Recently, they’ve produced some polarized opinions.

Miracle Whip has launched a “Love Us or Hate Us” campaign complete with a YouTube channel which has a place for people to take a side and sound off, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. The ads feature people stating how they feel really about Miracle Whip. Reviews range from, “I love it!” to, “it tastes like lotion.”  Not one person thinks it’s “just OK.” Spots also include celebrities that elicit strong reactions from people, the love ‘em or hate ‘em:  “Pauly D” from MTV’s Jersey Shore and James Carville, democratic strategist. The ads seem scripted, but you get the idea and the feedback on the social network supports the campaign’s theme.

Cate Blanchett boldly stepped out on the red carpet at the 83^rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday in a Givenchy Haute Couture gown.  The internet was abuzz as journalists, bloggers and Twitter users weighed in. Opinions were extreme as people either raved about the dress or declared it awful. In her photos, she appears as a glamorous, fashion-forward woman who is not fazed by negative reviews. She could have easily selected a ho-hum gown thereby avoiding being placed on some worst dressed lists. However, she would have stayed off some best dressed lists, too.

The reactions that these two stirred up is what you want for your brand, company, product, service, book, art, etc. It may be difficult to hear the criticism, but your fans will be as loyal and enthusiastic as your detractors are harsh. When you conjure up these types of reviews, you know that you have clearly defined your brand. There is no question as to what you (or your company, product or service) are all about and you are building your awareness.

The worst thing you can do is to try to be all things to all people. While this strategy may spare you some criticism, it will probably also render you unremarkable and off the radar. A strong brand is authentic, fearless, full of conviction and self-confident.

Need some help differentiating your brand? Our Differentiate your Business Ta-Do List provides you with over 80 ways to be unique and create powerful distinction with products, service and how you market. Or, as always, feel free to email us your questions.

For more on how to define your brand, view:
Can a strong brand make a visit to the dentist less painful?
Blending in is so yesterday: Stand-up, Brand-up!

This week,  New York City celebrates fashion week. Thousands of style gurus from around the globe will get exposed to the hottest new looks, designers and trends as they all proudly prance on the catwalk.

A noted item this season looks a lot like an old “fanny pack”. However, now it is called a “belted satchel” or as creative director for Diane von Furstenberg, Yvan Mispelaere proclaimed they are “hands-free bags”. Mr. Mispelaere refers to the smashing accessory as an item of functional shape, but with a touch of glamour, luxury and seriousness.

The old item with the new life sells for $325 to over $4,000.

A little strategic word-smithing goes a long way or should I say, a reincarnation of a nomenclature?

Here’s a few others that come to mind.

Mercedes, BMW,  high end cars
Old word, used car
Reborn word, pre-owned vehicle

Groupon and LivingSocial
Old word, coupon
Reborn word, deal

Name re-birthing does not just apply to products, people do it too.

Bernie Madoff’s daughter in law last name
Old word, Madoff
Reborn word, Morgan

Need more resources on brand naming? Check out these previous blogs.
3 A’s of an awesome brand name
Koolwordz
Name you business

Standout brands are distinct, memorable and own their turf. Think about Target (hip, cool and great design), Alfec (the duck icon), and Lady GaGa (outrageous style, no borders behavior).

They didn’t copy the pack, they lead it with a set of unique attributes. If you want to break through a clutter of the same old boring stuff that 95% of your competition are doing, then be original, odd and offbeat. And avoid these 5 costly mistakes.

1) Don’t use other people’s quotes in your marketing content and social media. Create your own original quotes, ideas, opinions and and insight.

2) Don’t use the same colors and graphic styles that are everywhere in your industry. Break the rules. And then rule your category.

3) Don’t use the same tired copy points and words that your competition uses. Tell memorable stories and create your own words that are unique and belong to you.

4) Don’t use, over used stock images and photos that everyone and their uncle has used since 1982. Find compelling pics, try adding treatments to them with cropping, borders, colors and filters. Or take your own.

5) Don’t expect everyone to love your distinction. Change or an unusual approached often get resisted early in the game. How may people loved Google when it first launched?

When you find your solid path of brand distinction and stick to it, your marketing dollars will have more power to help build a strong and sustainable brand.

Also check out: The 3 A’s of an awesome brand name.

10 questions to ask yourself to determine whether a brand makeover or change is in your near future.

Before we dive into the “do you need a brand makeover” checklist, let’s all get on the same page with what the brand is and the brand means today.

