Buzz Worthy
Posts tagged Brand Identity
Win Your Green: The HGTV Green Home
11130 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
Toss those ruby reds to the side. There’s no way those sequins are recyclable, and Earth Day’s right around the corner.
Instead, slip into a pair of green slippers, and tap them together while repeating the famous line, “There’s no place like home.” Because this is your shot at winning the HGTV Green Home. And believe me, there’s no place like this home.
HGTV Green House Giveaway
The lucky winner will be the new owner of a 5,012 square foot property in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The upscale neighborhood is the perfect place for this custom made eco-friendly house and HGTV made sure to cross all their T’s with this promotion. The home was given a Gold certification by the National Association of Home Builders because of its energy friendliness and sustainable components.
The custom built home will include eco-friendly flooring, energy friendly appliances and high-style furniture and accessories. And as you vigorously tap those slippers together, let me add that the winner also receives $100,000 and a brand spankin’ new GMC Terrain.
Green House Giveaway
This enormous prize package is comprised of some big name brands that are maintaining their dedication to the environment. The sponsors include: GMC, Shaw Floors, Serta Mattress, Exceptional Paints & Stains and Rinnai, a new 97% tank-lesswater heater company.
Enter for your chance to win this green dream house by snag mail, or simply fill out their contest form at the HGTV official site. (And continue to tap your green shoes together.) This amazing HGTV Green Home 2010 giveaway is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. So get clicking my friend and check out this virtual tour of the HGTVgreen home 2009.
Google Patents Our Lives
01137 days
You are owned. Didn’t you know? I’m not talking about by your gracious God or by your pimp daddy- though both will strike at you when disobeyed. Instead, you are owned by a man who will never “physically” touch you. However, in the cyber world, you are absolutely owned by Google. But don’t worry, we’re in this together.
Google God
Google Maps will direct you home after being lost wandering in New York City. Type the lyrics to the song you heard on the ride home and Google will send you right to the You Tube video. Need health advice? Type, “tight chest” and Google will send an ambulance right to your home…well not exactly.
But as Google continues their steady sky rocketing of brand success, they’re getting increasingly hands-on. In fact they now want the bragging rights for taking the virginity of promotional tweets.
The social networking Q&A service, Aardvark was launched in March 2009. Only one year later, it’s created such a buzz that its the latest Google acquisition. If you’re unfamiliar with the site, check out Aardvark now to test it out. You type in any questions and within minutes, the service will search through its various networks for the perfect person to answer. It’s a real life Ask Jeeves.
- Google Aardvark
The company was just acquired by Google in February, and only a month later they’re filing a patent that will get them ahead in the social media world. It reads, “A user of a web service is prompted to endorse the web service to the user’s friends or other connections by submitting a status message to one or more status messaging services to which the user belongs.”
If you’ve ever visited a website and been invited to, “Tell a Friend” then you’ve taken part in this web service. With just the click of a button, you’ll be promoting a particular brand in a tweet or Facebook status. Businesses all over the web are using this quick and easy service to build up their own social networks. However, if Aardvark Google gets the patent, will businesses become unable to use, “Tell a friend,” and similar services?
I predict a service charge in the future for this convenient feature. It’s got to be all about the money, or perhaps Google is just tugging at the reigns to show us once again, that we are all owned.
Facebook Become a Fan
01147 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
Face Book Joke
Facebook has been at its www.facebook.com domain since 2005, making it 5 years in age. However, due to its vast popularity of over 400 million users and the major advancements in technology that make it easily accessible, like smart phones – to get Facebook’s real age a formula is needed.
5 years of existence X 2 many status updates to count + the 6 seconds it takes for the average smart phone user to open the Facebook application = 16 years old.
Facebook Mark Zuckerberg
Now I know Facebook’s creator, Mark Zuckerberg, is a male, but the gender data on Facebook shows that approximately 60% of users are female. Therefore Facebook is a 16 year old girl. And what does a 16 year old girl want most? To be liked.
16 Year Old Britney Spears: LIKE ME
I’m convinced that’s why Facebook is now abandoning its, “Become a Fan” button and replacing it with the current, “Like” button that’s available for clicking oh photos, statuses, video uploads and more. The “Become a Fan” button pertains to brand pages where users are invited to connect with companies and celebrities.
