Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with brand

Brand me

b33j — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:37:49 -0800

What is that I'm doing? Tag my business. I’ve been working freelance for a couple of years while I finished my degree doing a variety of tasks for academics (4 or 5) who work in the field of Education. Some of the things I’ve done have been to create logos for various groups, diagrams and illustrations for lesson plans and books, some photography,animations, presentations, formatting of material for publishing, transcription, managing an international journal and formatting it, creating databases and entering all the data, as well as analysing it (lightly – I’m no expert in statistics) and producing all graphs and reports.

Now that I’ve finished my degree, I want to increase my clientele. I think I can make a go of this because I turned over around $30K at about 14 hours a week. I have a domain which is my own name and the word design. I hope to launch my website (with a blog -thanks metafilter for earlier advice) in January. I’m working on a design for my business card. My current clients will probably forward my details onto their mailing groups if I ask them – I just need one last thing. What do I do and what’s a good tag line? I would have thought “academic support” except that that phrase tends to mean helping students to survive university. I tested the tagline “the whole package” on one of my current clients, and she was aghast, but couldn’t exactly say why.

So, to summarise my business card, for example...

b33jdesign
~~Academic Support~~ (?)
~~The whole package~~ (?)
w: www.b33jdesign.com
e: jr@b33jdesign.com
p: xxx xxxx xxx

Related

Help us find this suit!

a.steele — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:15:05 -0800

Men's Suit Filter: Please help us remember the brand of a suit we saw at K&G! This just happened yesterday while my boyfriend and I were looking for his halloween costume, and we've already forgotten! Details: we're 90% sure it starts with a Z. I seem to remember a double-L but it could possibly be a different double letter. 3 or 4 syllables. Vaguely Italian?

The suit was a 4-button royal blue with subtle stripes, and a slight sheen. It was inexpensive ($80, retailed for around $100-$120?). Not sure if K&G is regional, but it's a discount suit store like Burlingtons. I'm assuming that the fact it's not high quality is why we're not having luck with the Google.

If we have to, we'll go back and look at the label but it's out of our way and they didn't have his size. Hoping the hive can help. Thanks!

What is the hierarchy of high-end jewelry brands in New York?

L'homme armé — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:22:39 -0800

What are the most impressive/exclusive quality diamond jewelry brands with a retail presence in Manhattan? I am looking for those that are known to the reasonably knowledgeable New Yorker but not necessarily as well-known outside. I worry that Tiffany is too over-exposed and perhaps not the best value for the money.

More specifically, I am looking to buy for someone in the upper half of her 30's who has lived in New York for about 15 years and has a classy, timeless sense of style but is brand-conscious. Thus the name on the box must be recognizable.

A few alternatives come to mind: H. Stern, Cartier, De Beers, Harry Winston, Piaget, Van Cleef but I don't have any idea how they rank on quality, value, or brand recognition. Can you provide some insights?

Best British Brand Builder

ruelle — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:42:24 -0800

Please recommend 8-10 British design agencies known for their stellar brand identity book (work) especially for conservative entities such as solicitors. Many thanks. What should I be looking for in choosing a design agency?
How is brand identity work quoted?
What kind of service should I expect from the chosen agency?
As the client, what can I provide/do to make this process as efficient as possible?

The work would not be about creating a new image but in unifying an existing corporate ID (ie: making sure the adverts look like the business cards look like the stationery).
If we like the results, we may consider a long-term relationship. ie: brochures, website design by the same team.

Any suggestions how to go about this?

What do gang member hopefuls read in prison?

monkishies — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:35:49 -0800

Prison gang reading lists and what's on them. Does anyone out there know a concise answer? Most people think you've got to be dumb to get sent to prison or stupid to get caught. But there is a small majority, mainly ex-cons, their families ... I won't bother going through the list here who know for a fact that some of the greatest minds in our country are behind bars. The personal views/politics end here.

I ask this question because recently The History channel has had a rash of shows about most of the larger and more organized gangs in the USA. Not surprisingly they have a very heavy presence in our American prison system. I started to notice a trend that happens when they initiate someone in prison; they often give them rules to memorize and reading lists (of books in the prison library) to learn from. Now, in one of these shows they actually had a quick flash on the screen of one of these lists (the show that day was about the Aryan Brotherhood if you're interested.) I don't have the show on tape and even if I did I doubt that anyone could make anything out significant from the blurry photo of what looked a photo-copy-of-a-photo-copy. I wouldn't be surprised if all of the gangs share very similar lists since they all seem to revolve around the same knowledge-set. This theory was enforced by the fact that the following books were mentioned in every show that had a blurb about "the reading list":

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Gray's Anatomy by Spalding Gray (et. al.)

