Silver award winner in the 2012 Epson International Pano competition. Placed 12th overall worldwide in the category.
The King of Pop?
As Pepsi acts to close the cola gap with archival Coke it is turning its gaze backwards—to Michael Jackson. In their recent article, Mike Esterl and Suzanne Vranica of The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Bringing a deceased celebrity back from the dead for marketing purposes is a risky business.”
But it’s more than the ick factor that concerns me. Pepsi has always been about a new generation finding their own way. That’s why, bad hair day aside, Michael’s first act with Pepsi made sense. He represented amazing talent that had broken free from the expectations of family and other handlers. But that was then. Even if he were still alive, this 25th anniversary campaign would be about looking back. It’s time for Pepsi to look ahead.
“It’s like the dead [celebrity] is dancing to sell your product.”—Scott Lerman, Lucid Brands, WSJ, Pepsi Brings Back the King of Pop
"Ms. Dolan’s approach is “really ambitious, but it’s a great strategy,” said Scott Lerman, founding partner and CEO of Lucid Brands, noting that cable operators’ best bet to differentiate their brands is to go beyond marketing entertainment or technological prowess. Instead, they must address “the nature of the experience of the consumer,” he said."
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Family Time at Cablevision
Kristin Dolan, Wife of CEO, Makes Mark as Others Leave
By Shalini Ramachandran and Suzanne Vranica
Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2012
A Bold Look Ahead
The annual report for The Washington Center just rolled off the presses. Great client with an amazing story to tell. We worked closely with them to develop the concept around their new 5-year strategic plan—writing, designing, and photo-illustrating “a bold look ahead.” Many thanks to Judy Vigiletti, our partner on this project.
T-Birds
The Financial Times has ranked Thunderbird as the #1 International MBA program 5 years running—but they don’t let leadership go to their heads! One of the best traits of T-Birds (Thunderbird students) is their openness to new ideas. Last week, Lucid Brands led a discussion on Truth in Branding at their Summerim session in NYC. The group expressed a thoughtful balance of personal ethics and competitive drive. Great group. Great discussion.
Changing of the guard-ess
It’s interesting to watch the changeover of an evolved identity. Often, logo updates are subtle and you only see the difference when you look at versions many years apart. The Starbucks ‘Siren’ changeover is bolder—happening right before our eyes. Look carefully and you might catch a glimpse of the ‘old’ Siren during the changing of the guard. Nice.
Lucid Brands was conducting a brand workshop in Miami with a group from The Conference Board and came across this ‘pop-up’ P&G store in South Beach. The ‘store’ takes uses the P&G brand prominently—giving consumers a view into their portfolio of products.
Staffed by a pack of young brand ambassadors, the store is a real, but odd presence in one of the hottest shopping districts in America. Does it work? Hard to say. It gets your attention, but seems a bit like a show put on by earnest neighborhood kids.
Recent talk at AIGA event on truth in branding.
?truth trailer