A spokesperson said, “We’ve found that ‘Like’ is more global, easy to understand, and users are already comfortable and familiar with it—making the process of connecting with a Page more consistent with how they already interact with things on Facebook.”
What does it really mean? Facebook (in its most sensitive teen years) just wants to be liked more. You can be a fan of the Yankees or a fan of deep sea fishing. But Facebook doesn’t need promotional products branded with its logo or fans screaming in the stands to give it confidence. Facebook needs the little tickle of self worth – and she gets it every time a user clicks, “Like.”
I’m just a bit turned off by this change. I like my mom’s penne a la vodka, but I don’t say I’m on “Team Penne A La Vodka.” I like chipmunks. But I’m not going to make a giant poster and hold it up at a National Park. I like pickles, I do. But no, I will not “Become a Fan,” of that pickle.
I guess it’s easier to like something than to say you’re a fan. Wow, Facebook you’re now a behavioral scientist too; and all at the tender age of 16. I mean 5.
So, “Become a Fan” of Promotional Items Buzz on Facebook while you still can, because sometime this April you’ll only be able to “Like” the Buzz Blog.
Promo Green Buzz: Celebrity Branding
01157 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
How are you going green? That’s what everyone was asking at the Go Green Expo in New York City over the weekend. Many companies came decked out in eco-friendly apparel and used environmentally friendly products to bring in the customers.
What else draws in the new clients? Celebrity status.That’s what the creators of this water-less tooth brush were thinking when they got Dina Lohan, to lend her families scandalous name to the product. Named the “Aqua Freedom Green Lohan Toothbrush,” this new product promises to lessen water usage in the bathroom by 2 gallons a day with its waterless design. This toothbrush does require battery operation, but because of its dramatic no-water needed design, it ends up being very sustainable.
Green Lohan Toothbrush
Gossip god, with green goals, Perez Hilton blogged, “How much did she pay to get her name slapped on that contraption?!” The question remains unanswered and the branding power of a seemingly washed up “celebrity mom” will soon be seen as the waterless toothbrush becomes available to the public.
Perhaps this product launching is really a test for Dina Lohan. Will this waterless toothbrush teach her and the estranged husband to shut their mouths? Will an oral fixation to this toothbrush help Linsday Lohan from sticking other substances up her nose? Will the Aqua Freedom Loha- seriously? I could brush my teeth and floss in the time it takes to get the name of that tooth brush out.
So let’s move on to another eco-item from the Go Green Expo that used celebrity status to gain attention. The name, “Obama Beads,” says it all. Founder, Kathe Kexel joins with a group of women in Uganda called the, “Mama Kazi,” to create beautifully handcrafted beads. But what makes them eco-friendly?
Obama Beads Bag
After President Obama’s massive campaign efforts, a huge donation of his promotional flyers, pamphlets and posters were shipped over to Uganda. The papers are tightly cut and rolled into beads from the papers and laminated for reduced wear and tear. Though Obama isn’t an official spokesperson for Obama Beads, the concept is smart and I’m sure he’d be happy to know that his campaign materials are being recycled!
The women in Uganda who craft each unique piece of jewelry or clothing are paid a living wage and therefore granted greater oppoutunities in their country.
So what eco-friendly item do you think used celebrity branding best?
Puff, Puff, Promotional Products
01163 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
Monday through Friday, right around 5 PM I send out a tweet inviting all you lovelies to check out the Promo Buzz Blog and get your buzz on. I imagine opened shirt business men whipping their ties in the air and chugging the latest in branding news. I see the librarian tossing off her glasses and the business woman kicking off her heels as they take my well prepared shots of promotional product buzz.
But for today’s blog, some people may be taking a puff instead of a shot, because this week Jamullah Freedom Trading Inc, released a brand new medical marijuana promotional product.
Jamullah's Signature Peppermint Scented T-Shirt
Jumullah puts hemp products online alongside their tobacco equipment and was created by 20 year old Grant Wallace. You can find hemp and peppermint oil scented t-shirts as well as Dead head products like a Grateful Dead Tribute painting and other creative cannabis promotional products. Their signature t-shirt is created with peppermint oil through durascent technology so that even after multiple washes, the peppermint scent lingers.