The definition of a brand has exploded from a very simple concept to an extremely complex and critical part of economies and life. The brand is no longer limited to the mark, tagline or latest marketing campaign. The brand is the spirit, soul, purpose and promise of any entity. Operational or buried on the History Channel®, the brand is, as I called it in my first book, metaphorically a brain tattoo—a mental impression that the buyer allows into their head. The brand is the sum of tangible and intangible assets and liabilities, every touch point, every experience and every memory. It is what the markets, stakeholders, influencers and consumers think and feel, and what they expect when they choose one (brand) offering over another.

By now, most business leaders figured out the basic brand game. We were on our merry way, marketing, advertising, promoting and publicizing and then came the most monumental change to life and business as we all knew it. The Internet entered the planet. Brands and branding morphed from being a pure premium identity choice to an any-price-point offering with a story and a promise. We could now conduct business, building our brand messaging 24/7 and with no limits on geographical boundaries. For many, the Internet represented endless opportunities and reach, efficiencies, low production costs and a new sense of control for their brands. That didn’t last too long.

Then, technology got cheaper; Web engagement and functionality spawned like weeds and open source applications became the new oxygen, welcoming Web 2.0. The branding platform expanded too. We were no longer just buying our way into consumers’ worlds, pushing strategically crafted messages on them with hard selling tactics. We were instead having two-way conversations, listening, helping and educating. A new marketing mindset moved in. Brands everywhere went beyond brick-and-mortar, offline business environments to now earning new relationships and stronger brand loyalty thanks to the new army of digital branding tools at their and the market’s fingertips.

And what a difference five years makes. As the Internet continued to power economies and businesses, a new dimension of activity and media sprouted. It is called social media. Pioneered by companies like Friendster, MySpace and Facebook, user-generated content fueled this technology-driven, but century-old behavior better known as socializing. Blogs, wikis, micro blogging and podcasts are just a few options in the buffet of communication choices and tools. At the start, many skeptics were convinced this was purely a social pastime; a not for business movement and was a trend isolated for teenagers and techno-geeks. Today businesses, governments, religious groups and even grandmothers are active participants in social media. So did branding get a new friend, or is it a loose-cannon foe? It’s all in how you navigate the ever-changing terrain, manage the utilities and stay with or ahead of technology.

If a modern-day brand is the sum of an entity’s actions, a collection of emotions, attributes and delivered promises, then social media seems like a surefire way to provide businesses and organizations with many more branches to grow their brands. That could work in the perfect fantasy, a great dream or candy-land novel, but in our world, it’s not so easy.

And that puts new light on the the question of does your brand need a facelift, makeover or radial change?

My list starts here. I’d love to learn about your thoughts too concerning the question, is it time for change?

If you answer YES to more than 5 of these questions, I’d say its time.

1. Does your brand (the look, feel, language, mental image) represent and reflect your current customer base or does it appeal to a dying base of used-to-be buyers?
2. Has your core business model changed and does your brand reflect what it was?
3. Does your brand blend into the landscape of competitors (a sea of sameness) and if you covered your logo, could your business be mistaken for anyone else?
4. Do the graphic elements of your brand’s identity look dated, like a light blue leisure suit?
5. Do your brand touch-points tell a story? And is the story compelling and distinct?
6. Is your brand just plain, unexciting, boring and unremarkable?
7. Is there a disconnect? Does your messaging imply one thing, but you are someone completely different?
8. Do your brand identity and graphics work well in the digital communications world?
9. Is your brand memorable?
10. Do your current brand identity and story have legs to travel in a multitude of touch-points?

Brand makeovers can be scary and expensive. Often change will not be accepted by everyone including your employees and some customers.  And there is cost related to the execution of a new brand. But, there is is a lot of upside too. Leadership needs to look forward and understand that the brand is who you are, your voice and connection to the market. A new brand can be momentous and newsworthy. It can also send a strong message to the market that your company is progressive, innovative and relevant. Even the biggest companies like Xerox®, UPS® and WalMart® have had brand makeovers.

If it looks like it might be time for a brand change or makeover for your organization, Oddpodz, my community of creative-minded entrepreneurs, and my team of branding professionals at Brain Tattoo Branding are launching a very cool Win a Brand Makeover contest.

The lucky company or individual will be awarded over $10,000 work of branding services. And every applicant will get a gift just for registering. We hope to make this an annual contest. Contest details just went up. In a few days we will have a voting tool by each post as the winning company scores extra for popularity along with 6 other criteria.

Please help spread the word. We will be chronicling the brand makeover throughout the process too.

