Archive for Brand Matters
David versus Goliath no it’s Scoogle versus Google
Posted by: | CommentsThis morning sitting down at my computer to work on some things related to our new venture RushCrowds got really exciting for once when a flurry of emails and DM’s scurried around and I realized an issue that I knew was floating around out there, was suddenly today very much in the news.
A couple of months ago friends of mine and @davideedle Josie Meadows and Col Red who run a little and very gorgeous frames shop in Albert Park, let me in on the secret that they’d just received a rather scary letter from Google’s lawyers about their business name Scoogle.
Col Redmond sporting Scoogle frames.
Now before you make the obvious link, well hey aren’t they playing on the hugeness in the brand Google here, the answer is actually no.
Scougal is the maternal family name of Josie’s and goes back a long way with particular resonance for Josie and Col. The business name was chosen to honour in a quiet way, history and heritage and some unique individuals on this side of Josie’s family. The change to Scoogle was an honourable nod to the family name but jazzing it up a little.
Josie is an optician by background and Col is an industrial designer. Both Scoogle founders have a great love and passion for unique and interesting design. Col for many years has been working on a new design for a scooter. The two go to Belgium and Spain and Paris every year talking to frames designers and picking up some of the best frames that are being hand-made anywhere in the world today.
Scoogle sells frames for fetching faces and is being sued by Google.
The frames at Scoogle (I have 2 pairs of sunglasses and one pair of optical glasses) are all gorgeous, individual, hand-made and lean towards a tradition of artisanship and care and quality in the design and creation of the utilitarian object. Scoogle sells products that are artisan/craftsmanship of the highest order.
So ironic then that this tiny store, selling a very specific niche product should be under legal fire from the monolith that is Google about losses due to infringement of brand, or something to that end.
You can read all about what’s going on with Scoogle and their legal stoush with the goliath that is Google in a great article by @bengrubb in today’s Sydney Morning Herald at Screw you, Scoogle, says Google.Please take the time to vote in the poll at the bottom of the story and lend your support to Josie and Col at Scoogle. And don’t hold back from voicing your opinion about this if it stirs you, on Twitter and Facebook. It’s worrying when a small, niche Victorian business is legally intimidated by a huge global monolith that seems to know no bounds.
Photos: Col Redmond
Brand boredom Vidpost
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s a wonderful thing when a new company gets away and is a success, but one of the pitfalls of success is that those inside the company can get bored. Before you change anything, listen to what Michel Hogan has to say about ‘brand boredom’.
Michel Hogan runs the brand alignment and advocacy company, Brandology. Check out her weekly blog Brand Matters at Smart Company.
Building on fantastic, Hayman a lesson in constant improvement
Posted by: | CommentsWhen David and I sat down at the offices of our mentor Dr Terry Cutler in the warm summer days of January 2009, our goal was to draw up a mud map of our experiences starting up, growing and then selling Arts Hub.
However, we didn’t just want to map out and then tell the Arts Hub story, we wanted to condense the journey into some key lessons for those who wanted to venture into niche publishing. It was our belief then and it still is that one of the great frontiers online that has only partly been exploited is that of niche content.
What we mean by that is that if you can provide content of a high quality in a specialist or niche field for a bunch of people who are interested in or work in that area, then you can create a product that those people will pay for. Many of us understand that it’s important to keep abreast of the trends and challenges in our industry or even in an area that is a hobby for us, and pulling this sort of information together for people has a value. Read More→
The ins and outs of luxury and brand Vidpost
Posted by: | CommentsMichel Hogan is a brand expert and advocate for brand. She talks here to Fiona Boyd about some of the features that make up the luxury brand, and what features don’t.
Michel Hogan writes weekly on all things brand in her blog called Brand Matters on Smart Company. You can find out more about the work she does and how she helps companies get all aspects of their brand right at Brandology.
This interview was inspired by an event moderated by Michel Hogan at the Melbourne Churchill Club on luxury.
Brand and electioneering Vidpost Part Two
Posted by: | CommentsJust prior the Federal election on Saturday 21 August, Michel Hogan the founder of Brandology spoke to Fiona Boyd about the political brands of the two key players in the election, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. With the hung parliament result leading to possibly another week before a minority government is formed, the political brand of both players still has currency, especially with the Independents who have the power to decide which party gets to govern for the next three years. Michel talks more about the political brands of Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Bob Brown.
Michel Hogan is an expert in the field of brand advocacy and runs the company Brandology. You can also read her latest thoughts on brand at Smart Company’s Brand Matters blog.
Brand and electioneering
Posted by: | CommentsAustralia is currently in the grip of a federal election campaign and until this week there’s been little focus on policy and a lot of focus on personality. Michel Hogan, founder of Brandology talks to Fiona Boyd about the Julia Gillard and the Tony Abbott brands.
Michel Hogan writes regularly about all things brand on her blog at Brand Alignment and on Smart Company at Brand Matters.
What to do about the customerzilla transcript
Posted by: | CommentsThis blogpost is the transcript of the interview between Fiona Boyd and brand advocate Michel Hogan from Brandology – What to do about the Customerzilla? Read More→
Why great customer service is not always the bees knees Vidpost
Posted by: | CommentsMichel Hogan from Brandology talks to Fiona Boyd about the importance of a company making promises it knows it can deliver every time. This may mean that you deliver great customer service, or then again, maybe not. Michel Hogan and Fiona Boyd explore some of the things customers expect, and whether these expectations need to be met or not.
Michel Hogan is the founder of brand advocacy Brandology. Michel also shares her big picture thoughts on brand at Brand Alignment and you can read her weekly post called Brand Matters at Smart Company.
It’s not your way or the highway!
Posted by: | CommentsMistaken me, I thought we were well and truly meant to be in the era of customer service. Indeed Michel Hogan and I have discussed one of the really negative side effects of the era of customer service – the customerzilla – in several video interviews, the most recent being yesterday’s What to do about the customerzilla?
Well have I got it wrong. There are still plenty of companies out there who think that the customer is an inconvenience to be tolerated and that the systems and the protocols of the business are all about making it easier for the staff and management of the company.
Why do I say this?
Two weeks ago David and I were sitting down to have our weekly life and business lunch meeting at the Middle Brighton Baths Restaurant and I’d just checked into Foursquare (Stan is the Mayor at this venue) and I get an incoming call on my relatively new iPhone. Thinking it’d probably be an rsvp for my daughter’s birthday party which was getting huger by the minute, I took the call. Now David will tell you how unusual it is for me to actually answer an incoming call with a number I don’t know or that is blocked. I just don’t answer these calls, I let them go through to voicemail and pick up my messages there. Read More→
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