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  • Harley-Davidson and Other Brands that Speak to Women

    Do women want Harleys? Well, some certainly do. And it seems even a lot of women who don't own a motorcycle really like the brand. We'll leave it up to you to figure out why that is. But we mention Harley-Davidson because it scored very highly among women in a recent survey. Forbes contributor Caleb Melby took a look at the survey results, and he highlights a few of the brands that do well among women: Barbie, CVS, Kotex...and Harley Davidson. Melby writes: Harley Davidson, the traditionally male-associated brand, scored with women this past year – landing it a spot on the index for the first time at number 194. The iconic motorcycle brand staged a series of initiatives to celebrate the growing number of women enthusiasts, including women-only garage parties, a first-ever female “biker boot camp,” and the launch of “women riders month.” The company also gave women the chance to interact with fellow female riders on a new website, featuring tips and advice on how to turn their riding dream into reality. Read What Brands Do Women Want? here . Incidentally, Forbes has a lot of content focused on women in business right now. Click here for Forbes's list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women .

  • Naming, Branding a Startup

    What's in a name? That which we call Facebook. By any other name it would be as ubiquitous and penetrating of our culture. No? Branding experts say that the name of a company can matter a lot. And the founders of some of the most successful companies of the digital age agree. WNYC 's Lisa Chow and Jim Colgan wondered about the challenge of naming a startup, so they asked for naming tips from some founders of successful companies, like Apple and Twitter. They also spoke with founders of startups that are not exactly househould names, and, coincidentally or not, did not take off: Read more and test your knowledge of company names here .

  • Report from Google on Brands, The Internet, and Word of Mouth

    Google and the Kay Feller Group released a report earlier this month on how reliant brands remain on conversation. The authors title the report "Word of Mouth and the Internet," and they find that most Word of Mouth conversations are still conducted the old fashioned way--face to face. But the Internet is vital to brand impressions in those conversations. It is the primary source of information for those conversations, surpassing television and other forms of news media. It is also where people turn for information following up a word of mouth conversation. And for the moment, according to this Google funded study, search still dominates social media as the place people are getting most of their information. You can read the report here , and watch the following video for a good summary of the findings:

  • Samsung's Ralph Santana on Building a 'Culturally Relevant Brand'

    Speaking at the 2010 ANA Conference , Samsung Chief Marketing Officer Ralph Santana spoke about his company's need to become a "culturally relevant brand." He considers this his main challenge, and he has to do it in a global business climate that seems to present a lot of moving targets. Here is an excerpt of that speech, provided by AdAge:

  • Business Lessons from the Dead...the Grateful Dead

    The Grateful Dead as role models for businesses? Seems a bit far-fetched. Until one considers their lasting power and the loyalty they built up among their fans. In a new book, David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan , stress that the Dead understood that their brand did not depend on heavy-handed control, but rather a willingness to evolve and innovate. They write: The Grateful Dead teaches us to show our brand's playfulness and to trust that our customers will recognize our brand even if it looks a little "different." When designing your websites, e-books, whitepapers, and social media profiles, give your design professionals some leeway. Yes, you want them to follow your corporate design standards, but let them deviate from those standards as appropriate. Professional designers know how to exercise their skill and incorporate fresh ideas without deviating completely from your brand. By loosening up your brand, you allow your company to show its personality—and, by extension, its ability to roll with the punches. The book is titled Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History , and Scott and Halligan have provided MarketingProfs with an excerpt. Read it here .

  • Forbes: Yankees Back on Top

    As much as it may pain any Red Sox supporter reading this (or writing this), the Yankees are firmly back on top. They are, of course, the defending World Series champions. But now they have also returned to the top of another competition: global brand value for a sport franchise. Forbes magazine now ranks the Yankees ahead of previous leader Manchester United (owned by Steinbrenners' fellow Tampa business family, the Glazers). Merchandise sales are a key reason the Yankees moved up, but the rise of the dollar against the pound didn't hurt: The Yankees brand is worth $328 million (21% of their $1.6 billion total team value), while we calculate the Man U name to be worth $285 million (16% of their $1.835 billion value). The two teams swapped spots as the Yankees saw a merchandising frenzy thanks to a 27th World Series title and the opening of their new stadium. Gross sales of World Series and Yankees championship-emblazoned products totaled $450 million last year, while the new ballpark spurred 40% growth in sponsorship revenue. Local TV ratings on YES Network (Forbes is a partner in a show on YES) were up 11%, even as most baseball teams saw ratings decline. Also helping push the Yanks to the top was a strengthening U.S. dollar, which gained 17% on the British pound over the 12-month period we reviewed. Man U might not be knocked off their perch for very long. A new four-year, $130-million shirt sponsorship deal with insurer AON ( AON - news - people ) to begin next season is 50% greater, on average, than their current deal with AIG ( AIG - news - people ). When combined with their pact with apparel giant Nike ( NKE - news - people ), the Red Devils will see an average of $66 million a year from the two sponsors, plus a 50% share of profits on specific Nike merchandise sales. Man U also lays claim to an unmatched global fan base: 333 million followers and 139 million core fans, with more than half coming from Asia. Read The Most Valuable Team Sports Brands here .

  • Chip Conley: 'Stand Out from the Brand Crowd'

    Chip Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in 1987, when he was 26. By 2001, the boutique hotel chain had become the largest company in the Bay Area of California, according to Conley. But then, he says, it hit a wall. As CEO of a company that was on the brink of collapse during the dot-com bust, he turned to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , and asked "if people can self-actualize, why can't a company?" Joie de Vivre management then changed the way they thought and talked about their comapny, and reconsidered their core approach to marketing. The result was to create an experience that felt like it was catered to particular customers. Here is Conley's presentation at The Economist Marketing Forum, Stand Out from the Brand Crowd (the self-actualization theme comes in at about 12 min.):