The Commonwealth Bank’s “Determined to be Different” campaign has been running for a good while now.

It is an odd tagline – somewhat apologetic perhaps. And definitely with a whiff of “committee crosschecked consensus” about it. But they are a bank, so I guess that’s to be expected.

What I am curious about is to hear from …

A wonderful list compiled by Jack Marx.

Thanks to Michael Little for the heads up.

“Boring!!!” I hear you say. Who gives a blip about blenders, right? I certainly have not thought about one at all until now.

Have a look at this excellent viral marketing idea: http://www.willitblend.com/

How’s that for a sustained marketing campaign that cost next to nothing compared to your usual buy ad-spots for glossy perfect ads approach.

I know which blender I am getting next…

The marks of the top 1,000 companies in America can be roughly categorized as follows:

35% are purely typographic
27% are initials
14% integrate typography with a graphic
13% are pictorial
11% are abstract

From The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher. ISBN978-0-7148-3449-8.

Since buying the Thinkpad line of products from IBM a few years ago, Lenovo has been busy transitioning the product line branding.

The Same Product, Different Stickers blog post on Lenovo blogs provides an interesting insight into the transition process from a product badging viewpoint.

The lessons are:

Consistency is important, but not a blind rule to be followed.
Consistency goes beyond mere badges and logos.
Transitions must be given time …

If you have ever worked as a graphic designer, you will so identify with this “commercial”.

Unfortunately, many businesses still don’t get branding. (Hint: it has little to do with the size of your logo.)

Thanks to Stilgherrian for this.

Angus and Robertson, one of the bookstore chains in Australia, is taking a “pay us to stock your product or go away” approach with publishers.

When does the drive to make a profit cross over to clear-cut greed? What is the definition of greed? A business, by definition, must make a profit; but how far should a business focus on making a profit before it starts eroding its offerings?

For …

GIO Insurance’s advertising ends with “we don’t just listen, we do”.

Contrast this with my post on NRMA’s ads which detailed exactly what they have done (number of claims paid, families helped etc) in the aftermath of storms.

“This above all—to thine own self be true”

… this is the challenge of authenticity: it’s quite easy to talk about and not so easy to do. If authenticity is hard for people to achieve, it is even harder for businesses.

…

The humanity has been driven out of most branding programmes, replaced by an ever-growing list of clever-sounding jargon and “tools” designed to manipulate rather than engage with consumers. It …

Nick asks: “If we guarantee products, why not service? How can you claim a commitment to customer service without being willing to back it up with a guarantee?”

He then goes on to use U.S. Bancorp as an example how a service can be guaranteed. Read the full post on FusionBrand.

The ANZ Bank has (had?) a $5.00 Five-Minute Teller Queue Guarantee, where you get $5 if they …