As many of you may have heard, Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Wonderbread, and many other food products we all know and love, has filed for bankruptcy. Hostess, who also filed for bankruptcy in 2009, has been fighting $860 million in debt. But do not run out to your local grocery store and stock up on all your Hostess favorites yet, Hostess has assured customers that they will continue the production of all of their delicious products.

So where does the future lie for the Hostess brand? Although filing for bankruptcy may be upsetting to the millions of Twinkies, Sno Ball, and Ding Dong fans, it is likely that it will not hurt the Hostess brand. As Maureen Farrell from CNN points out, today the internet allows people to buy anything they want and people want products made by iconic American brands, Hostess being one of them. Companies recognize this demand, and are eager for the opportunity to buy brands such as Hostess. They see an opportunity for growth and hope to revitalize iconic brands with the development of new consumer products. Companies such as The Sharper Image and Polaroid have both been revived by buyers who have expanded the brand to new areas to bring in more money.

I feel that filing for bankruptcy may be a blessing in disguise for the Hostess brand, as it may lead to much overdue change within the brand. Hostess, which was started in 1925, does not seem like it has changed much since. With society’s needs and wants constantly changing, a brand must also change to fit these new demands. Although Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Sno Balls have brought great success for the brand, I think new products or new additions to existing products are needed to draw customers. The Hostess brand is strong and the American people know what the brand stands for, but with new products being put on the market every day the Hostess brand has a lot of competition. Today the new, innovative products are the “must haves” and are usually the products that are craved by consumers. If Hostess can mix things up and give old products a new twist, it may once again produce “must have” treats.

Contributed by Keena Classen

There are certain brands that fascinate me and I can never learn enough about them. Google is one of those brands. I recently finished Douglas Edwards’ book “I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59” and I can’t stop talking about it. Just ask my coworkers – it’s been Google does this and Google did that for about three weeks now.

The book is an interesting look into the company as it was first starting up until it went public. I love how Edwards lets us in on key meetings that determined how the tiniest of details would be presented first through the search engine and then through AdWords, Google News, etc. As a believer that a true brand lies in the details, I could not get enough of these insights.

In addition, the book talks a lot about Google’s culture and showcases examples of how the company brought that culture to life in its TGIF meetings, office space and decision making. As with many successful brands, the strong culture is the foundation for the Google brand and its distinct voice.

As Google’s first dedicated brand marketer, Edwards helped to build and set standards for one of today’s most iconic brands. While this is only one employee’s perspective, it is definitely worth adding this book to your “To Read” list.

Have you read it yet? Let us know what you thought.

It’s become a household name: Groupon … the fusion of ‘group’ + ‘coupon’ makes sense on all fronts from a naming perspective.

The Groupon magic goes like this: Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. They send the deals to thousands of subscribers in their free daily email, and then send the businesses a ton of new customers.

While Groupon was first to market with their daily deal platform, the success of the business model has spawned hundreds of me-too sites and companies. The trouble is, Groupon has become so popular it’s now genericized for these savings sites, which are currently flooding my inbox.

Check out these similar offerings and their naming styles:

Living Social: A more modern, hip name but lacks the bar call when used in conversation. “I bought the yoga Groupon” just rolls better when said aloud.

Mamasource (by Mamapedia): A great site that does good too – they give back a percentage of your purchase to a school of your choice, and the deals last longer than a day. Perfect for those indecisive shoppers who just need a bit more time to make up their mind. This is more than a daily deal site, as they offer a lot of resources for moms. The name is cute, and clearly geared towards moms.

Plum District: Arbitrary name, but a fun daily deal site designed specifically towards mom. Plus, they reward you with Plum Dollars when you refer other people to the site (as opposed to other sites who reward you only when a referral makes a purchase).

Eversave: Cute, simple, descriptive name, and their logo is cute too.

Woot: Short moniker; the most emotional daily deal name. Uniquely captures the end benefit of scoring a great deal. The catchy name works well in vernacular too: “I just scored a Woot.” Woot indeed.

What are we missing? What are your favorite daily deal sites? Does the name of the site itself make you want to sign up, or is popularity driven solely by the caliber of deals offered?

We’ve all been through it before. We come across a personal issue, over-analyze the situation, and then respond with an unnecessary reaction (whoops…). Well, the same thing can happen to brands. We call it, over-branding. And it happens to the best of us…

Over-branding

Over-branding often occurs when a company recognizes an issue, tries to resolve the issue, but reacts excessively.  To Netflix, this sounds all too familiar. Due to a rapid decline in stock prices, Netflix announced it was going to split its services into two brands:  Netflix and Qwikster. Good move? Ask Netflix. After assessing the situation a bit more (and hearing the public’s reaction), the company “qwikly” learned that two brands aren’t always better than one. Shortly after the split was announced, Netflix decided to terminate Qwikster before its launch. Better late than never.

Sometimes over-branding might occur for reasons that aren’t as clear. We are all familiar with Comcast’s rebranding as XFINITY. Looking back, it’s difficult to determine a clear motive for the rebrand. As one of the most successful media tech companies in the U.S., Comcast was (and is) a popular household name. Over its long history Comcast developed a strong and positive public image, so why would a company want to move away from a name that held an immeasurable amount of equity? And it is evident the rebranding effort has confused a number of customers. One of the FAQs on XFINITY’s website asks, “What makes XFINITY different from the service I currently receive from Comcast?” Good question.

Moral

Everyone can agree that branding is crucial for the success of a business. But it’s even more crucial to make sure it is done correctly. Here are a couple of things to consider when developing your brand:

• Keep it simple. A common obstacle with branding is over-complication (see examples above). As a brand advocate, it’s easy to get caught up in the intricacies of your brand – many companies want every detail to be showcased. Be sure to prioritize when addressing your audience. It’s important to keep things consistent, clear and concise.
• Seek out a pair of fresh eyes. Strong brands have passionate employees who often times see things through a company lens.  It is always important to get a third-party’s opinion – someone unbiased, trustworthy and knowledgeable.
• Think it through. Over-branding is often a result of rushed decisions. A new brand name, design and/or strategy is something that will touch every piece of your business. Take time to make sure your decisions make sense from every angle.