So yesterday, while Beg to Differ was breaking up with the Intel brand, we got sad news about another old flame:  Saturn is dead. Penske threw in the towel on its attempt to revitalize the brand, and GM is finally shutting Saturn down. We’re feeling sad about that today. We remember when Saturn was promising to [...]

Ten days ago, I wrote  10 days to Interbrand top 100 brands & 10 reasons to care. Well Friday (three days earlier than adverstised), the results came in. And if you have time, you can read full results and commentary at two sites: 1) Interbrand and 2) Business Week. But I’ll warn you, it’s a lot of [...]

Last week there was widespread (and agency-fuelled) speculation about the meaning of the mysterious “230″ campaign. AdAge managed to uncover that the source was General Motors, but not much beyond that. Well, this morning Twitter is abuzz with the answer: 230 is the EPA-verified mileage per gallon for the new Chevy Volt. (Translation for the [...]

So with all the kerfuffle around the GM bankruptcy (and the gajillions of dollars we’ll all be shelling out to save its butt from the fire), the one thing that gets forgotten as always is the brand strategy angle: 60-90 days from now, GM will be re-emerging from bankruptcy under a new coporate banner. Now, [...]

Trident “Less Intense” – both a sign of changing times and a spectacular positioning error.

As the recession continues to bite down on consumer spending and confidence, companies in all markets are searching for ways to reduce costs. As budgets are squeezed, marketers must find innovative ways to minimize the fluff and maximize the value presented by their brands and products. Even in a recession, consumers will pay for products [...]