BRANDOPIA

TaxiCab: World's Top 5 Cities with Best Taxicab Service

 

Tweepeats: Fab Fifteen Tweets in June 2012

 

 

1. Fastival: Festival of Speed http://t.co/6lergAPA the signature fest of Brand Sussex: England's Festival County http://t.co/Aow45S3T
2. Culture Code: Could the youth of the new Staines-upon-Thames start 'living-the-brand' through a riverside culture? http://t.co/VuLVinek
3. City of Meetropolis: Home of The Meetrix, where growing companies meet & network to generate joint ventures & create new jobs
4. GrandPrix: Congrats FernandoA & Ferrari for win at Valencia, Spain FI Grand Prix. Now 6-from-8 wins for Motor Sport Valley, England
5. CompanyChoir: T-Mobile reduces sickness absence by 50% thru company choirs at its Merthyr Tydfil call centre
6. Designer Branding: Design the brand into the DNA of the product/service http://t.co/LVDm7oMb 
7. DestiNations: RT @bloomconsult France led European ranking by number of tourism arrivals - followed by Spain, Italy, U.K. & Turkey
8. Country Brand: @bloomconsult launches its unique Country Branding Ranking http://t.co/9LXzuA6U
9. Brandthology: The Matrix: Math symbols in rows & columns.The Meetrix: People networking in rows (Speed), squares (Deep) & random (Social)
10. ShedHeads: Selection of entries for Shed-of-the-Year 2012 contest http://t.co/xURJfTdp
11. Oh Papa: Seven Famous Fathers on Father's Day - UK/US/Canada - http://t.co/bGqIMLJ5 [vid] 
12. GrandPrix: Congrats LewisH & McLaren for win at Canadian FI Grand Prix. That's 6-from-7 wins for Motor Sport Valley, England
13. Speed: Meet GatQwick guest speaker, Stuart Hayes, in UK Olympic Triathlon team http://t.co/lNjX06bl GatQwick vid - http://t.co/Re5XRQZj
14. Scrunched: Received a scrunched-up promo mailer in an envelope complete with post-it note message "Pre-crumpled for wastepaper bin"
15. Co-Branding: Boring, Oregon, USA co-brands with Dull, Perthshire, Scotland http://t.co/dVTxQXkv

Tweepeats: Top Twenty Tweets in March 2012

1. SpringTime: Cherry Blossom season in Japan http://t.co/EBZkyHUn 7 ways to tell if someone is really Japanese http://t.co/oiQxtgXt [vid]
2. Caffiene Competitors: New brand Gerzoo Coffee opens next door to brand leader Costa Coffee. http://t.co/lqQCkXR8 Smart move?
3. LocalLegacy: Middle England Brum's Fierce Festival is a gem of local legacy-building http://t.co/jNTb9zmO
4. CIMTIG announces winner of its poll for most popular travel TV advert 2012 http://t.co/ZP2ZiSQm
5. GrandPrix3: Congrats FernandoA & Ferrari for win at Malaysian FI GrandPrix. That's 1-from-2 wins for Motor Sport Valley, England
6. GrandPrix2: McLarens qualify on the front row in F1 Malaysia. Brand Malaysia's Big Brand Idea http://t.co/IS7iG6G1
7. HOTlanta: What word does Atlanta own? http://t.co/XtPNHCw6 RT @lauraries Brand Atlanta - http://t.co/lwfgmTw8 [blog]
8. TheDeep: Fine tuning Zynergee, the new Deep Networking branded project with @Louisecamby for Meet Guilfast http://t.co/Q110XWTz
9. GrandPrix1: Congrats JensonB on FI Australian GP win. That's 1-from-1 win for Motor Sport Valley, England
10. Mama Mia: Seven Famous Mothers on Mother's Day 2012. Female-friendly brands focus on Aesthetics & Altruism http://t.co/MyowTNkL [vid]
11. Brand India: SachinT scores 100 centuries in cricket http://t.co/x0qZaBEl How to tell if someone is really Indian http://t.co/TVCbSFLd
12. GrandPrix 2012: In 2011 England's Motor Sport Valley dominated with 18-from-19 FI wins. Will that winning streak continue in 2012?
13. Oke-Coke: Vids of (1) Choiroke Concert at Dorking, Surrey http://t.co/ioID9t5v & (2) Fab Four Choral Directors http://t.co/RwuZaWNF
14. March 17th: A country brand that punches above its weight, thanks to its St Patrick's Day Fest & its global diaspora http://t.co/8kPqqV9J
15. Tale of 3 Cities: Chelmsford, Perth & St Asaph gain City status UK Gov says http://t.co/5TbXwddT Bad luck Reading, Medway & Middlesborough
16. Demand: Dipping into 'Demand' by Adrian Slywotzky http://t.co/3revzsoJ
17. Zynergee: Prepping for a Strategy Session with TeamBRAVO - the organisation behind the World's First InfraCulture Social Enterprise
18. Glocal: All business is local - even global brands have a local foundation - so ensure you co-brand product with place http://t.co/jxF2zJyG
19. Speedy: Vid promoting Meet GuilFast - Surrey's Fastest Network Event - http://t.co/P93gGian Spot the Special Guest
20. Brand Wales: On St David's Day, has this fine country moved from 'Big' (Country) to 'Original' (Thinking)? http://t.co/NDjp1Ci0

