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	<title>Trends in Branding</title>
	<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com</link>
	<description>Are You a Branding Leader?</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:32:05 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[ Like it or not, Facebook isn’t going away—well not this year anyway! Brands are going where the customers are and that means social media. But just getting liked isn’t enough. Consumers want more, and brands need more than a thumbs-up. Brands will increasingly push the limits of Facebook to enable richer interactions and more meaningful connections. Facebook will be the first point of connection with brands – and not just in some limited way – they’ll have more content, more commerce and more community. Just accept that the rules of privacy have changed, that people will spend millions of dollars on virtual goods and that you really cannot have enough friends. This year, Facebook has won. 
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		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/02/07/636/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[Step by step, consumers are taking over creative control. Some brands are willingly embracing this opportunity – crowd-sourcing their ad campaigns, giving out prizes for packaging, outsourcing their naming or voting over videos – but others are being forced to play the game more reluctantly. And the corporate logo appears to be the next target. The design story of 2010 was the consumer reaction to the new Gap logo and the back-peddling that followed as Gap succumbed to the pressure of consumer dislike (much like Tropicana did) and went back to the way things were. And now, the new Starbucks logo could be heading for the same fate. Consumers have a voice and when they don’t like something today they have many ways to express it. This year, we are going to see design become the next platform for creative expression – but when is the right time to listen? ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/02/04/632/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[It’s official – all .com web addresses for four-letter names have gone. We are rapidly running out of options. The naming system for the internet is finally going to have to change. The .net TLD never got going and .org was never a good answer. Country codes like .co.uk, .fr, .kr or .jp have eased the pressure over the last few years, and the idea for localized domains like .nyc or .paris could become reality this year. But it looks like this is the year all those odd domains like .tv, .mobi, .museum and .xxx are finally going to come of age. Building your brand in the digital age demands that it have a home on the Web that people can find, but with Google or Bing at your fingertips, who needs to know the address? Any domain will work as long as you can find it through search. Brands are going less mainstream, yet people are still going to find them. Of course with Facebook, Twitter and mobile apps, maybe you don’t even need a website anymore…]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/02/03/629/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[
International brands are going to need each other more. Western brands going east; eastern brands going west. We are going to see more deals, more tie-ups and more relationships as brands look to become more relevant and more pervasive in expanding communities around the world. The truth is, brands don’t necessarily need to – or know how or to – do it on their own. International partnerships will give them inroads to new territories and new users where they can find success not just eventually in the long-term, but immediately in the short-term. A new era of global collaboration is underway.
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		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/02/02/626/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[With nearly 1 in 3 people in the US battling weight issues, fitness is in and obesity is out. The message that the nation needs to be fitter is being heard by brands, and they are acting. Whether it’s by improving a product, changing a perception or just getting with the program, brands will be increasingly aligning their messages and actions to focus on health and fitness. Consumers want it and need it. From PepsiCo and Burger King to Sesame Street and MetLife, brands are making some big investments to promote public awareness and education and putting their money where their mouth is with big donations to healthy charities. Brand managers take note – a healthier brand is going to be a more profitable one. ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/02/01/620/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[TV is falling to pieces, and this year those pieces will start to make more sense than the whole. Stop thinking “everything,” start thinking “something.” Piecemeal programming will start to replace standard subscriptions as more established brands like Apple, Google, Xbox and Amazon – and newer ones like Netflix, Boxee and Roku – compete to offer more ways to access, easier ways to consume and better ways to engage. It may be just a single show, a series or a channel, but Gen Y doesn’t want to get their TV the same way their parents got it or ultimately to pay for it the same way either. As the last bastions of local news and sports crumble to the Internet, á la carte TV will finally become easier, better and here! ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/31/617/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[Finally brands are beginning to look at B2B customers as B2C consumers. For years, the word “Enterprise” implied a second rate user experience, sacrificed to the altars of productivity and profitability. But, no more. After a decade of living with iPhones and BlackBerry devices, 1-click buying and “LIKE” buttons, we’re seeing a new generation of users looking for that same easy experience in their spreadsheets and business applications, forms and reports. Why shouldn’t business processes be as engaging and efficient as iTunes, Flickr or Facebook?  The user economy is demanding a better user experience and as brands apply the same elegant digital, social and mobile efficiencies that are driving modern consumer applications to B2B products, they’re creating deeper loyalty]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/28/611/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[Consumers want engagement and this year they are going to get it – with or without your help. They don’t want to just participate in your brand’s conversation; they want to shape it, control it, sell it, evangelize it and even try to destroy it! Consumers are out there doing those things however they can, committing rampant acts of “brandalism” every day to get themselves heard—whether it’s creating video content to tell your brand’s story their own way, championing social causes or lampooning your company’s behavior. They want to get noticed, and they want your brand to react. Sure, big brands like Shell, McDonald's and Coca-Cola have dealt with this for years, but now no brand – no matter how small – is immune to these spontaneous acts of brandalism. So be aware, and be prepared.