The Jamullah site boasts, “100% of users agreed, the scent gives you a stimulating feel while wearing the shirt. Currently, peppermint scented t-shirts come with a very large and FUN print on front. Enjoyment can be found in all sorts of forms, from the effects of peppermint therapeutically, to the reactions from friends and family!”
Jamullah's latest Promotional Items, the 420 Gift Box.
Subsidiary company, Freedom Gifts offers products for supporters of the legalization of marijuana as it is medically legal in 14 states. And now, just in time for the unofficial Cannabis Celebration of April 20th, the Atlanta-based cannabis product distributor has created a delightful 420 Gift Box.
Dead Head Art
Check out the medical marijuana legalization chart to see your states laws. Medical Marijuana ID Card holders in Alaska, California, Maine and New Jersey to name a few, can purchase these new cannabis promotional products on-line at Jamullah. Included in the promotional package is a hemp-scented T-shirt and a herb grinder.
If the 420 kit isn’t your thing, how about taking a hit of brand exposure over at Hit Promotional Products? There you can choose cool caps, carabiners, ceramics and bags to have specially imprinted. Promotional products are affective in gaining support and awareness for any cause, so keep your expectations high and choose an imprint today.
Logorama 250,000 Logos at the Oscars
01172 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
If you checked out the Academy Awards you know Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to receive an Oscar for best Motion Picture, The Hurt Locker. You know that Jeff Bridges finally and rightfully won for best male actor award for his role in Crazy Heart after his fifth nomination since 1971 and you know Sandra Bullock made her first nomination count with an Oscar for best lead actress and a tear jerking acceptance speech.
- Logorama
But before the glitz of the big awards, the winner for Best Animated Short Film was announced. Holy moley promotional items buzz – or should I say branding buzz. The French made, Logorama took the award for their wonderful short film that can be described as nothing less than logomania.
Have you ever wondered how your favorite brand mascots would interact with one another? Have you questioned Mr. Cleans sexuality? Have you ever wondered what the Pringles man would order for lunch? Well now you can find out.
Best Animated Short 2010 Oscar Winner Logorama from the French group H5
The French group, H5 presents Logorama a short film about, “…an over-marketed world built only from logos and real trademarks that are destroyed by a series of natural disasters (beginning with a hurricane, cyclone, tidal wave…”
Logorama incorporates almost 30,000 logos from around the world and works to show how over the top marketing can be. However, this film is not a knock at the work with branding we do, it just shows that too much marketing can’t be a good thing.
I believe it is the perfect game for brand lovers like me and you. Spot the logo, write them down! My favorite appearance may be the Nickelodeon logo after a spill in the diner. Check out Logorama. What’s your favorite brand spotting?
Creator, Nicolas Schmerkin made a point to thank the, “Over 30,000 unofficial sponsors of Logorama during his acceptance speech. When asked earlier if permission was granted to use the logos Schmerkin and his H5 team simply replied, “Of course not!”
Brand Identity: No thanks Nike, the MSU Spartans will keep their current Logo
51200 days
by Jenn
in Promotional Items
Earlier this month I blogged about the importance of brand identification and put the spotlight on the Michigan State University Spartans in my Fans Identify with Sports Logos: The MSU Spartans entry. The new logo, designed by both MSU members and Nike, was leaked after being found on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site. The school was hoping to unite their 25 teams with one logo to strengthen their brand identification. Unfortunately, the 500 sports students that would be wearing these, and their fellow classmates were not impressed.
The current Michigan State University Logo will remain.
Athletics director, Mark Hollis said, “After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design. Using sound branding principles, the university will continue to register some variations of our Spartan logo in order to ensure that this symbol is well protected and firmly associated with Michigan State University.”
Students at MSU are excited about the decision to stick with their current logo and believe that their efforts on Facebook and other social media sites helped to preserve their logo. Junior student, Meghan Conners said, “I definitely saw that there was a lot of support, especially online with students showing that they wanted the old logo, and that’s what they wanted to see and that’s what they wanted to wear around.”
A MSU Spartan Fan proudly wears a promotional Spartan helmet- consistent with their current Spartan logo.
This is an awesome example of the importance of brand identification. The students of MSU were happy with their current logo. They identified with it and because of their allegiance to it, they were able to preserve it…at least for now.