---

Valentine's World - Top Ten Romantic Place Names - Worldwide!

 

'Brand' the Marketect says:

"The ROMANTIC destination category is one of the most powerful - ever - from Country to Region to City to Town to Resort to Island"

A Merry Xmas & a Branded New Year

 

'Brand' the Marketect says:

"A Merry Xmas & a Branded New Year to Destinations around the Blogosphere"

TAXI: Top 7 Cities - Worldwide!

 

'Brand' the Marketect says:

"A visitor's first impressions - such as a city's airport taxicab service - is a lasting impression of the destination brand"

Tweepeats: Top Twenty Tweets in May 2011

 

 

1. LasVegas: From Sin City http://tinyurl.com/q4oxr7 to Spin City http://tinyurl.com/3znsayr
2. GrandPrix: Congrats SebV & RedBull on FI Monaco win. That's 6-from-6 wins for MotorSport Valley, England
3. UK Poll: Top Small Cities - 1.York 2.Bath 3.Brighton 4.Chester 5.St Ives 6.Durham 7.Whitby 8.Blackpool 9.Keswick =10.Stratford =10.Cambridge
4. England's Vineyard: http://tinyurl.com/2vh7tox [vid] Merret Fitzrovia served at Obama/Queen gig last night
5. SocialBrand: Re-launch of BigSociety 4.0. http://tinyurl.com/3f9tur5 Should've first 'sold' the branded problem - BrokenSociety
6. ProblemPark: Re-focusing Website FAQs from Product Benefits to Customer Problems & Issues http://tinyurl.com/2u7rmjf [vid]
7. HighSt UK: Interesting piece @dailymail on issues facing the HighStreet & how to address them. http://bit.ly/ilWirA
8. DestFest: Are Festivals the new Seaside holiday destination? http://tinyurl.com/3h9xmr8
9. HighSt UK: Top Towns for growth in Gourmet Food Shops Year-ending March 2011 - Brighton +5, TunbridgeWells +4 [Local Data Company]
10. HighSt UK: Gourmet Food Shops - Cheese 6%/Chocolatiers 6%/Delicatessens 13% - are bucking the retail vacancy rate trend of 14.6%
11. UrbanRich: Cities with most Billionaires - Moscow, NewYork, London, HongKong, Istanbul, Mumbai, SaoPaulo, Taipei, LosAngeles, Beijing [Forbes]
12. CaseStudy: BrandStormin Session to design a SocialMedia case study for a SocialEnterprise - Branded Stories for Context & Content
13. Eurovision: Could Azerbaijan be transformed by hosting Eurovision 2012? http://tinyurl.com/5t596d3
14. RoyalCraic: Should we follow HRH & visit Ireland this year? asks Celtic & Irish Cultural Society http://tinyurl.com/yzh44jk [vid]
15. SuperGroup: Nomination for Brighton Uni's Profitnet SuperGroup category http://tinyurl.com/6bh3yam [vid]
16. B2: From B2B (Biz 2 Biz) and B2C (Biz 2 Consumer) - to a new B2 category - B2D (Biz 2 Destination) Co-brand Product with Place
17. Co-Brand Person 2 Place: 12 months on, is 'DavidCameron' the perfect brand name for a British Prime Minister? http://tinyurl.com/32vwnsp
18. ClanBrand: Would an independent Scotland http://bit.ly/jd1lLT use its cultural source code to build its brand? http://bit.ly/9V0tkH
19. Mama Mia: Mother's Day USA - 2nd Sunday in May - 7 Famous Mothers - around the world http://tinyurl.com/6xkonyz [vid]
20. RoyalBritannia: Duchy of Cambridge - Naming inspired by Cambridgeshire - Best place to live in rural Britain http://bit.ly/dTxVda 