Karen Post, international branding authority, and Oddpodz will be giving away a $10,000 brand makeover to one lucky company. The winning organization will receive a brand audit of their current brand, a new brand identity, brand strategy, brand language and a brand touch point map. Full contest details will be announced within the next 30 days. All candidates must be opted-in to the Oddpodz email list to be eligible to win. You can register in the upper left corner of the home page. Help spread the word, tell your friends to sign up too. If you have any ideas on how to select the lucky company please post a comment.

When it comes to branding, a rose by any other name does NOT smell as sweet. In fact, it can stink like dead fish at low tide. Your brand name helps you put a face on your business, differentiates you in the marketplace and can be instrumental in making you the talk of the town.

A new business or product is like a baby. You conceived the idea. You’ll nurture it through its life. And if you’re like most business leaders, you have big hopes and dreams for its future.

Brand naming should be created with care. Just as you poured through 18,007 names for your child, before settling on “Blanket,” you need to make sure your brand name is meaningful, adds a symbol to your story, is memorable, easy to understand, yet versatile enough to grow with your business.

I’ve got some very strong opinions on brand naming, from how you find the best one, to what the most effective style and approach is. For all the details check out my new ebook:

Go for it! Name your business.

A step-by-step ebook on brand naming.

In the meantime, your first step to finding a great brand name is:

1) Think before you name. Whether you hire an agency or brainstorm business names on your own, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Are you naming a company, product, service or event?
• What is the purpose of your business?
• What is the expected life of the name?
• Will it be used only in the United States or will it go global?
• (Remember that the world has changed. Today, global can mean on the internet.)
• Who is your customer?
• What are you promising your customer?
• Who are your competitors, and what names are they using?
• What is your price point?
• Where do you hope to be? Where do you want to be positioned within your business category?
• What kind of personality are you trying to convey?

2) Now, start making a list of root possibilities. WRITE THEM DOWN. Then, put them down and pick up the list a few days later and explore variations, try combining some of the best ideas, shortening some or even rearrange them.

3) From here, explore the best naming formula for your situation.

Here are a few to get you started. For a comprehensive list of naming formulas see: Go for it! Name your business.

Alliteration — Peter Piper Picked A Pen Name

One way to make sure your name is catchy is to begin words with the same letter or sound — Coca-Cola, Krispy Kreme.

Onomatopoeia — Sound It Out!

Some businesses use names with words that imitate the sounds with which their business is associated — Sizzler Steakhouse, for instance.

Acronyms — Think Like A Texter

Anyone with a teenager in their life knows the most popular texting phrases like OMG (Oh, my God) and TTYL (Talk To You Later).  Anyone who’s spent half a second in the corporate world knows that they, too, love their acronyms — HR (Human Resources), PR (Public Relations) and ROI (Return On Investment).  Consumers like their acronyms, too.

Abbreviating — Clip Off the End of a Word

One popular naming technique is to shorten words, similar to the way words can be truncated to create slang.  Not too long ago, a college kid might order a “za with shrooms.”  Translated, that meant a pizza with mushrooms.  Companies form names using that same technique. Clip off the end of a word so that it stands alone, or joins another word or clipped word.  Some examples include FedEx, CompuServe, Intel and Intuit.

Arbitrary Names — Think Apples and Oranges

Another technique, which definitely falls in the abstract category, is to choose an arbitrary name for your business.  Take the Apple Computer, for instance.  An arbitrary name has no connection to what your business is about.  While this is a controversial technique, there are naming experts that think the most important quality of your new company or product is that it be memorable.  A computer named after a piece of fruit definitely fits the bill!

4) Do your research. This is where brand naming gets complicated.

• Is there open space for you in your business category? This means is your name open to be trademarked in your class of operations?
• And is it available in cyber world too?

No matter which route you take, what style, what formula, for me, awesome names cover the 3 A’s

1. They attract attention (they standout)
2. They are admired (likeable to the mind, eye and ear)
3. They are aligned to the core brand values of the product or organization

For a variety of reasons, here are few of my all time favorites names.

SoyJoy

Google

Zappos

Wired

Monster

Tahari

Spanx

Brain Tattoo Branding (OK, I’m bias, I still love that name)

What are some of yours?

If they are not, I’m missing a piece of this story. Yesterday in Tampa, my hometown, Live Nation announced that they were renaming the Ford Amphitheater the 1-800-ASK-GARY. Which is a lawyer referral firm.

Shocking, an embarrassment and an ugly, ugly mole on Tampa’s face.

This is called a triple-edged brand, great for Gary, Great for Amphitheater’s bank account, a joke for Tampa.

Dear Mr. Economy, please get better soon, so more of this, take the money, forget the bigger picture does not happen again at least in Tampa.