Ketchum to mentor BIC public relations students

Nancy R. Tag, CCNY Branding + Integrated Communications (BIC) MPS Program Director, and Associate Professor, Media & Communication Arts Department, has announced that Ketchum, one of the leading global public relations and integrated communications services agencies, will offer personalized mentoring opportunities for all BIC public relations-concentration students.

Professor Tag says, "BIC public relations-oriented students will now have a distinctive and invaluable opportunity to gain insights and personalized guidance from senior professionals at one of the leading PR agencies in the world.  This partnership between CCNY BIC and Ketchum is a deeply appreciated expression of the confidence of Ketchum in CCNY and the BIC program -- particularly by Barri Rafferty, Ketchum's CEO, North America, who is one of our program advisers."

Ketchum will offer BIC public relations perspective on the best of PR practice.  In 2013, Ketchum and its clients won nine Silver Anvil Awards, the leading U.S. public relations industry awards program, sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) -- more than any other PR agency in 2013.  Ketchum and its clients also were awarded nine Cannes Lions awards -- the only PR firm to have won Cannes Lions awards across multiple marketing communications categories.

Ketchum, a member of the Omnicom Group, is a PR firm that offers branding, marketing, and communications services worldwide. One of the first-generation of PR agencies in the United States, the firm was founded in 1923 by George Ketchum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today, it has operations in 25 countries and has affiliates throughout the world. Ketchum has been one of the global leaders in integrated communications (started as an advertising agency) and data-driven communications services (as one of the pioneers of public relations research).

BIC industry adviser, Rob Norman, warns: don't underestimate the news

Rob Norman
Chief Digital Officer,
Global, GroupM
and BIC Adviser

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer, Global at GroupM, kicked off the new year by writing for Advertising Age a column, "Why Is Hard News a Hard Sell for Advertisers? Marketers Still Aren't Putting Enogh of Their Dollars Where Online Users Are."

Rob dispels the oft-repeated assumption that the news media is dying. Acknowledging the vast impact of digital technologies and news' delivery system, Rob also reminds us that "news organizations, those with their roots in newspapers as well as TV, have enjoyed an astonishing increase in consumption and now are far more current, enriched as they are by multimedia, by social media and citizen journalism. Furthermore their content is the most-shared across the Internet."

Brands and ad agencies are short-sighted to underestimate the audiences that news media can -- still -- deliver. "Digitally delivered news, both hard and soft, appears to combine reach, popularity, engagement and authority like no other collective of digital assets. And individual news outlets engage their readers and viewers frequently."

Rob Norman
(2011 photo from Advertising Age)
with the inaugural group of
GroupM Diversity Scholarship
recipients

Rob Norman is one of four senior communications industry advisers to CCNY's MPS program in Branding + Integrated Communications. Rob is a long-standing supporter of CCNY's Media & Communication Arts Department, spearing-heading the GroupM Diversity Scholarship Program with CCNY since 2011 and counseling on the creation of BIC from its inception.

As Chief Digital Officer, Global at GroupM, Rob oversees the activities of the world's largest buyer of online media with more than $5 billion in billings. In this role, he develops the digital capabilities within GroupM while establishing thought leadership positioning in the digital space and contributing to the agency's business development. In December 2013, GroupM was named Media Network of the Year by Campaign Magazine.

BIC welcomes SS+K's Kate Rothen as new adjunct professor

Kate Rothen, Partner, SS+K
Adjunct Professor, CCNY BIC

Kate Rothen, Partner at SS+K, has joined the CCNY BIC program faculty as an adjunct professor. Kate will begin her CCNY-BIC career by teaching the Internal Management course which focuses on the creation and management of communications programs in creative, design-oriented, data-rich, process-driven, and collaborative environments  (integrated communications!).  The course is a requirement for the Communications Management Track BIC students and an elective for the Creative and PR BIC students.

According to Kate's official SS+K bio, Kate sought refuge from a traditional PR career and found a home at SS+K.  She has helped clients tackle challenges ranging from fighting TV censorship to empowering female entrepreneurs to getting Americans to reconsider the electric car. She has engineered engagement strategies for clients including Chevrolet, Kraft, Audi, and Westin Hotels.  She has served as SS+K's first Director of Social Media and as Executive Director of the agency account management team. In 2011, the Impact Center named Kate as one of twelve Women's Leadership Institute Fellows.

