Sometimes in brand marketing, history repeats itself, and that seems to be the case with sweepstakes and contests. And the big prize these days, given the tough economy, seems to be cash, and a lot of it.

First prize in the SoBe Lifewater Zero Inhibitions Bracket Challenge pegged to the recent NCAA March Madness basketball tournament was a cool $9 million. The Reese's Loves You Back sweepstakes offers $2 million in cash prizes. NBC's Minute to Win It series awards up to $1 million cash. HGTV's annual Dream Home sweepstakes doles out $500,000 cash, plus a house and an SUV. The current version of the sweepstakes attracted a whopping 40 million-plus entries in about 45 days, notes the New York Times.

Sweepstakes and contests, of course, are nothing new.Continue reading...

Does the Goldman Sachs brand matter? Of course it does. However, this is the question that appears to be on the mind of many who do not understand just how a brand works.

Goldman Sachs continues to rake in profits but this wild success is happening despite more scrutiny than ever. Since the economic downturn of 2008, Goldman has been accused of not just being a contributing factor to the crash but also of profiteering from the subsequent bailouts.

In profile after profile, fingering Goldman Sachs as an example of the worst characteristics of American capitalism has become a journalistic parlor game. Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi has made an entire career of it. So why does the Goldman Sachs brand remain so popular and profitable?

It's the money, stupid. Continue reading...

It has recently been established that Facebook is the most popular online brand in the world. If a new study is to be believed, Facebook's popularity also rubs off on brands. Which ones? Well, all of them.

The results of research on social media and brands by iModerate and Chadwick Martin Bailey show that nearly 20 percent of respondents were more likely to buy or recommend "many" brands since becoming a "fan" or "follower" of those brands on Facebook or Twitter. The responses were just as encouraging in other areas.

When it came to at least "a few brands," more than 30 percent of respondents said they would buy a few of the brands they followed on Facebook, while over 40 percent said they would recommend at least a few of those brands to friends. Such positive results for brands followed on Twitter were even higher. Reasons for "friending" the brands were studied as well. The most common reason for Facebooking a brand was to receive discounts. The second most common was being a customer of the brand. The third was just to show support.Continue reading...

According to a Gallup poll released last year, pollution of drinking water is Americans’ primary environmental concern. With the risk of diseases associated with contaminants sometimes found in drinking water, marketers are creating solutions.

Atmospheric Water Systems has introduced a $1,595 dehumidifier/purification unit that bypasses water pipes, pulling moisture from the air and sending it through a filtration process. Last year Wellness Enterprises launched a portable water bottle with a filter built into the straw that claims to remove chlorine and lead. New York-based Green Depot sells the $650 Aquaovo Ovopur, a filtered dispenser resembling a giant porcelain egg.Continue reading...

Cars.com: The online brand’s ad tapped into consumers’ primordial fears with the compelling story of a prodigious superman who could perform miraculous feats dauntlessly – but was afraid to buy a car, a process that made him “just as nervous as the rest of us.” Cars.com is there to hold our hands. Genius.

Continue reading...

Audi: Maybe it was just me, but I enjoyed the heck out of Audi’s “Green Police” spot, effectively promoting its new TDI Diesel technology as the way to go green without going soft. Meanwhile, its spoof scenarios – showing a man being arrested for using an incandescent light bulb, for example, and another for turning his hot-tub temperature too high – seemed uncomfortably plausible.

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An identity complex is never fun – especially if you are a brand. The past year was a particularly difficult time for Starbucks. It very publically explored its own soul, its past, its future, and in the process launched an instant coffee and a nostalgic blend of beans. After some intense psychotherapy, Starbucks came to this conclusion: It’s my parent’s fault.

Indeed, the once invincible brand determined that the best way to reinvigorate its image was to begin anew by rebelling against the past that gave birth to it.Continue reading...

After its recent rebrand left American pizza-lovers reeling, Domino's announced that its last quarter UK sales performed surprisingly better than expected.

Chris Moore, the chief executive of Domino's [UK], said:

"In 2009, and in particular due to an exceptionally strong final quarter, we have outperformed our predicted like-for-like sales, improved our margins and opened more stores than anticipated.”Continue reading...