Bankrupt Carmaker No, Bankrupt Airline Yes?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:03:20 -0500

With the Detroit bailout now a wreck, the refrain from the impacted carmakers is that a the money is still necessary, because "consumers won't buy cars from companies in bankruptcy."

But they readily flew bankrupt airlines. For years. Still do.

Since 2000, most of the major airlines have traveled in and out of bankruptcy: United, US Airways, Delta, Northwest. Continental was a visionary in this regard, throwing up its corporate hands in 1990. Frontier is still in hock.

Rapper 50 Cent Butts Heads With Taco Bell In Trademark Infringement Suit

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:24:48 -0500

There's a legal squabble going on between Taco Bell and rapper 50 Cent over a faux letter the company sent out, asking that the celebrity change his name for a day to "79 Cent" -- the pricepoint of one of its value meals -- and earn $10,000 for the charity of his choice.

The gangsta star has sued for trademark infringement in federal court, and Taco Bell's lawyers are counter-blathering in the press. The marketing blogosphere is ripping with analyses ranging from the utterly brilliant to the foolishly stupid.

Should GM Start Making Floor Polish?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:56:10 -0500

A quick check of the headlines and blogosphere reveals some very innovative approaches to 'rescuing' GM and its brethren in Detroit.

Most all of them forsake a cash bailout (or otherwise pecuniary reward) for various plans to remake the companies: management and the boards must resign, production lines must be obligated to make only hybrid vehicles. Probably all of the ideas involve putting many thousands of people out of work, whether explicitly or implicitly required.

Comment on Node ant

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:15:28 -0400

I love the confusion evidenced by Microsoft's latest campaign. Apple isn't their problem...this isn't a "Pepsi vs. Coke" sort of thing. It's more "gnat vs. elephant." Microsoft doesn't make computers, and to bite the bait and start marketing itself as if it did is a losing (and rather incomprehensible) proposition.

Kudos to Apple for distracting a lumbering giant, which elevates itself far more than its own branding budget could have allowed.

Ad Ubiquity in Wired

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:05:52 -0400

I enjoy Wired magazine when I'm done reading Fast Company, but this current month's issue left me wondering: where do the articles end, and the ads begin?

It's really a seamless merging of the two, at least to my uneducated eyes. Every page carries forward a design sensibility introduced on the first few pages. Quick...do the ads look like editorial, or the copy resemble ads?

Is Digital Marketing Enough?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:19:27 -0400

You don't need to look far to see the challenges facing marketers today: consumers are more wary than they've been in years, and feel as though they have less latitude for spending than they did even a month ago ago. Credit and stock woes are forcing companies to cut back on everything, and critically scrutinize everything else.

Sales are down. Costs are up. Pressure on the top-line and bomttom-line equals a perfect storm. What's a marketer to do?

Do Financial Brands Add Up?

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:10:03 -0400

The global economic meltdown has been bad news for financial services brands, straining the media of marketing communications as much as balance sheets. The fundamental question is whether branding can overcome the rational as well as emotional reactions of depositors, investors, and policy holders.

Unbuttoning the Levi's Brand

Jonathan Salem Baskin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:22:21 -0400

Levi's has a significant problem: like many other iconic brands -- it's pretty much generically synonymous with the idea of "jeans" -- there's nowhere near the consumer behavior (i.e. purchases) to match consumer awareness.