SS+K was created twenty years ago as one of a small group of first-mover pioneers in true integrated marketing communications. The founding partners came from politics, public affairs, advertising, and design. The agency has resolutely remained "channel neutral" -- as they say: "SS+K was founded to provide great work for great clients and causes by defying the boundaries of communication at every turn."

BIC welcomes Zontee Hou as new adjunct professor

Zontee Hou
Social Media and
Digital Marketing Consultant,
BIC Adjunct Professor

Zontee Hou has joined CCNY BIC as an adjunct faculty member beginning in the Spring 2014 initially to teach the Consumer Behavior and Persuasion course, a required course for the Management Track BIC students and an elective for the Creative and PR Track BIC students.

Zontee has worked as a brand and digital marketing consultant as well as having served as a spokesperson for national media for her clients. She currently works with Convince & Convert, a new-format marketing communications services company -- social and content accelerators -- that has worked with leading national brands, including Wal-Mart, BMC Software, Caterpillar, Columbia Sportswear, Petco, and many others.

Zontee holds an M.S. in Strategic Communications from Columbia University.

BIC student, Raj Andrew Gomes, dances (no ...) draws, paints, CREATES -- with the Stars at JWT

Raj Andrew Gomes
BIC class of 2015
JWT  College of Art Battle Warrior

BIC class of 2015 student, Raj Andrew Gomes, represented City College of New York Branding + Integrated Communications M.P.S. program at the 2013 JWT College Art Battle.  All of us at BIC were thrilled to watch Raj battle, for BIC, against the long-standing programs such as the Miami Ad School, the School of Visual Art, and New York City Tech -- in a showcase (and DJ-ed celebration) of the best university advertising/creative young talent you can find.

You gotta watch this video from JWT: Video Here.

Raj was cheered on by a contingent of his BIC fellow-students -- strong testament to the community of BICsters and the support that BIC students are finding from their fellow students, from their faculty, and from the NYC advertising and PR communities.

Dee Salomon, BIC prof, appointed CMO of MediaLink

Dee Salomon
Chief Marketing Officer, MediaLink

On December 3, 2013, Dee Salomon, BIC Adjunct Professor, was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of MediaLink.

MediaLink provides deep market and business insights to a wide range of companies to help them to capitalize on the emerging opportunities of the media industry.



Here is the MediaLink release on BusinessWire, and some examples of the trade coverage at MediaPost and 4-traders.

Salomon has been a highly valued supporter of BIC since (and before) Day One, providing advice and encouragement as the new M.P.S. in Branding + Integrated Communications was created.

In the up-coming spring semester beginning January 2014, BIC students will have the extraordinary opportunity to take the BIC course in Brand Experience taught by Salomon -- a defining (but far from exclusive) example of the network of professionals and resources that BIC offers its students.

Watch this blog for more insights about Brand Experience -- from MediaLink's new CMO and BIC students.

BIC prof is finalist for prestigious global ad award -- leveraging brand power to save lives

Gerardo Blumenkrantz
Professor, CCNY
Media and Communication Arts
Art/Creative Director,
Ogilvy Indonesia
for UNICEF

BIC faculty member, Gerardo Blumenkrantz, was an art director and creative director for a campaign designed by Ogilvy Indonesia for the UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) that is a finalist in a global awards competition for public service/social welfare ads sponsored by the London International Awards (LIA), a global ad awards program for advertising, digital, branded content, design, production, and music & sound.

The campaign leverages our attention and engagement with the processes of social media to demand attention and thoughtfulness about a significant public health problem (that can be remedied with sufficient support) -- malaria among children in Indonesia.

Blumenkrantz' / Ogilvy's campaign is a great example of branding at its best -- effective and compelling for its inherent communications attributes, but also arresting and compelling for its ideological and moral power.

Check out the description and video relating to the campaign, here.

PRSA Foundation awards CCNY Media & Communication Arts Department a milestone grant to examine the factors affecting the success of under-represented groups in the PR profession

The Public Relations Society of America Foundation has announced two national research project grants to examine the issues and conditions relating to the access and success of under-represented demographic groups of young professionals as they enter the public relations profession.  These two important national grants were awarded to the Media & Communication Arts Department at CCNY and to the University of San Francisco.

The CCNY project will be led by Professors Lynn Appelbaum, Program Director of the Advertising / Public Relations Program and Frank Walton, PR Track Director of the BIC MPS Program.