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/27/608/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[So you’ve covered the “How” with consumers, throwing more campaigns and incentives at them; you’ve even answered the big question of “Why should they care?” But consumer engagement can’t stop there. This year, engagement is going to happen more deeply and more authentically as brands turn to their employees to become the living expressions of the brand. From Zappos to Kraft, Urban Outfitters to Berkshire Hathaway, brands are recognizing the real, hidden value of their people as ambassadors – not just their role in the community, but as walking, talking, texting touchpoints. Brands need to find their champions and get rid of their detractors. Teach your employees the essentials of brand evangelism and see them become catalysts for broader brand loyalty.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/26/604/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[Let’s face it, consumers are going to be confronted with more choices and more incentives this year than ever before. Brands will be throwing more freebies, competitions and videos at them; they will be drowning in social and overwhelmed by engagement. And pretty quickly they are going to ask the big question – why should I care? Do I really need another brand marketing to me? Do I really care about this product? Consumers are going to become more selective and if your brand is not clearly differentiated, you’re going to lose out very quickly. Get ready to stop thinking tactically and be prepared to answer the big question – why should they care?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/25/598/</link>
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		<description><![CDATA[Happy New Year – and when we say, “Happy,” we really mean it this time! During 2009 and 2010, SALT released trend predictions that coincided with terrifically-dismal economic conditions. They aligned with the realities of a depressed market: brands had to shift and narrow their strategies if they wanted to survive and continue to stand [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/announcements/2011/01/24/590/</link>
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		<title>Santa goes Digital-Mobile-Social</title>
		<description><![CDATA[No longer does the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa Claus usher in a holiday season of window displays.  Today’s consumers start their holiday shopping research online and closer to Halloween, nearly a month before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  They use digital, mobile, and social media to shop both in stores and online – digital technology has changed the holiday shopping experience.  But how are retail and other consumer brands adapting themselves to the digital-mobile-social marketplace for the holidays?  And how can brands stand out in the flurry of holiday marketing?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/ethics/2010/12/17/santa-goes-digital-mobile-social/</link>
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		<title>Managing Brand Value with Color</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Picture going through a day without color – picking out a monotone outfit, choosing among similar items at the grocery store, trying to find your car in a crowded parking lot – and imagine what our favorite brands would be reduced to without color.  Color stimulates our senses, triggers associations, and creates powerful recognition for our brands.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/creation/2010/11/02/managing-brand-value-with-color/</link>
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		<title>Mind the Gap</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The recent re-re-branding of the GAP brand raises some interesting questions about the power of crowds vs. the power of the brand itself.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/brandnew/2010/10/14/mind-the-gap/</link>
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		<title>Is your Brand Fluent? &#8211; Localized Branding Abroad</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The surprising announcements from these two international powerhouses beg the question:  how far should a brand go to gain relevance and (most importantly) market share abroad?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/global/2010/10/04/is-your-brand-fluent-localized-branding-abroad/</link>
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		<title>The Branding Popularity Contest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every year, the marketing community’s abuzz with the latest brand rankings.  The marketing world scrutinizes the who’s who – who rose and who fell, who’s new to the scene and who’s dropped off the radar.  It’s the branding popularity contest.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/brandnew/2010/09/08/the-branding-popularity-contest/</link>
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		<title>What&#8217;s in a name?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For the sake of illustration, let's divide the business world into two categories: companies that have brands, and companies who have names. The difference is not an insignificant one. Companies with brands have reputations and relationships that must be fed on a continual basis, across a spectrum of (increasingly numerous) customer touch points, and must provide meaning that resonates with both the company and the customer. ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/brandnew/2010/08/30/whats-in-a-name/</link>
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		<title>Cause and Affect</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Are companies engaging in social causes because they genuinely want to help or because they recognize they can’t win in consumers’ minds if they don’t? As Home Depot CEO Bob Bardelli put it,  “Our duty as individual citizens and as corporations isn’t to simply wait for government to do everything for us, but to recognize [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/global/2010/08/16/cause-and-affect/</link>
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		<title>Old Spice &#8211; strategic, not just social</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Social media does not exist in a vacuum.  It is part of a complex marketing mix that needs to stem from sound strategy.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/ethics/2010/08/06/old-spice-strategic-not-just-social/</link>
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		<title>Is Procurement Hurting your Brand?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In tough economic times, companies turn to their procurement departments for more fiscally-disciplined policies that help reign-in unchecked spending and wasted resources. Increasingly, companies are subjecting strategic and creative services to standardized procurement processes across the board without differentiation. And while this is great for their bottom lines, it is restricting their ability to come up with the innovative ideas necessary for brand leadership.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.trendsinbranding.com/tib2010/economics/2010/07/02/does-procurement-hurt-your-brand-%e2%80%93-or-just-your-ego/</link>
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