The Evolution Of Surveys and Focus Groups In The Advertising Industry

The onslaught of mobile text spam from political polling companies inspired me to share a few beliefs about truths in advertising.

I’ve spent a good part of my career in digital measurement and analytics, including the early days of comScore, then BuzzMetrics (acquired by Nielsen), SocialCode and, most recently, Realeyes.… Read the rest

Brands Must Match The Right Consumer With The Right Message And Context — Or Risk Being Creepy

My reaction at first to this Cenegics ad below on Facebook was, “this is funny.”

I’m sure the picture was chosen because of it’s not-so-subtle nod to the most interesting man in the world. The ad copy suggested to me that this company was in the business of selling performance-enhancing vitamins, lotions or plastic surgery — Fountain of Youth type of stuff.… Read the rest

The Payments Company Formerly Known As Mastercard

It was fun to watch the launch of the new Mastercard logo. The logo evolution itself is interesting, though I was especially interested in the framing of the announcement. It was smart, especially for a logo upgrade.

The news release headline:

Mastercard Evolves Its Brand Mark by Dropping its Name

Then the news release lead graph:

Mastercard today announced that it is dropping its name from its iconic brand mark in select contexts.

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Is Your Company Rebrand A Reflection Of Who You Are, Or Who You Want To Be? Lessons From Southwest Airlines

It happens like clockwork and you see it all the time:

  1. A company decides to change its name or logo as part of a “rebrand.”
  2. Then the corporate communications department does a PR blitz to launch, explain and justify the rebrand — and get the wheels in motion for broad adoption.
… Read the rest