Professor Walton says: "CCNY's Media & Communication Arts Advertising and Public Relations Program has been a national leader in providing career opportunities -- and understanding the broader issues -- for young professionals from Hispanic, African-American, and other under-represented demographic groups in the PR industry. This new research endeavor will help the CCNY BIC faculty be among the vanguard in the integrated communications industry in understanding the dynamics which contribute to the success of all aspiring and committed young PR professionals, regardless of their national, ethic, and cultural backgrounds."

Project co-director, Professor Lynn Appelbaum was co-author with with Professor Rochelle Ford of Howard University, in 2005, of one of the first national studies of under-represented groups in the PR profession.  Professor Applebaum is a recipient of the PRSA-New York Dorf Mentoring Award and has served as the PRSA Diversity Chair.  Project co-director, Professor Frank Walton has been a member of the Institute for Public Relations Research & Education Measurement Commission since 2008 and has previously served as the Chief Knowledge Officer of the global PR agency, Ruder Finn, Inc.

Chandler Chicco's employee of the year -- a friend of BIC

Marianne Eisenmann
Head of Determinus,
the research division of
Chandler Chicco Companies

In our opinion, it doesn't happen often enough -- that a leading, international agency selects its top researcher as "employee of the year." But that's exactly what Chandler Chicco Companies did for 2013, as Chandler Chicco Companies (CCC), a world-leader in integrated communications in the healthcare and nutrition sectors. selected Marianne Eisenmann as their "employee of the year."

Chandler Chicco says: "Marianne has helped shape nearly every campaign at CCC over the past year – she has pushed us all to think about how to improve programs with a solid foundation of research, how to measure programs from the start, and then how to gauge and showcase success."

Marianne Eisenmann (center)
with BIC students at the
Y&R Mix & Mentor Recpetion
October 2013

Marianne Eisenmann has been a long-standing supporter and well-wisher of BIC -- and will be making some command performances at BIC classes in Spring semester 2014.

Contemplating the costs of customization, personalization, ad avoidance, and ad blindness

Rob Norman, Global Chief Digital Officer at GroupM and member of the BIC Advisory Board has written a post about the "now and next of digital development as it affects advertising, marketing, and media." Norman presents the ad industry with a dual challenge: 1) age shift: "by 2020 Millennials will represent 50% of the West's population. Half the world's population will be under the age of 30 by the same date," and 2) the "hyper-fragmentation and attention deficit" that increasingly characterizes entertainment, media (and thereby advertising) consumption.

In an era in which the business models of content distribution, and advertising, are threatened, if not shattered, Norman worries about the future of brands and branding (as we know them today): "awareness [broad awareness by a wide public] remains critical to brand health and the creation of demand which, in turn, depends on a strong mass media."  Norman poses the question -- What if, soon, there is no "mass media"?

Brands and mass media co-evolved in the second half of the twentieth century. Without that mass media, what's the future of brands?

Check out Rob Norman's post, here.  Also, follow Norman on tumblr.

Guinness is good for appreciating a brand

Guinness's "Best Ad of All Time" (The Sunday Times 2002)

Jemima Maunder-Taylor, a brand analyst with Interbrand in London, has written an insightful and entertaining post on the Guinness brand -- its evolution, milestones, and enduring characteristics. So few commercial brands have such a long history as Guinness; the continuity of both the product and brand attributes along with the record of marketing and communications successes provides a compelling view of the potential of well-managed brands.

Refreshing the world's biggest brand

Quietroom provides a brand refresh for Santa. (No less an authority than Fast Company sees this as a "genius spoof.") A little more theoretical than what LogoDesignLove provided last year.

Santa has a long history (not easily "suited" for a blog post).  But we cannot ignore the contribution that Coca Cola Company has made to the Santa Brand along with branding for Coco Cola.  Here's a history of the Coca Cola contribution from Executional.co.uk.

Happy holiday.

Safety info + Glee-ishness = brand Virgin

Virgin America's latest in-flight safety info video is getting lots of buzz.  See this at Branding Magazine.   Wired was also, well, wired for the video: see here.   Even Fox News likes it.

But does it sell seats? (Should we care?)

Chobani shows resilience, determination

brandchannel has posted a good wrap-up of the incidents surrounding the recent Chobani product recall and the company's brand-defense. Chobani is not holding back -- aggressively reaching out to consumers with "quality" messaging, product sampling, and public affairs/CSR initiatives.  Just shows: admitting a problem / shortcoming does not mean you can't responsibly design a brand defense.

