July 15, 2010
iPhone antenna controversy: Apple plans news conference
Apple, which has long enjoyed a love affair with consumers and is known for excellent customer care, should be able to weather the storm, said Steven Addis, chief executive of Addis Creson, a brand strategy and design firm in Berkeley.
However, Apple’s reputation has taken a hit, he added. “I’ve been really disappointed by the way the company has handled this. You don’t want to put out a product in which you have to have workarounds, like holding it differently. That’s absurd.”
June 17, 2010
Uprooting the Personal Bias in Brand Naming
Naming a company is one of the most challenging aspects of branding. A name is the most visible, least changeable brand element, and it’s entirely wrapped up in the collective personality of the people running the company.
But that explains only part of the challenge.
Underlying the selection of a name are personal biases and fears. Like [...]
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June 10, 2010
That’s “Chevrolet” to you.
This just in: The New York Times reports that employees at General Motors’ headquarters in Detroit are being encouraged to use the brand name “Chevrolet” instead of the long-popular nickname “Chevy.”
Oh, GM. Or should I say “General Motors”?
The switch to the more formal moniker brings to mind an analogous experience in my own career. In [...]
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May 18, 2010
Your Name Goes Here
Your name has been your name for as long as you’ve known you. At least that’s the case for most of us. Sometime between the ages of four and seven months, the neurons involved in name recognition kicked in, and you learned to recognize your own name. And so you learned the word or words [...]
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April 30, 2010
Amazon wards off sales tax risk
By Alexandria Sage
Reuters
“There will not be much backlash,” said Steven Addis of Berkeley-based branding firm Addis Creson. “They’re championing a populist cause, which is lower taxes.”
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April 27, 2010
Starbucks gives Frappuccino new life for hot summer sales
By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY
Starbucks (SBUX) is on a mission to turn its Frappuccino into much more than a pricey drink. Hit by the recession and increased competition from Dunkin’ Donuts and smoothie chains, sales of the Frappuccino brand have slid the past few years. Executives won’t say how steep the slide has been for the blended ice drink that became a $2 billion juggernaut for Starbucks. But any decline is seen as serious for the 15-year-old beverage that accounts for an estimated 15% to 20% of sales at Starbucks stores.
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April 22, 2010
On this Earth Day…
April 22, 2010
Pictures and Words
When I first met John Creson in 2005, I was able to pick up something very different about this agency, from the client list to the intent behind the work. When I joined Addis Creson in 2008, I became immersed in the ethos of “Positive Change” and realized there was something special going on here. There are many characters here with richly diverse and fascinating backgrounds, but our one common thread is to use our work to do something better for the world.
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February 17, 2010
Genericized Trademarks in Haitian Creole
Haitian Creole, one of Haiti’s two official languages (the other is French), is the most widely spoken creole in the world today. Commonly known as Creole or Kreyòl, it is French-based with borrowed elements from African languages, as well as Spanish and English. It is considered part of the Romance family of languages.
So what [...]
January 27, 2010
Apple tablet buzz at fever pitch
By John Boudreau
San Jose Mercury News
The months of buzz leading up to today’s widely anticipated announcement of Apple’s multimedia tablet rivals that for any previous product announcements by Apple. Yet no one outside of Apple’s inner circle knows for sure what the Cupertino company will unveil at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
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