von Roland Hachmann | Aug 13, 2007 | Ad News, Blog, Marketing
Are kids easy to fool? Can a little branding make things much tastier for them? Of course it can! Well, at least this article says it can. Wrap anything in something branded by McDonalds and the kids seem to be liking it!
„You see a McDonald’s label and kids start salivating,“ said Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist who campaigns against advertising to kids. She had no role in the research.
So be careful about the bad effects advertising and branding might have on your kids.
But hey – only your kids? Shouldn’t you also watch out for yourself? Don’t you think it is rather easy to be fooled as an adult, too? Well, think again. Because this article mentions a study, that tested adults for perception of well branded vs not well branded wine.
Of course it’s not about an overarching (golden) brand symbol. But it’s about perception nevertheless. What is your opinion on wine from North Dakota? Don’t have any (opinion, that is)? How about wine from California? That bell makes you salivate?
In that study conducted by Cornell professors, a group of diners was served the same wine, either labeled as wine from california, or labeled as wine from North Dakota – both carrying the name of a non-existent winery. Guess which one the group preferred? Correct!
Branding can be sooo misleading! *g*
von Roland Hachmann | Mai 20, 2007 | Blog, Digital Culture
TechCrunch lists the many german copycats of web 2.0 sites. Didn’t know there were so many. And it makes you wonder: How come that we moved from a nation of thinkers and inventers to a nation of copycats?
“Web 2.0†is a term that brilliantly translates around the world, but many of the sites that are commonly associated with it have a language barrier for international audiences […]. While English certainly isn’t foreign to Germans, it has still slowed their adoption – and network effects, which have been a driving force, are often tied to language and reach as well. What’s been the consequence in Deutschland? A mushrooming of German copycats that have localized and copied their US role models, sometimes down to the last pixel.
But is not only about the adoption amongst users. It is also our inhibiting environment:
In short: Germany is buzzed right now and the biggest question for the startup scene is how the many look-alikes will develop over the next year. You’ll often hear that investors are hesitant to invest in ideas that “haven’t been proven in the US yet†but there are several other factors at work here: Germany is generally more risk-averse, the bureaucracy is more cumbersome, and entrepreneurial networks like Silicon Valley aren’t as strongly developed.
Sad, but true.