HMV Brands Bouncing

Music rings the tills for HMV, no more so than at the Hammersmith Apollo. 8 store Fopp have also been bought.
Waterstones, HMV’s book retailing high street brand has had problems with  ‘It’s Supply Chain’ and online competition despite the demise of Borders.

Your supply chain is a key intellectual asset. Mismanage or ignore these assets and you get what you deserve.
Let us hope Waterstones performance picks up because customers want the vast variety of books displaying as well as being available online.

Location, Location, Pub Location

I suffered a mild disappointment but I am not bitter at the brewers of ‘The Worlds Best Ale’ (WBA2009).

Yorkshire Life mailed me a welcome Pub Guide and the main advertiser was Frederic Robinson who it transpires have no pubs in Yorkshire! Still it got them this name check.

Naming their world cup beer ‘4:4:2′ they spoil it by proudly announcing they use Hallertau Mittlefrüher German and Saaz Czech hops.

An own goal or two on these promotions.

Big Brand SEO Boobs by Blogstorm

The bloggers at Blogstorm generally know what they are talking about and they are well worth following by RSS, email or Tweet.

This link is to their latest offering ‘Common Mistakes Big Brands Make in SEO’.   I particularly like the quote ‘give the channel the respect it deserves.’

How well would your brand score on these 5 mistakes?  Do you give this channel the respect it deserves?



JAGUAR and Trademarks

Is it a Car?
Is it a Plane?
No it is Superman pop group with many CD’s to there name

Trademarks are awarded in 35 goods classes and 11 service classes so you need to apply for a class that fits your product. The Intellectual Property Office has a list of classes and web guidance.

Information Commissioner’s Office

Not a lot of money wasted on a logo for the Information Commissioner’s Office

This quango is responsible for the Data Protection Act , Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, Freedom of Information Act and the seemingly superfluous Environmental Information Regulations (The Freedom of Information act should suffice one would think!)

Still, knowing how these acts affect your business and your customers can be a crucial Intellectual assets.

Red Tractor Means What?

I must have missed something and Red Tractors in particular.

The Red Tractor logo now features on annual retail sales of £10 billion food and drink products. To celebrate this achievement and 10 years of Great Food and Great Farming under the logo, a Red Tractor Week long campaign has just finished.

However it could be the start of a relaunch with Caroline Spelman Environment Secretary behind our British farmers.

UK Debt Commentary

UK debt is a hot topic in Economic circles and amongst academics. The blogging industry, never one to miss an opportunity, has latched on to this with a regular feature on Economics Help.

If I keep reading this I might begin to understand the size of the ‘Chancellors Challenge 2010′.

In the meantime I am reminded of Walt Disney ‘We owe, we owe, so its off to work we go’!

Bavaria Best Boer Beer

What is going down the throats of many beer drinkers in preference to Budweiser? – It is the Bavaria beer promoted by the orange clad ambush marketeers in South Africa.

Smart thinking and a bit of chutzpa has created a marketing coup. Watch out for copy cats at the Olympic Games 2010. Stay the right side of the law if you are contemplating an ‘ambush’ inside a stadium with protected sponsors rights.

Note
Prosciutto grows on trees. Yes surprising but it is found on ‘ambushes.

Branded and Tagged

Branded and Tagged

What’s this ‘ere? These ‘ere thing in my ears! Ewe should know!

Two tags have to be worn by sheep over 12 months old and new EID tags are to become compulsory. Traceability from farm to shop is part of the intellectual assets designed to help control the spread of Foot & Mouth disease in future outbreaks.

Do you need to use electronic identification systems in your business?

Newish ‘BBC’ Website

I never know if I have just stumbled on a new site or it has been around for ages!
The BBC took this site over in 2001 but presumably kept it low profile particularly from license payers.

‘h2g2 stands for ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ – an unconventional guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.’ Well Wikipedia eat your heart out.