Killing Them Hardly » brand

5 yr old on Brands.

Peter — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:51:28 +0000

Interesting perspectives on brand identities from a young expert.

Game Over.

Peter — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:31:44 +0000

BMW and Audi have been having a little tit for tat ad battle that I’ve been following for a while. It all began with a ‘Your Move, BMW’… and has subsequently gotten bigger and goofier each time. Good stuff.

Color Psych Infographic

Peter — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:56:00 +0000

I love me some infographics, and love me some pop psychology. Hey, best of both worlds. Click the image a few times to zoom to full size.

Yum, Inc.

Peter — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:39:35 +0000

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what all fast-food chicken is made from—things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve—bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?

High five, America!

*smack*

Revolutionary Grape.

Peter — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:46:45 +0000

My friend Tom Caestecker in Chicago recently wrote this piece about emerging wine trends for the examiner.com – check it out!

Mobile Brand Loyalty

Peter — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:31:35 +0000

A survey by Piper Jaffray yesterday reveals that most early iPhone 4 buyers were upgrading from previous iPhones — and remaining loyal to Apple — and that very few were switching to AT&T from other carriers.

Specifically, here are highlights from Piper analyst Gene Munster’s note this morning:

77% of iPhone 4 buyers polled in three cities (San Francisco, New York, and Minneapolis) were upgrading from old iPhones. That’s up from 56% last year and 38% in 2008, and represents brand loyalty that is likely unmatched in the mobile industry.
16% of buyers were switching to AT&T from other carriers, down from 28% last year. Apple REALLY needs to add another carrier if it wants to maximize sales. (Preferably Verizon Wireless, the nation’s biggest.)
54% purchased the $299 32 GB model, up from 43% who bought the 32 GB iPhone 3GS last year.
28% of iPhone 4 buyers owned an iPad, which confirms that the people waiting in line were the most serious of the Apple fanatics. Of the 72% who did not own an iPad, 39% said they would probably buy one within the next year, while 61% said they would not.
65% were Mac owners, down from 75% at the first iPhone launch in 2007.

The takeaway: Apple has a reliable stable of devoted users who will likely upgrade to the newest iPhone every year, assuming there’s nothing better on the market.

Bionic Action.

Peter — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:02:58 +0000

Found this online – a 1973 ad from Kenner – makers of the Six Million Dollar Man bionic action figure. This, along with the Evel Knievel figure, was the bomb back in the day. The ad was in heavy rotation in early to mid-Seventies Marvel comics.

Flash Wars.

Peter — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:12:08 +0000

Kind of funny back & forth this past week from Apple and Adobe. Adobe apparently debuted a strange passive-aggressive ‘We Heart Apple’ campaign – while conducting a flame war with Steve Jobs et al. Apple’s (apparently fake) response is below. Heh.

Square Coke Box.

Peter — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:58:45 +0000

Really neat packaging design concepts, apparently from a freshman student. Good article here.

Support Your Local Heroin Brand.

Peter — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:01:56 +0000

Neat blurb about a startup art project documenting ‘heroin brands’ – the stamps found on bags of heroin identifying their maker or seller. This has always been a little intriguing to me. You can support their project with a small donation here.