Now this "list" that was flashed on the screen was on your typical 8x11 size sheet of paper, book names top to bottom, single spaced text @ 13-14pt. (not exact on the size but it was essentially normal hand writing). So, I can tell there is more on these lists than three books!

Please, ex-cons, cons, gang members, prison guards , ANYONE that knows what's on that list help a knowledge thirsty netizen out. I'm not looking for carnal knowledge here (since all of these books are apparently in the prison library system.) I'm just really interested in what these gangs have deemed "must read" literature.

Thanks in advance.

Where can I find this shirt?

likeapen — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:01:22 -0800

Where can I find the shirt Jay-Z is wearing? What's the brand?

What is this bag? What is this logo?

Eater — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:24:39 -0800

The other day I spotted a very handsome shoulder bag of brown leather with a red stripe. I want to own one just like it. I wasn't able to ask the owner where he got it, but I was able to spot the manufacturer's logo. It looks like a heart, split down the middle into two lobes, and lying on its side. I've drawn a very crude version of it here. It looks faintly familiar to me -- does anyone recognize it? And in general, is there a good resource somewhere for looking up logos?

How to buy a domain from a squatter?

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:32:20 -0800

What's the best way to buy a .com domain from a squatter? Have you used a third-party to anonymously negotiate a domain purchase? I'd be very interested to hear your experiences. Googling about reveals a number of businesses that offer to handle anonymized negotiations of such matters... have any MeFites used these services and been pleased with the process? Or displeased? If so, would you recommend someone? What kind of rates, above the domain price itself, would we be looking at paying? This is in the U.S.

Note that the decision has already been made that if the domain can be had at a reasonable price, we should just buy the thing. I'd rather not encourage squatting as a business model... if it were me personally I'd try to take it to arbitration, but it's not my call.

Is penny-wise pound-foolish with replacement filters?

daisyace — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:15:58 -0800

With some products, the off-brand is as good as any other brand, sometimes even coming off the same production lines in the same factories. With other products, there is a quality difference between brands. How about for replacement HEPA filters for a Kenmore air cleaner? (And, as a bonus, should I believe the warning against washing and reusing the charcoal pre-filters?) My Kenmore air filter has charcoal prefilters to replace every three months, and a HEPA filter to replace yearly. The Kenmore replacement HEPA filter is $110, while this aftermarket one, for example, is $68 including shipping. Both claim to capture 99.97% of particles down to .3 microns. I picked my air filter carefully based on reading about tested differences in performance, so I don't want to cheap out now if there's a quality difference, but I don't want to pay extra if there's not.

For the bonus question, the charcoal pre-filters come with the warning, "DO NOT try to wash and reuse either the HEPA filter or the pre-filter," but when I take out the pre-filters, they sure look like a good hosing off and a thorough drying in the sun might make them perfectly serviceable again. Would performance be degraded?

BMW Turbo type?

SirStan — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:19:45 -0800

What brand/type of turbos does the BMW 335i/ix carry? A friend of mine (and apparently others) are having issues with turbo failure in their 335i's from 2007/2008. I am curious what brand and model the turbos in the BMW are. Any idea where I might find such a fact?

Personality-Based Design/Arts/Fashion Blogging - new trend?

divabat — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:02:05 -0800

Is there a specific term/genre that defines bloggers such as Gala Darling, Nubby Twiglet, Queen Gilda, Doe Deere, This is Star, and Agent Lover? Has anyone tracked this? I've noticed a few of those sort of blogs recently, sharing similar things in terms of aesthetics and content:

* Young female, using a glamorous pen name
* A mix between personal life, recommendations of products/people, and how-tos based on everyday life (such as How To Be Fabulous)
* Plenty on design, fashion, style, culture, trends
* Blogger likely to be an artist or other creative person
* Promotes the blogger itself as a brand
* "Things I Love Tuesday" (possibly started by one of those bloggers)
* Similar layouts

A few of these blogs cross-link to each other, but other than that I don't see anything that suggests they're part of a collective or tight group of friends. Rather, it seems to be a growing sub-trend of blogging, and I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this and/or done some research on these blogs.

They're like camgirls in the sense that there's quite a bit of voyeurism into their personal lives, but it's not constant. They're seen as icons and inspiration, and have enough followers to even sell products with their branding (AFAIK Gala Darling lives on Adsense income). When I was a teen, random-content-heavy personal sites, often with vector illustrations, were the Big Thing; this seems like an outgrowth of that.

Is there a name for this? Does anyone else fit this aesthetic?

