An article in Strategic name revealed how last Christmas had set the tone for toy naming in 2008.

* Safety is Key: Any part of your name that tells us your toy is “safe” or “caring” is a good idea.

* Made in China? There is no question that the Made in China label took a huge knock last year and the fallout will continue through 2008. Look for an up tick in toys “Made in the USA” as well as an advantage in brand name toys vs. no-name toys.

* Green Toys: Toys that are made in an eco-friendly manner, those whose brand naming reflect recycled sources or toys that do not use batteries will see an up tick. Also, Eartheasy has declared that “regifting is ok”.

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Kraft’s decision to omit the word “diet” in its South Beach Diet brand name and replace it with South Beach Living will probably turn out to be an excellent marketing move, revealed Strategic Name Development.
The South Beach brand name is well entrenched - it is not only a food line, but a vending machine name and a diet bar.

Other brands also opt to omit the word “diet” in their product names as well. Take Coke Zero, for example. This brand is flourishing partly because it’s gender neutral and doesn’t describe itself as “diet.”

According to the Diet Blog, the word diet often connotes to consumers bad tasting food aimed at an older demographic as well as, incredibly, “failure.”

I’d rather talk about “living” than “dieting” any day of the week. Good move, Kraft.

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An article in Name Development revealed that the company, as a whole, has been in decline for some time now. However, AOL, as a brand name, still holds a lot of leverage.
Instead of leveraging the established AOL brand, the company has been actively developing brands that do not include the AOL name, like TMZ.com or Truveo, and adding a new ad division called “Platform A.”
These new developments seem to fit with AOL’s new strategy of getting away from the Internet portal and instead becoming an online advertising giant.
AOL’s CEO Randy Falco sees AOL as a house of brands, like Proctor & Gamble.

However, the “You’ve Got Mail” announcement has become part of popular culture, and products, such as AIM, which still hold most of the market share, in their respective markets.

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Ruby Tuesday, the international restaurant chain known for its casual dining menu and impressive salad bar, has been implementing a new, “fresh� (a word emphasized over and over) identity over the past several months to coincide with an update of the brand’s interior, wrote Ryan Hembree from Brand New. Gone are black- and white- checkered tablecloths and the hodge-podge of sports memorabilia that adorned the walls and were reminiscent of Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s In their place is a more upscale and elegant look and feel.

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Welch’s, Concord, MA, has launched six varieties of its 100% juice in a custom, 14-oz PowerFlex™ PET bottle from Amcor PET Packaging (www.amcor.com). The proprietary design is Welch’s first panel-less, shelf-stable bottle and represents the first commercial use of a custom PowerFlex container, revealed an article in Packworld.com

The new package has a gently contoured and ergonomic shape and uses a full-body shrink label with colorful graphics that make the fruit images appear ready to pluck. “We were looking for a bottle that was upscale and would attract more consumers to the premium, 100% juice line,� explains Welch’s senior engineer Stratos Dimas. “It had to be very smooth with no bumps so that it could accommodate a full-body label. It also had to be hot-fillable, attractive, and easy to hold.�

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An article in Design week reveals that a milk container made from a type of pulp found in egg cartons has won the best packaging design category at the second Green Awards, held at the Guildhall, London EC2, last Friday.

The Green Awards were set up last year with the aim of rewarding businesses for communicating sustainability in a creative and original way.

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An article in designweek reveals that InterContinental Hotels Group is to launch a refresh of its Holiday Inn family, which will be implemented across all hotels, with branding by Interbrand.

Redesigned brand signage will be installed at hotels once they have implemented the relaunch programme, which aims to give Holiday Inn a ‘refreshed and contemporary brand image’.

The new identity uses the letter ‘H’ in white on green, with the addition of the particular brand name, such as Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express.

All Holiday Inn hotels open or under development are expected to have implemented the relaunch programme by the end of 2010, with the first due to open in spring 2008 in the US.
‘The changes we are making will ensure the Holiday Inn brand goes forward into the future with a strong and confident new image,’ says IHG’s chief executive Andrew Cosslett.

IHG expects the relaunch programme to allow Holiday Inn hotels to generate significantly higher revenue, as well as an enhanced return on investment for the room’s owners. Owners and franchisees will invest up to $1bn (£488 000) over a three-year period to carry out the brand relaunch to meet the required service and quality levels.

“Manifesting brand essence through packaging is powerful at retail,â€Â� declares Ron Pence, Pepsi Senior Marketing Manager for packaging innovation, in a Shelf Impact’s article. The Pepsi brand reflects youth and vitality, and those virtues shine through on its new 20-oz bottle for the U.S. market.

Working with 4sight, a structural packaging innovation firm, Pepsi created the new bottle as a cornerstone of its “Choreography� branding program.

The bottle design helps the brand remain relevant with teens and young adults by integrating the equity in the Pepsi logo and delivering greater visual impact in stores.

The new design extends the branding beyond the label by adding the Pepsi globe and name onto the bottle. Lines of the iconic Pepsi globe logo are expressed as horizontal waves, and waves above and below the label uncoil from top to bottom, giving the bottle more visual definition when exposed to light on store shelves.

“Wherever you look, there is branding in all directions,� says Stuart Leslie, 4sight President. “No matter which way the bottle faces, consumers will see two Pepsi globes embossed on top, above the label, and the Pepsi name prominently displayed in two areas at the bottom.�

The PET bottles are sourced through multiple suppliers.

The new design balances creativity and function, Pence notes. Marketers at Pepsi get a bottle that reinforces the brand’s image and position in the soft drink industry. The bottle also succeeds from an operations perspective. It withstands carbonation pressure, design elements in filled bottles retain their shape and sharpness over time, and the bottles adhere to Pepsi’s existing manufacturing standards.