Fusion ("salsa is a bigger condiment in the U.S. than ketchup") and other news

ABC and Univision teamed up this week to launch the new cable news network -- Fusion  --  focused on millenials and Latinos. The positioning for that demographic is described their spokespersons as a mix of news, satire, and comedy.  The Bloomberg TV spot sums it up.  Fusion's launch video, maybe, sums up their brand even better: check it out here.

There is no doubt that cable news (not to mention broadcast news and even NPR) is aging (with America). And, there is no doubt that some lesson needs to be learned from the successes of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and The Onion.  And, there is no doubt that America is (soon) a minority-majority nation.

It is, however, an open question as to whether the Fusion product / brand is going to be a wan spin-off concept of MailOnline + TMZ + Comedy Central -- or whether it will take its audience seriously, and respectfully.

(Just a question -- how many journalists will Fusion employ?  Just another question -- how will Fusion, as a serious competitor in the cable news category perform against the most recent entrant, Al Jazeera?)

We'll see.  In the meantime, we loved the (Glee-ification of news) video.

PPC and (yes) branding

Ninety-five percent of viewers don't click on a specific PPC (pay-per-click) ad. But does that PPC ad have any branding value?

"Yes" -- says Aga Bojko, VP, User Experience at GfK research. And it's not just her opinion.

Using eye-tracking data, Bojko assesses what percentage of research participants actually look at an online ad, how long they took to notice it, and how long they looked at it. Bojko and GfK can help advertisers decide on whether to increase or decrease bid amounts for moving their ad up or down on the search engine result pages regardless (in addition to) consideration of click-throughs.

See Bojko's blog post here.  Check out GfK's global practice in online ad global user experience research here.

The brand is in the process

DC.StreetsBlog today posted about a new MIT study that argues that the "benefits of placemaking go deeper than better places." This study asserts that the process (political, social, neighborhood, architectural, construction, public education, etc,) for creating an urban "place" is more important than the change of the place itself.

Similarly, I've often seen, when working with a large organization, the the process of branding or re-branding the organization is as -- or more -- important than the final product. The branding process brings together the the opinions (and objections) of the stakeholders; it tests the view of management against the views of employees, customers, and others; most important -- the process forces the marketing professionals / creatives to deal with the "politics" as well as the marketplace for the organization. The brand emerges -- a brand that may not be what the creatives or the marketing communications pros anticipated.

Mixed, mentored -- and preparing to lead

Meet tomorrow's Ad/PR leaders

On October 17th, David Sable, CEO of Y&R, along with several of his senior Y&R colleagues, hosted the a Mix + Mentor Reception for the first class of students in the new CCNY Master’s program in Branding + Integrated Communications (BIC).

The thirty-two BIC students had the opportunity to meet with about an equal number of representatives of senior industry leadership as well as young professionals from Y&R, McCann Worldgroup, Grey Global, GroupM, MediaLink, TBWA, Deutsch, Draftfcb, Horizon Media, R/GA, Ketchum PR, Finn Partners PR, Chandler Chicco Agency, WCG, Beacon Advisors, and JacobStahl PR, among others.

BIC students also had the opportunity of networking with senior representatives of the advertising industry's The One Club, Ad Age, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission.

The New York advertising and PR agency communities have shown enthusiastic curiosity about the BIC program and receptivity both to participating in our curriculum as advisers and adjunct professors and receptivity to partnerships in cultivating the professionalism and experience of BIC students through internships, personal contacts, and other support.

The reception, held at Y&R's new headquarters off of Columbus Circle in New York, was a fitting introduction for BIC's students to the industry that they will help to transform in the future.

Dot Giannone, EVP, Y&R (left);
Nancy Tag, Professor and BIC Program Director (right)

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer, Global
GroupM
and BIC Industry Advisory Board Member
 (third from left)

Frank Walton, CCNY BIC faculty
and Member, Institute for PR Measurement Commission;
Barri Rafferty, CEO North America, Ketchum
and BIC Industry Advisory Board Member;
Antonio Ortalani, Group Director, Analytics, WCG

The global leadership of Ad/PR
will come from New York, from China,
from the Ukraine, from Fiji
-- and from the CCNY BIC program

Dee Salomon, Chief Marketing Officer
MediaLink and CCNY BIC faculty (center)

Chavonne Hodges
Diversity & Inclusion Manager
McCann Worldgroup (center)

