Brand Mix

My weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts. More at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) Brian Williams Takes Gloves Off: Gawker
Brian Williams giving as good as he was getting on the Daily Show. And giving his brand a big boost too.

2) Innocent's breakfast pot: brandgymblog
innocent has been a huge success story in the UK breaking into the drinks category with its "tasty little drinks." Now it's rumored that they are going to extend their brand into the breakfast category. David Taylor discusses the pros and cons.

3) Marketing reimagined: Grant McCracken
Grant attended a Fast Company event in NYC to hear more about Duncan Watt's perspective on the less-than-previously-thought influential role of influencers (an important plank in word-of-mouth marketing). I covered this topic here.

4) Lindsay Lohan reveals her brand: Dim Bulb
Jonathan Baskin charts the decline of the Lohan brand from "cuddly little ingenue" to rehab, from a brand perspective. Plus a pic of the cover of New York magazine.

5) Licensing: Trouble for Brands: Jack Trout
Jack tackles the question of how much licensing is too much licensing. Is the Donald over- extended? What about Richard Branson?

6) Consumer Vigilantes: Business Week
They're as mad as hell and not taking it any more. A story about recent battles between consumers and "please listen carefully because our menu has changed" customer service departments where the consumer actually won. Is the tide turning?