Electrolux Resolves Its Identity Crisis
Here's a counterintuitive business strategy: Sell the company name, operate under a slew of other brands for 34 years, then buy back your original name for $50 million. That pretty much summarizes what Electrolux, the world's largest home-appliance maker, did in America.
Did you know that Electrolux vacuums are not really Electrolux vacuums? Did you know that Fridgidaire, Weed Eater, and White-Westinghouse brand are really Electrolux products?
Here is a fascinating little story on Electrolux, how it sold it's brand name 34 years ago and has now bought it back. Watch, you will see double-logo'd products now such as Fridgidaire Electrolux.
The new logos are part of CEO Hans Straberg's global branding strategy. "I'd like my legacy to be one of the guy who got the Electrolux products together under one umbrella name," he says.
By the way, Electrolux manufactured vacuums are really Eureka. Electrolux BRANDED vacuums are actually made by a company called Aerus.
Confused?
This guy has a serious branding challenge ahead.
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Ask Jeeves Launches Outdoor Ad Campaign
Search engine Ask Jeeves (Quote, Company Info) is taking the wraps off an advertising campaign Monday that skips the expensive TV commercials it used in its early days in favor of more sensible guerilla marketing and outdoor advertising.
It's nice to see a dot com on billboards again.
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1. Nick gets pick pocketed in Circuit City. Loses wallet.
2. Nice New Yorker finds Nick's wallet and calls friend's number. Friend does not know where Nick is.
3. Friend calls Nick out of concern.
4. Friends of Nick Denton get concerned because he hasn't blogged in 24 hours! (the horror) Could he be kidnapped?
5. Nick (who is safe the whole time) uses PayPal to track the thief.
6. Nick himself blogs about the entire incident.
Only in the Blogosphere...
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ABCNEWS.com : Will 'Adver-Gaming' Take Off?
Playing interactive video games online isn't just fun and entertaining for players. For companies and marketers, online games are becoming yet another avenue to attract a consumer's attention � and make a sales pitch.
I'm not much of a gamer but there are some good points in this article about time spent with the medium and the potential of it as an advertising medium. Worth a read.
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XM Satellite Radio Lays Off 80
Strapped with mounting programming costs and limited financing, XM Satellite Radio Thursday said it had laid off 80 of its 480 employees and is seeking additional financing in order to fund the start-up company beyond first quarter of next year.
XM and Sirius Radio are great ideas but their business models are threatened by the recent announcement of a technology that will enable terrestrial radio stations to broadcast digitally as well. Of course, the terrestrial stations will, unlike satellite radio, still have commercials but they will remain free.
Also, it seems as though manufacturers could have done a better job with the consumer equipment as well. Do you really want another box in your car? Why can't they integrate XM or Sirius into the chassis of the existing AM/FM units. Would it be that hard? Maybe they have, I just haven't seen them yet. Then, there's the subscription fee. While it's "only" about $10 per month, there are so many "only $10" services for consumers to choose from. This one apparently is not enticing enough.
As with the slow adoption of fee based Tivo-like services, it would appear that consumers, aside from premium cable, don't want to pay for entertainment they have always had for free. They'll just suck it up and wait for the commercial break to end.
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THE 30-SECOND TV SPOT IS NOT DEAD
Although his agency is pioneering a new kind of long-form TV commercial that is changing the industry, David Lubars today assured fellow ad creatives of his personal belief in the importance of the 30-second TV spot.
Gee, something new comes out and suddenly every marketer thinks that all other tried and true tools are now dead? Well, that is exaggerating the point a bit but every time some new ad form comes out, many people think it will replace what came before it. Well, thank you David Lubars for assuring the quivering ad community that we don't all have to run out and learn how to be movie directors.
Anyone ever heard of the "marketing mix" ?
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The following gem, said by Faye Penn, a features editor for the New York Post:
Releases Go Into the Garbage
Instead of continuing to send releases to her, she suggested to the publicists that they pitch their story ideas to freelancers, and tell them to submit their finished articles to her.
"If that doesn't work, consider buying an ad. The number for the ad department is 930-8000," Penn told a stunned audience.
Now, granted, there is more crap in press releases then there is news but I mean come on! At least make an attempt to do your job. Isn't a writer/editor supposed to sort through all the crap so the reader doesn't have to?
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I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought Tivo will never catch on unless it becomes far more integrated with existing home audio technology. In it's current form, it's just one box too many for people to hook up and deal with.
RCA and Panasonic have come out with Tivo-like technology (hard drive recorder) that is in the same box as a DVD player. Very cool. And get this:
1. No subscription fees
2. No modem to hook up for programming update (comes over cable)
3. Has it's own programming guide
Now these kind of products is what will make this technology sore!
Here's a story about it in the New York Times:
TiVo Rivals Add DVD to the Mix
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New York Post: ABC CRAVING HIT �SOPRANOS' RERUNS By TIM ARANGO
...in an effort to boost ratings at its ABC television network, Disney has apparently discussed airing "Sopranos" reruns.
What do they say..."imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"? Or is it, "Gee, everybody is doing reality shows so we will too"? Nope, today, it is, "Since we can't seem to produce anything worthwhile ourselves, we'll just re-run another networks hit show!"
Do you think just for once, a television executives could do something original rather then idiotically lining up like a bunch of lemmings hot on the next mini-trend?
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FCC Approves AT&T Broadband, Comcast Merger
The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday approved the proposed merger of AT&T Broadband and Comcast Cable Communications, bringing the creation of the country's largest cable TV firm one step closer to reality, Todd Shields reports.
So, here we go again with the "bigger is better" mentality.
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