Jerry Carlson, Chair, Media & Communication Arts Dept.,
CCNY and Professor of French, Film Arts,
and Comparative Literature, CUNY;
Richard Funess, Senior Managing Partner
Finn Partners;
Peter Finn, Founding Partner
Finn Partners
and BIC Industry Advisory Board Member

Marianne Eisenmann, Head of Research
Chandler Chicco Agency
and Member, Institute for PR Measurement Commission (center)
with tomorrow's Ad/PR innovators

Ann Marie Kerwin, Ad Age;
Belle Frank, Global Director, Strategy & Applied Research, Y&R
and CCNY BIC faculty

CCNY BIC announces inaugural Industry Advisory Board members

Nancy R. Tag, Professor and Program Director, announced today the names of the inaugural members of the CCNY Branding + Integrated Communications (BIC) Master’s of Professional Studies program Industry Advisory Board. The board members have extended their offers to provide professional development and various other kinds of support to the BIC curriculum and individual BIC students. The enthusiasm of these advisory board members, along with support from their organizations, is a testament to strategic direction of BIC in preparing the next generation of communications professionals.

The inaugural BIC Industry Advisory Board includes:

David Sable
CEO, Y&R

David Sable, CEO, Y&R -- David Sable has been Chief Executive Officer of Young & Rubicam, Inc since February 2011 and has been its Chairman of the Board since January 1st 2012. He has served in high-profile positions in advertising, direct marketing and public relations with global clients as diverse as Microsoft, Citibank, Kraft, Hewlett Packard; IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, Bausch and Lomb, and the United States Postal Service (among others, who count on his strategic insight and ability to connect talent across marketing disciplines and geographies). He was appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, to serve as a member of the Cultural Advisory Committee of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. He is a Member of the Executive Board and Chairman of the Marketing Committee of the United Jewish Federation's (UJA) New York chapter. Mr. Sable is a frequent speaker at industry events, including the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Venice Festival of Media, International Post Corporation, Direct Marketing Association, Australian Direct Marketing Association and the Israel Policy Forum.

Barri Rafferty
CEO North America
Ketchum

Barri Rafferty, CEO North America, Ketchum PR -- During Barri Rafferty’s tenure at Ketchum, she has held several different roles to support the agency’s overall business goals, including overseeing the global brand marketing practice and running the New York, Atlanta and Dallas offices. She also oversaw specialty units such as digital, entertainment, sports, and multicultural, some of which have since grown into full-fledged complementary businesses. She is part of the nine-member Worldwide Executive Committee, which focuses on guiding the strategy, client service and performance of the agency. Rafferty has a legacy of client service and continues to advise many of the agency’s largest clients, including Gillette, P&G, Frito Lay, Weight Watchers, Ikea, Chase and Mattel. Outside of Ketchum, she participates in a number of groups, such as the sustainability task force for the World Economic Forum. She is also active in the Public Relations Society of America New York Chapter and is a former chapter president. In 2012, she received the PRSA President’s Award for her many contributions.

Rob Norman
Chief Digital Officer Global
GroupM

Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer Global, GroupM – Rob Norman oversees the activities of the world’s largest buyer of online media with more than $5 billion in billings. In this role, he develops the digital capabilities within GroupM while establishing thought leadership positioning in the digital space and contributing to each agency’s business development. Prior to taking this role in 2012, Rob served as CEO of GroupM North America where he was responsible for the general management as well as strategic and administrative activities at each of GroupM’s four media agencies. Rob was named a Media Maven by Advertising Age in 2007. He sits on the advisory board of WPP Digital, the venture arm of GroupM parent company WPP, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication. He also is on the board of the 4A’s, and the Ad Council and leads GroupM’s diversity efforts, including a scholarship program at City College New York.

Peter Finn
Founding Partner
Finn Partners

Peter Finn, Founding Partner, Finn Partners – Finn Partners today carries on the 60+ year history of one of the pioneering generation of American public relations firms (Ruder & Finn) along with the legacy of the founder, David Finn, a CCNY alumnus. Named by PR News as a 2013 Agency of the Year and by The Holmes Report both as the Best PR Agency to Work For  in North America in 2012 and as the Best New Agency of 2012, Finn Partners is headquartered in New York and has six other U.S. offices as well as offices in London and Jerusalem. Peter Finn has over 25 years of experience in the management of market research and public relations operations of the Ruder Finn Group companies with a solid record of acquisitions and agency development. He is also the founder of the Catskill Mountain Foundation, a transformative arts-based economic development initiative in the upper Hudson Valley of New York State.

