Brand Faux Pas

All brands face challenges in their efforts towards brand sustainability. Two West decided to examine past mistakes companies and brands have made in their goal of brand sustainability, and what exactly encompasses a “brand faux pas.” We discussed that faux pas are all about the decisions a brand makes. How would you define a brand faux pas?

Listen to the show while we discuss certain automobile, airline and beverage industry faux pas. We specifically discuss the airline industry’s current a la carte pricing and cost-cutting measures that infuriates customers. Take a look at a recent Southwest Airlines commercial that depicts that very situation, where a man is forced to insert a gold coin for every little thing he needs to do on the plane (recline his seat, lower his try table, etc.). Click on the commercial labeled “Coins.”

Also be sure to catch our guest, Wes Brown, Vice President of Iceology, a consumer research and consulting firm based in L.A. that explores the customer relationship and interaction with markets, brands and products. Brown comments on how consumers relate to different brands, and what companies can do to try and prevent mistakes with their brands. Do you think certain industries are more prone to brand faux pas?

As always, there were many discussion topics we didn’t get to on the show this week. We had hoped to discuss the challenges Euro Disney faced, and how Disney made the mistake of translating its American brand policies and theme park model to Europe, not mindful of certain cultural differences. Check out these pictures of Disneylands around the world – Japan, France and the United States. The same model was used in all three countries.

Euro Disney:



Disney Japan:



Disney World in the United States:

Branding Around a Vice

The crew from the transformation design firm, Two West, took at look at branding around a vice this week. We know that there are brands that are synonymous with a vice – alcohol, tobacco and gambling, to name a few. Advertisers and their agencies are required to make many difficult moral choices and its not always easy to make these decisions.

Gary Gonder of the Missouri Lottery was on the show discussing some of those tough decisions they have to make with responsible gaming messages and how the government affects their advertising budgets.

There was a lot that we didn’t get to with this show. While most NASCAR fans are accustomed to seeing driver Jamie McMurray in the cockpit of a fully loaded Ford Fusion, a new television campaign being launched by Crown Royal puts McMurray behind the wheel of a taxicab. The program is to reinforce the importance of getting home safe after drinking. The campaign’s funny, but will consumers listen to the message? Let us know what you think.



In the Brand Rant Two West discussed Disneyland’s decision to replace anonymous children’s faces with Disney characters in The Small World ride. Here’s the Web site that has been established to try to keep the iconic look and feel of the ride, http://www.savethesmallworld.com. Should the ride change or stay the same? Let us know what you think.

In the Brand Spotlight we spoke about Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection’s “We” campaign. Check out the commercial or go to www.wecansolveit.org and check out their site. Let us know what you think.