Singapore: A Work-in-Progress for a World-Class Brand

A creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers

DES: Brand Singapore has recently moved its positioning from 'Uniquely Singapore' to 'Your Singapore'.
TINA: Sadly, in destination branding terms, adjectives such as 'Uniquely' and pronouns such as 'Your' have little or no brand value, they're merely perceived as either 'bragging' or 'sucking up'.

DES: The recent video 'ADjectiveLand' has clearly demonstrated the folly of using superlatives to position a destination brand.
TINA: The irony is that in real terms, Singapore is truly a world-class city-state and doesn't need to stoop to using meaningless slogans.

DES: Absolutely. Witness its above-average performance in infant mortality, life expectancy, literary rates, home ownership, economic growth, political stability and ethnic harmony.
TINA: It's time for Singapore to reflect its true world-class status and find a big brand idea to lead Asia and the rest of the world to a bright new future.

DES: OK Tina, let's talk about where we should start looking for this deserving city-state's big brand idea - but with a future-focus.
TINA: One area of promise is the cultural contradiction that as the world's only city-state with no countryside, Singapore is one of the greenest places in the world.

DES: With more biodiversity than the entire continental USA, the 'World's Garden' is a big brand idea with a green future. Validated by 2004 Nobel Prize winner Prof. Maathai who said: "When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of hope and peace."
TINA: Hold that thought for a moment as we move from the peace of the 'Garden' to the cauldron of the 'Kitchen', a cultural collision of mega proportions worth investigation and that is the West's fear of radical-Islamism from the East.

DES: Singapore provides living proof that different religions and cultures can co-exist. Witness churches close to mosques and Hindu temples next to Chinese temples.
TINA: As Asia's most multi-cultural city, Singapore has the credentials to bring East and West closer together through a multiple-culture of hope.

'Brand' the Marketect says:

"Only place pioneers enter the murky waters of cultural conflicts and clashes - because that's where the nuggets of big brand ideas are usually hidden."

Note: This post was inspired by Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Dean at the National University of Singapore.

Chennai - India's Motor Capital

A creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers

DES: The south Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is home to a number of leading motor manufacturers such as Ford and Ashok Leyland.
TINA: Not forgetting the famous Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle company.

DES: In order to strengthen its brand position as 'India's Motor Capital', Chennai needs to develop its skills base.
TINA: A strategy which the city of Birmingham in middle England failed to execute when it was riding high at the centre of the world's motoring industry.

DES: The leadership of Birmingham and its region - The Midlands - sat back and basked in the glory of its automotive success instead of building on that success.
TINA: Today, sadly, the city and its hinterland, continue to pay a high price, losing its famous auto brands to foreign owners - brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.

DES: Chennai, as it embarks on its big brand idea, needs to invest in the skills of its auto workers and managers, creating networks linked to private and public venture capitalists as well as key universities and colleges located in its home state of Tamilnadu.
TINA: And over time, encouraging the spin out of new and innovative enterprises to meet the demands of a 21st century auto industry.

DES: 'Engineered in Chennai' could become the brand badge for visible exports.
TINA: But the destination leaders also have to think about tourism - both business and leisure.

DES: I can see how business visitors can be attracted to the city, but what's your suggestion for leisure tourists?
TINA: An 'Asia Festival of Speed', modelled on the super-successful Goodwood Festival in southern England, would bring in tourists not only from the home country but also overseas.

DES: And perhaps an automotive tour of 'Auto-Nadu': India's Motown.
TINA: Also on the itinerary, an interactive motor museum complete with hall of fame.

DES: But what about the area's other strengths - its enchanting temples, as well as its surf-friendly beach - arguably the world's longest?
TINA: This is where the state brand - Tamilnadu - and the resort brand - Marina Beach - should be developed to complement the city brand, creating a powerful portfolio of brands - in a hierarchy - each focused on their individual and unique strengths.

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Focus on your primary strength rather than on your secondary strengths or your weaknesses, by investing some 70% of your resources to strength-building. Either use it or lose it. Build it or blow it".