Articles

Brand M&A

The merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling will result in a new brand, A&O Shearman. Demonstrating a clear strategic intent, A&O Shearman revealed the new brand alongside the announcement of the formal decision to merge.

When is the right time to rebrand?

Brand building is a strategic endeavour. It requires alignment of business strategy, capability, marketing effort and customer experience to build a distinctive reputation in the market. It can pay huge reputational dividends, but it takes time.

Why brand capital is the silent force behind business success

In an increasingly competitive world, your brand capital is one of the unsung secrets of enduring business success. Brand capital is like political capital: a type of currency that politicians use to mobilise voters, ride out a political storm or accomplish other political goals. It’s been described as a type of credit, or a resource […]

Bold moves and brand blunders: Navigating risk and innovation in branding

Almost a year later it remains to be seen what transpires from the audacious move, but it certainly got noticed, not least by those in the worlds of branding and media.

Back to your roots

In a competition for the most-recognisable tagline of the past 50 years, ‘The world’s local bank’ would surely be a leading contender. There can be few people who didn’t wish they’d thought of it first. Yet this catchy line has been quietly dropped by HSBC. Why, and what does it tell us about the growing […]

Everything is design

“Everything”, wrote Paul Rand, “is design.” That is a terrific soundbite. An almost imperial statement. Like man landing on the moon and sticking a flag in its surface, it claims for design…

How designers gained the keys to the boardroom

Today all CEOs, from those running transnational corporations to fast-track entrepreneurial start-ups, are under immense pressure to deliver results.

What’s in a name?

Choosing a company or product name is a minefield. Is it memorable? Available? Trade markable? Does it tell our story, or reflect our organisation’s values and those of our customers?

The perils of groupthink

So how do we find out what our customers need? Ask them, right?