Every weekend I head to the grocery store to replenish the pantry. Lately, I have noticed that fewer and fewer brand names are making their way into my cart. I filled five reusable shopping bags and spent more than $100 this week, but I can count on one hand the number of brands I brought home.

Nielsen says that I’m not the only one picking up store brands to save a couple bucks. Today, it reported that annual sales for private label are up 10% across categories.

The brands I did buy all had something that made them stand out from the cheaper alternatives. That something different is what Tom Pirovano, Director of Industry Insights for Nielsen, says brands will have to provide to win shoppers back.

He says that now is the time for brands to innovate, either through healthier ingredients, more Continue Reading »

There are two new comedies coming out that plan to lift the stress of these hard economics times with laughter. But are we ready to laugh about it yet?

An untitled series starring Kelsey Grammer takes a Wall Street millionaire and turns him into “Mr. Mom” for a family that he doesn’t spend any time with.

The series “Canned” is about several friends that lose their jobs with an investment bank and must take hold of their lives. It is an interesting approach because it forces them to sit back and analyze their lives at a young age. Sometimes bad situations are the best thing that can happen to a person.

Although these shows are not being shot until April, producers are already looking for the brands that Continue Reading »

If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend check out Kindermourn’s Duck Race at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. A local non-profit agency that assists parents who have lost children, Kindermourn established the duck race five years ago to raise awareness and funds for their organization. The race enlists adopted rubber duckies in a healthy watersport competition, each competing for the grand prize: A Smart Fortwo car generously donated by Felix Sabates’ Smart Center in Charlotte.

The Fifth Annual Hope Floats Duck Race
Sunday, April 19, 2009
U.S. National Whitewater Center
2:00 to 5:00 PM

In our daily quest to create names that are strategically on-target AND available for trademark, our verbal branding team employs the full range of symbolism, metaphors and illusions. With that, we are always on the look-out for new and creative word and letter usages.

One fairly new naming trend uses letter strings to make a name that phonetically sounds like a word…think Motorola RAZR and KRZR. While we explore this type of naming strategy to help our clients pass the trademark process, some artists are using a similar strategy to foil censorship policies.

A Chinese “children’s” song on YouTube tells the simple story of the “Grass Mud Horse” (picture a lama) that lives in “Ma Le Desert” and battles the “river crab” to protect its grass. If you think that Continue Reading »