Brand Humanity

The BloombergBusinessweek's Management Blog had a post today about "brand humanity" by Chris Malone and Susan T. Fiske, co-authors of The Human Brand: How We Relate to People, Products, and Companies:

"Social psychologists believe as much as 82 percent of our everyday social judgments can be predicted by our instant assessments of these two questions: What are the intentions of this other person toward me? How capable is this person of carrying out those intentions? Without realizing it, we apply such appraisals of warmth and competence in all our relationships, including those involving companies and brands. Warmth and competence defines what might be called 'The Human Brand' . . ."

A nice shorthand for thinking about why we trust some brands / companies and not others.

NSFW

No caption is necessary.

This is not a story out of The Onion. Some branding person in Japan actually thought a cute name for brand/mascot would be (excuse me) "Fukuppy."

As if not bad enough, the company Fukushima Industry, just happens to have the same name as another company (unrelated except by the accident of name) to the disastrous operator of the nuclear power plant damaged by the 2010 earthquake and tsunami.

It's shocking to believe that the branding non-genius didn't consider the global (didn't even consider the Japanese) context. Fundamental PR concept: consider the world around you, not just yourself. You don't want to go down in branding history for a Fukuppy.

Here's the story as told at The Guardian.

POST UPDATE, OCT 15: Co-branding opportunities in wearable technology

Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry since 2006
Next year: Apple's head of retail.

Today Apple announced the hiring of Burberry's CEO, Angela Ahrendts to take over Apple's retail business next year. She will be the only woman among the company's 10-person executive. Already there's speculation that she's the next CEO-in-waiting for Apple: a real co-branding of fashion and technology in the wings?

brandchannel has also posted a feature speculating about the implications of Ahrendts' move to Apple.

Samsung Mobile's Galaxy Gear Smartwatch
developed with jewelry designer, Dana Lorenz.
Photo via Fast Company 

Fast Company and Interbrand's blog have both recently speculated about challenges facing device manufacturers as they directly enter the world of fashion with the new wearable technology.

Fast Company's Sarah Kessler wrote last month, at the time of New York Fashion Week, "Pretty colors can't erase criticism that Samsung's watch has no purpose, a clunky design, and an unwarranted high price tag. But it does go a long way in making it wearable."

Rob Meyerson, Director, Verbal Identity at Interbrand San Francisco, is reassured that the major players (Google, Nike, Apple) are approaching this as a co-branding challenge. Devices being wearable isn't enough: they've got to be desirably wearable.

Burson-Marsteller re-brands

Burson-Marsteller, fifth largest PR agency in worldwide revenue, had its new re-branding initiative profiled by Stuart Elliott in The New York Times today. Looks like a sensible, prudent move. In fact, one has to wonder why a traditional PR agency would not be making such a move given many pressures of global markets, technology change, and the reconfiguration of marketing services demands from clients that's now a decade old. Still, it's worth watching how B-M will handle it.

Coke: losing fizz

John Miziolek, Presdient and CEO of Reset Branding, takes Coca-Cola to task in a Fast Company blog yesterday. Miziolek reflects on the reasons why Interbrand's brand value list for 2013 shows Coca-Cola slipping -- mostly, according to Miziolek, because Coke "has not done enough to change its strategy and revamp its product line" to be in sync with market shifts away from obesity-driving product and toward authentically healthful beverages. Coke is stuck, says Miziolek, in products and marketing that don't look forward. Of the new products and line extensions over the past five years, Miziolek writes,  "the geniuses at Coca-Cola simply reached out and grabbed  the newest way to secretly sell the public unhealthy sugar water!"

Q: What does the branding process cost? A: $29.00

DesignMantic's free sample
logo design for
CCNY's Branding +
Integrated Communications MPS 

DesignMantic has introduced a do-it-yourself design studio product that can provide you with a logo (and a business card design!) for as little as $29 (if you choose from the library) or up to $99 for "custom design" (you will be sent 5 custom logo design concepts with a 2 business day turnaround time.).

This kind of "clip art" approach to visual identity isn't new -- it's just easier with digital files and online commerce. We should, however, take it seriously -- the design and visual identity we offer clients needs to be a whole lot smarter / insightful / authentic.  Otherwise, why not just spend $29?