Can LIVESTRONG survive Armstrong?

Lance Armstrong: Is this the ultimate fall from celebrity grace?

They say, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Well Lance you broke my dream and it looks as if you’re falling pretty hard.

Following 7 Tour de France wins the exaltations were unprecedented. Your feat was super-human. But as it turns out, sadly, the old maxim seems to be holding firm, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” 

But like so many… I wanted to believe. The story was so good it was (ironically) addictive. Inspiring me and so many others. The ultimate fightback from disaster to legendary triumph.

For a long time, I [..]

Emirates Sponsor the London Tube Map with its "Emirates Air Line" Thame Cable Car

Granted there are cheaper ways of working on your brand awareness, but actually having your brand name added to the London Underground Map as a Tube Station name makes quite a statement of your brand intent.

That’s what UAE national airline, Emirates, has done. Except, they’ve gone one better. It’s always a smart move to make sure your branding initiatives are inline with your brand essence. So a station would be an imperfect fit for an airline. That’s why Emirates have sponsored the new Thames Cable Car or cleverly named “Emirates Air Line” which ‘flies’ between “Emirates Greenwich Peninsula” and [..]

Rule Britannia. Can we have more from you please Mary? Loving your work!

Can we have more from you Mary, please?

Here in the UK, Mary has long been our ‘Queen of Shops‘ consumer champion and as the nation’s number one Retail Consultant she’s a familiar face across the media. But did you see her recent series “Mary’s Bottom Line” on Channel 4? The series follows Mary’s audacious attempt to bring clothing manufacturing back to Britain.

I get that this was edited for TV, but it was a moving account of selecting the right people – and giving a chance to some who may not have been the ideal employee on paper – and trying to revitalise the once bustling and productive British Rag Trade.

You can watch the show now on 4oD. [..]

Starbucks Logo History - courtesy of www.retailbiz.com.au

I’ve been a fan of Starbucks since 1996 – when a friend of mine returned from Vancouver, raving about the wonders of coffee in a way that had never been heard of previously the UK. Add to that my love for the passion in Howard Shultz’s Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
(to this day one of the best business books I’ve ever read) and you could say I’m a long-term follower of the Starbucks evolution.

The Trend for Logo Simplification

Changing your logo when you are a major brand is a big deal. Companies invest hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars with branding and identity agencies to get it right. In recent years many of the major players have been removing the words from their logo. Nike is now just the swoosh. MTV finally removed ‘Music Television’ (let’s face it, it’s not been that for years). And more recently (January 5, 2011) The Starbucks Coffee Co. removed all of its words to become simply the Twin-Tailed Siren. [..]

Sam Waterfall - Keynote Speaker at the World Food Technology & Innovation Forum in Dublin, March 2012.

I was in Ireland this week. I’d been invited back to speak for the third time at the prestigious World Food Technology & Innovation Forum. This was the 10th annual event and it moved from 2011 in Brussels for this year’s event in Dublin, Ireland.

My message I delivered at my keynote presentation was a simple one: Innovation is fantastic, but make sure you have a brand to deliver your message to consumers.

With so many pulls on consumers limited attention they have no time for confusing brands. The best brands stand for one thing and one thing only. In fact, it’s true to say that [..]