Polaroid Reinvented For New Era
MINNEAPOLIS –It may not be the ideal way for a great brand to come back from the dead, but it works. Polaroid, founded in 1937 and one of the great 20th centu... Read more.
Some Russell Richards BBQ Sauce
As far as we know it isn’t real (only a poster by the funky Charlottesville artist), but we sure would like some. He’s at the McGuffey Art Center in... Read more.
New Folgers “Peter” Commercial In Heavy Rotation
ORRVILLE, Ohio – Peter is officially home again. In his last Christmas trip home during the Roaring Reagan year of 1986, Peter was dropped off in an old V... Read more.
The Future of NBC Radio in a Comcast Universe
With GE’s pending sale of NBC Universal to Comcast, we look back at the pieces of NBC and RCA that still survive. GE purchased NBC’s parent company ... Read more.
California Artist (and Beverly Hillbillies Director) Richard Whorf
One of the unsung 20th century creators is Richard Whorf (1906-1966), the sometime actor who was director of the Beverly Hillbillies. Whorf was also a dancer, a... Read more.
Cory Doctorow and the Fictional Company Kodacell
Want to read what happens to the merged company Kodak and Duracell, better known as Kodacell? This Thanksgiving, go out and read Cory Doctorow’s Makers, a... Read more.
Quikrete Is the Great D.I.Y. Concrete and Sand Brand
The idea behind a brand is to turn a commodity into a special thing. And what is more commodity than concrete; concrete is cement and sand, right? Such was the ... Read more.
Local ‘Brands’ of Holiday Inn Still Surprise
NORTH HOLLYWOOD – This week, we got a press release from the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn. It is proof that franchised chains like Holiday Inn can encourag... Read more.
Ode to the Texas Instruments Calculator
There are only a few legacy electronics companies that still operate under their own brand; great names like Sperry, Burroughs, Hallicrafters and such have been... Read more.
The SNL Theory: Use Assets and Create Your Own Breakout Hit Product
Saturday Night Live and British Airways’ new LCY-JFK flight one are two different business ideas illustrating an important idea, namely adaptive reuse. Tr... Read more.