Won't you be my neighbor and identify sneakers?

Sprocket — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:44:34 -0800

What brand of sneakers did Mr. Rogers wear? Does anyone know what brand of sneakers Mr. Rogers wore? You know, the ones he changed into thousands of times.

Or even better, do you know where one could buy said sneakers?

Here is a pic of an authentic set.

Brand new question

Neale — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:38:36 -0800

What is the etymology of "brand new"? When did it first appear?

Reselling goods, is this legal?

lungtaworld — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:47:30 -0800

Are there any specific illegalities to purchasing clothing (e.g. name brand shorts) from an outlet store and then offering them for sale in a boutique that specializes in selling resort wear?

brandname.com

Anonymous — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:13:40 -0800

I noticed a well known food related domain name is available. What's the deal if I register it? I don't mean to squat on the domain. I'm a huge fan of the product, and to see it's domain neglected breaks my heart. Could I make a tribute site? Could I put ads? Would I have to use it for something completely unrelated? What happens when the company who owns the brand notices? Can they just take it from me? Do things change if I also buy a popular way of misspelling the product name?

Some more details: I'm in Canada, but so is the corporation that makes the product in question, if that helps/hurts. I should also clarify that it's possible that the exact brand name is not the name of the domain, but the name and product are clearly featured in the domain.

How do I pick a professional looking domain name?

dcbarker — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:22:25 -0800

Help me pick a professional domain name for email. All reasonable combinations of my name are already taken (the same goes for GoogleMail addresses). I'd like to avoid firstnamelastnameUK01321@googlemail.com if I can. I'm going to be using it mainly on CVs. So, because my real name (any reasonable combination of it..) is taken and I can't get my real name on GoogleMail, I'd like to pick a reasonably professional domain name (a .co.uk) to handle all of my email. That way I can just have firstname.lastname@mydomain.co.uk

The problem is.. Every domain I think of seems to sound like a lame social networking username or a dot com bubble company name. It'll be used on job applications, recruitment services and CVs. Nothing much else as I'd like to keep it separate from everything else.

I want to avoid getting a friend to forward mail from an already established domain for the same reason I'm not going to use one of my existing domains - I want a little self-contained email domain for work stuff.

I'm not so much looking for actual domain name suggestions - I'd really like advice on how to pick a suitable domain.

So, any ideas? Thanks!

How do we stop the playground bullies?

eve harrington — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:12:04 -0800

This group blog/community site for parents that I contribute to is under attack from a better-funded competitor. Help. Well, maybe ‘attack’ is too strong a word, but it does feel pretty aggressive. Our site is offsprung.com, which started back in May 2007. Our community area, called The Playground, is where users can create a profile, upload photos and videos, ‘friend’ people, start threads—you know, social networking stuff. Now Babble.com, a parenting site from the folks who brought you Nerve.com, has just announced their new parenting social area, dubbed The Playground (!), where parents can do all those things, too. An angry mob of my fellow Offsprungers have jumped onto Babble’s Playground boards and are being kind of shrill in a, well, playground kind of way (you can hear the “no fair!” or “I’m telling!” in nearly every post). Of course, I doubt anything is officially trademarked on Offsprung (damned impractical arty types), but do we have any sort of legal standing to tell the bullies to get off the Playground, name-wise, at least?

Recommend a brand worth researching

JaySunSee — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:43:17 -0800

MeFites, please recommend a specific brand (a product or service, not a company) with easy access to key market information such as market size, market share and competitive scope. I've been assigned a major project for my marketing class and I'm looking for some fresh ideas from the hive mind.

P.S. Bonus points if the branded product/service is socially conscious/environmentally friendly/jaw-droppingly weird or cool.

Does a freelancer really need a brand, identity and/or logo?

gottabefunky — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:21:50 -0800

This one's for the Mrs: As a successful freelancer in a creative industry (writing-ish), is it enough to have a decent website and nice business cards, or is it worth it to a hire a graphic designer to come up with a business "brand" or "identity" for you? (And what should this involve besides just a logo?) From a quick glance around, this service seems to start in the $thousands. There are always higher levels to aspire to, but still, it ain’t chump change, and marketing/promotion for freelancers seems so amorphous (Do I need it? Did it help get me more/better work?) How can you tell if the payout will be – or was – worth the investment?

How do I break into brand and identity design?

milarepa — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:55:50 -0800

I would really like to get into brand and identity design. What are my best options? I really enjoy everything about brand and identity design (the naming process, product or company positioning, the logo design, letterhead, business cards, etc). Luckily, in addition to liking it, it turns out that I am pretty good at it, too.

