Brand Michael Schumacher or Brand Ferrari?

The implications of the Ferrari decision to force Rubens Barichello to allow teammate Michael Schumacher to win the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday May 12 are instructive when one looks at the Italian team's brand strategy. Fair play is one of the issues being hurled at Ferrari by enraged fans but this is temporary.

Searching just looking for ideas

"Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in an airport." - Robert Wieder The above quote appeared a couple of days ago on the front page of Biz-Community.

HP invent a machine inspired by a person

The HP print ad that opens on the first page of the current issue of Brainstorm magazine is a great piece of wordplay. Not a person trying to do a machine's job or a person deferring to a machine, but a machine that fits into the human world."Now, a machine inspired by the person who does everything."The picture shows an employee with one hand on hip and other holding pen to pursed lips and deep in thought.

The legend of WOM is not What oops.Marketing?

WOM is one of the most stylish acronyms and indeed one of the most powerful tools available to the creative advertising/marketing/PR person. It is something that most people talk about and use and yet are very passive in their approach to it as a creative tool.

Brand complacency according to George Lucas

The recent release of the latest brand builder in the Star Wars saga was greeted with a variety of reactions. There were those in the film critics camp that slammed the "stilted script" and the "wooden dialogue".

Creativity within brand continuity

Remember the story about the Leopard that never changes his spots? People often use the analogy to describe others with bad habits. It seems that there are leopards with good habits as well.

The art of magic in Mergers and Acquisitions

The clever paper folding trick in the Rand Merchant Bank print ad that turns Mergers and Acquisitions into Mergitions defeats the point. By suggesting that successful Mergers and Acquisitions are achieved through some form of sleight of hand is to trivialise a part of business that is based on patient attention to detail.Meticulous research, planning and calculating risk to say nothing of having to build a new corporate identity makes any Merger or Acquisition a complicated and inherently risky business.The word magic conjures up images of rabbits out of a hat or scantily clad ladies appearing out of nowhere.

Taking a little extra from a good idea

Inside the back cover of the latest SL Mag there is a great idea that has been made into a cute little ad. A pretty girl with nice legs and great running shoes is out jogging in the suburbs.

News doesn't wait for people to have free time

The latest news24.com advert in the Finance Week is a clever take on the pace of communication across the world of today. "The news isn't always at 8."With the speed of technology we now no longer wait with bated breath for the 8pm or 8am news if we want to stay abreast of developments.The picture shows two rescuers picking seabirds out of an oil spill close to land.

Winning rules in sports branding

Recent suggestions in the media regarding the possibility of a breakaway from the Tri-Nations by South Africa to join a proposed Seven Nations have placed the Southern Hemisphere tournament well and truly under the spotlight. Seven years ago the idea was to have regular showdowns between the top three teams in the world.