read more

MySpace launching branded video channels, possible Joost killer

MySpace will soon launch more than a dozen branded video channels, featuring content from big names like the National Geographic group, The New York Times, and Reuters. Users will be able to access the video content on branded content microsites similar to YouTube's partner channels with the BBC, NBC, and CBS. MySpace is allowing content providers to customize their content interface, with special backgrounds and color schemes. Expect something similar to Trailer Park, which MySpace launched last month.

The new service will tie in to MySpace's current videos platform, although there's no word yet on whether or … Read more

Lamborghini coffee maker: an expensive way to rev yourself up

I'm getting a little tired of this trend of luxury car companies lending their logos (and design houses) to random gadgets. I mean, come on, USB drives designed by Ferrari mastermind Pininfarina? Not to mention those car-themed cell phones, and that abomination of a Mini Cooper desk. It's basically just a reason to make pricey products even pricier.

I'm consequently skeptical about how good a Lamborghini coffee maker could actually be. Yes, it's made by big-name Tonino, and it's special enough so that only 1,000 have been manufactured, but does it really need the … Read more

Chocolate spreads to home theater

Chocolate lovers are everywhere, and LG knows it. So the company is taking its popular phone brand and milking it (sorry) for home entertainment products as well on the U.K. market.

The "J10HD Chocolate" is a home theater system with an 80GB hard drive and surround-sound speakers that can play DVDs, CDs and MPEG4 videos, as well as MP3 files. The only feature it shares with its handset cousin is a touchpad similar to one on the Chocolate phone, according to Coolest-Gadgets, but that's not the point. It's more about marketing than any technological ties.… Read more

Esteemo: Nope, it's not a dry cleaner

Sometimes, I wake up and wonder why I never got into the lucrative field of company branding and naming. You wake up, mix a couple of Latin terms with comic book names and charge someone six figures. How cool is that?

The latest example: Esteemo. It's not a new dry cleaning process. It's not a superhero's sidekick. It's a joint venture between Panasonic and NEC to develop mobile handsets.

"The company name has been coined from a combination of the words Esteem and Mobile to signify establishment by Panasonic and NEC as business partners with … Read more