It’s not often that Addison Whitney has the opportunity to name a toy or a game, but RedaKai is a perfect example of our rise to the challenge. Spin Master engaged Addison Whitney to create a name for what has become an animated television series, in a joint venture with Marathon Media, complemented by an innovative and uniquely designed trading card game. These stackable cards are made of clear plastic and feature images created by Lenticular printing, meaning that the cards appear animated as they are viewed from different angles. Additionally, Spin Master has announced plans to launch full franchise merchandise going beyond the card game.

The AW Verbal Branding team was asked to help reinvent the card aisle and rise above the typical boys’ action card games. After all, boys are not just playing a game; they are battling to ensure the safety and future of the universe. While being sure to communicate powerful and skilled, it was important to Spin Master for the name to have a somewhat foreign tone, specifically Japanese, one that would fit with the other games on the shelf. Another key direction was to include “Kai” as it serves as the basis for the franchise: it is the root of the mystical alien energy source, Kairu, and the lead character’s name, Ky Stax.

After group and individual brainstorming guided by strategic thinking and motivated by an overall excitement for this opportunity, RedaKai was created. It communicates the idea of being geared up and ready for battle. It serves as an inspiration to boys everywhere to accept the challenge to protect not just earth, but the entire universe.

Contributed by: Jenna Wise

To add to the previous blog post about nation branding, countries seem to be very interested in their reputations. They are making strides to manage their appearance in a globalized world. Countries realize that their reputation not only affects their tourism business, but also their economic stance in the marketplace. And where do countries go to brand themselves? Try the World Expo. It’s a hotspot for nation branding. Known as, “a wonderful playground of branding,” these fairs provide pavilions for each country to portray the best of its identity to the rest of the world. Kind of like a beauty contest for nations, or a tournament of cultures. Participating countries are eager to interact and impress visitors.

Another reason countries go to the Expo is to overcome negative stereotypes that may be harmful to their reputation. Social, economic, cultural or political issues from the past (like wars for example) are the main factors that shape the rest of the world’s perspective of a country. These stereotypes can be hard to break. On the other hand, stereotypes can be a good thing. With pre-conceived expectations, people have already made a connection with a nation, allowing easier engagement and interest.

Are the messages that these national pavilions send effective? It can be tricky because nations must be aware of the way they communicate with multiple audiences. They cannot just impress foreigners; they must also please their domestic audience. If communication between the two doesn’t correspond, there could be cause for dispute. Most natives see their pavilion as a source of national pride, but some others may see it unfavorably, especially if the focus is on creating a show for foreigners.

Student ambassadors that greet and guide visitors at their pavilions are an important part of a national brand. With their direct contact among visitors, they exhibit diplomacy, represent a physical presence for their country, and give a glimpse into the future of foreign relations.

There are many things to consider when managing a country’s image on a global scale. A solid nation-brand strategy requires much negotiation, compromise, and clear direction to be successful.

Contributed by Emily Hassell

For any brand or product to survive and succeed they must earn a level of brand awareness that is greater than or at least equal to their competition.

But what exactly is brand awareness and how does a product or brand generate this level recognition?

Brand Awareness (n.): a measure of how readily members of a target audience remember a commercial brand, what it is about, and their level of trust in the brand. The proportion of target customers that recall a brand. (source: dictionary.com)

Determining brand awareness is a primary goal of marketing or advertising departments as it is a reliable indicator and measuring stick for the success of their strategies and tactics.

And there are three primary levels of awareness that can be used to measure marketing and advertising success:

1. Aided Awareness: Recognition of a specific brand or product from a list of possible
names offered as a prompt.
2. Unaided Awareness: Recognition of a specific brand or product without being
prompted with possible names.
3. Top of Mind: Highest level of awareness, the brand dominates the mind and pops up
first whenever applicable

For obvious reason awareness has a high correlation to purchasing habits; if a company creates an awesome product but no one has ever heard of it no one will buy it. Let’s face it humans are creatures of habit and rarely stray far from the path when making purchasing decisions. We like what we know. But gaining a high level of awareness is more than throwing your brand’s name in everyone’s face, you must also back up the awesome logo, flashy packaging, and advertising with a quality product or the awareness you’ve built as a brand will only last so long.

While there are many ways to increase exposure and awareness some of the most tried and true tactics include:
• Publicity via brand related stories/articles
• Direct marketing
• A strong web presence (both in search engines and social media)
• Word of mouth marketing
• Strong presence at tradeshows and industry events (particularly for B2B sales)
• Consistent brand message throughout all touch points

Love this product. Love the name just about as much. While it’s reminiscent of my school-girl dreams of becoming Wonder Woman one day (yes, it was a gold belt but an invisible plane), this product meets the needs of women on so many levels. No longer having to choose a traditionally bulky accessory, gals can keep their fashion integrity while still maintaining comfort and style.

The manufacturers of the Invisibelt could have gone a lot of different directions when deciding on a name – trendy, obscure, arbitrary. Instead, they spoke to form and function. Nice job being clever with a descriptive name.