This may look like a trailer for the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but it's actually promoting 56 Sage Street, an online game commissioned by Barclays Bank to engage teenagers (so it's being promoted on Facebook, too). Find out more about the campaign, created by BBH London and B-Reel, here.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs "is telling employees that they will no longer be able to get away with profanity in electronic messages." For those WSJ readers under 65, "electronic messages" means "email." But wait! There's more!Continue reading...

In a sign that brands are not only listening to consumers but acting on their suggestions, Chase Card Services, a division of JPMorgan Chase, along with InterContinental Hotels, has launched a credit card designed by frequent travelers.

The Priority Club Select Visa was developed using direct feedback from consumers received through a private online community made up of members of Priority Club Rewards, the loyalty program of InterContinental Hotels Group.

Chase and IHG, partnering with branded community-builder Communispace, created a private online forum where they could have direct and ongoing conversations with customers in real time.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...

While the news is unlikely to be found trending between Justin Bieber and the iPad on Twitter this weekend, the financial industry just lost a heavyweight brand. Washington DC-based Allied Capital has been officially folded into Ares Capital Corp. It will be de-listed from the NYSE and its name and brand will float into oblivion.

Despite the overall financial implications, the fall of Allied Capital can also be attributed to neglecting its core brand values. It's a lesson of humble beginnings forgotten, and a brand that reached too far.

Founded in 1958, the Allied Capital Corporation had a simple mission: to provide debt and equity capital for leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and restructurings of established businesses primarily in middle-market companies. For years Allied made a name for itself slugging out respectable returns for investors all while offering "mezzanine" financing to midsize American companies. A trailblazer, it soon found itself copied by numerous knock-off brands with names like CapitalSource and Gladstone Capital. Continue reading...

Wal-Mart is on a roll.

Not only did it recently top Interbrand’s “The Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands 2010” report, but the retail juggernaut is also claiming that every American consumer saves thousands of dollars a year just because there are 3,700 Wal-Mart stores across the country.

Regardless of whether you never enter a Wal-Mart and do your discount shopping instead at a Target or somewhere else, Wal-Mart’s case states that shoppers save big bucks just because of the deflationary effects of its pricing on the entire retail economy.

Now, Wal-Mart intends to intensify its similar deflationary effect in the financial-services sector. Low-income Americans, one of Wal-Mart’s prime demographics, are having increasing problems simply getting access to basic financial services – or having the incentive to use instruments as simple as a checking account.Continue reading...

It is taken on faith that Warren Buffett is an investment genius – better than almost anyone at analyzing financial reports and fiduciary data and investing accordingly. But a recent move by one of the world's richest men, however, demonstrates that Buffett is an expert not only of finance, but also branding.

In the video employees put together this year for insurer Geico's annual employee meeting, Buffett makes a cameo dolled up as Guns-n-Roses rock star Axl Rose. Yet this is not the financial guru's first role. In other years, he has appeared in the annual Geico video as both a DJ and a hobo. A hobo!Continue reading...

In an age where nude photos of celebrities and identity theft run rampant, Blippy.com has taken over-sharing to a level where few have gone before: inside of a consumer's wallet. Literally.

This new social networking site launched only two months ago allows its users to post and discuss their latest purchases. Though the site doesn't focus on one brand in particular, it does provide important clues for brands regarding which companies are, and are not, connecting with consumers.Continue reading...