I just sort of realized all this in the last year, but have managed to pick up a few well known clients (e.g., designing a logo for a new product line launch of an international company). However, I really want to take this to the next level. My friend and started a design business together where we share responsibilities and that's going ok. But I really want a more long range plan.

1. What sort of higher degrees would serve me best? I was thinking of getting an MBA in marketing to help with setting up my own businesses and so I can be more reputable when making suggestions to clients.

2. Where can I go to submit my portfolio for possible freelance jobs?

3. My optimistic goal at this point is to somehow make a living doing this sort of work. What should I do to achieve this goal?

4. If you do this for a living, what do you wish someone would have told you or suggested years ago?

Thank!

Name that logo?

demagnetized — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:42:25 -0800

I'm trying to work out what company or organization this logo belongs to. I can't decide whether it's meant to be EE, E3 or something else entirely. It's on a sticker I found in a pile of DIY stuff next to our gas meter. (In the UK if that's in any way relevant).

Ask a Librarian

Jeff Howard — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:56:11 -0800

I'm trying to research the origin of the term "touchpoint" as it's used in this 2003 McKinsey quote: "Brands are delivered at touchpoints, which for a hotel include reservations, check-in and checkout, frequent-stay programs, room service, business services, exercise facilities, laundry service, restaurants, and bars." Today this term is widely used in the industry to describe the ways in which a customer comes into contact with a business, but I can't pin down exactly who coined it or how early it came to be used in this way... I've been able to trace examples of this usage to 1993 but there's no smoking gun. No book or academic paper or journal article that proposes the term (the literature had been using the terms "tangibles" or "service evidence" for this concept in the 80s and 90s). Early citations generally refer to it in quotes as "touch point" or "touch-point." In a few cases authors (or their editors) feel obliged to briefly define the term but the earliest references are offhand. No one seems to frame it as a new concept or bother to reference its source.

Here's what I've tried so far. Google Books. Google Scholar. Amazon Search-Inside. Microsoft Live Search Books. The Internet Archive (only back to 1996). Marketing and Branding textbooks. The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Online article databases such as infotrac, proquest and ebscohost.

OED traces the term to a 1602 text on astronomy but that's not what I'm looking for. I can also find plenty of apperances of the term before 1993 in other contexts (acupuncture, engineering) but not used to describe the points of contact between a customer and a business.

Here are my questions:

1. What other resources would you use to search? I've exhausted every tool that I'm familiar with.

2. Do you know the origin of the term? Anyone here with a branding or marketing background who can speak to whether the term touchpoint was in general use before the mid-nineties?

3. Is it possible that this term doesn't have a particular source? That there isn't a "first" article or book out there to find? I've never thought much about how terminology for a discipline evolves, so some insight in that regard would be helpful.

Business + Journalism = Executive Leadership

parmanparman — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:34:08 -0800

I have realized though I still love broadcast journalism I am really interested in media business management and brand management. How do I get more training in these areas? In both my previous and current job I have discovered a real knack and enjoyment for project management and brand development.

I want to find ways to break out of the restrictive shell of journalism and into media business management in some form.

How do I get more training for this and who should I be reading or learning about to learn more about this?

Emergen-C vs. Airborne

SixteenTons — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:18:53 -0800

Emergen-C vs. Airborne I discovered Airborne earlier this year, and have used it to much success (I think) when I feel like I'm coming down with something and want to nip it in the bud. Because I hate being sick (go figure) and have never found anything that works quite this well, I have developed a slightly silly brand loyalty to Airborne.
I confess, I have yet to try Emergen-C, but I've been told that it's 'exactly the same' and a lot cheaper. I haven't been able to find anything to back up the 'exactly the same' statement, but I do know that, were it the same, Emergen-C would certainly be a better bargain. Any facts, experiences, opinions, etcetera?
*Note: I am not a hypochondriac...just grateful for a product that seems to work well. And I'm poor, therefore willing to make the switch. Yeah, yeah, I could just try it and see, but I thought I'd ask what the hive-mind/body had to say, first.

Should we trademark our company brand?

BorgLove — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:05:36 -0800

Should we trademark our company brand? Me and two partners started a small tea company. It's beginning to take off. Should we trademark our logo? It can be a costly process according to our legal counsel, and is not always necessary, especially at the early stages of a company's growth.

I'm wondering if some enterprising competitor could come along and trademark our brand instead, and then force us to stop using it. Given there's a ton of legal documentation re incorporation, tax and so forth that exists to prove who the real owners of the brand are, is that really plausible?

I know you're not my lawyer, but I still value your opinion. Is trademarking worth our valuable capital right now?