Ampelmannchen

Now this is branding! I know that communism is one of the best built brands (Romanians still have it in their minds...), but I was not aware of the fact that the little man on the traffic signal was also used by the German communists to brand their "service". :)
Ampelmaennchen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Switch

The iPod's halo is generating new business for Apple's Macs. Nice. In 2005, 400k Windows users have switched to Mac. I have tried to compile a relationship map for the 3 most talked about OSes (Windows, Linux and Mac). The size of the bubbles shows the market share for each OS while arrows show how they relate to one another on the market (competitive response/attack profiles). Enjoy!


"InformationWeek: Windows Users Push Apple To 4th Place In PC Sales"

Sibiu vs Basel

Hi!
I have just returned from a business trip.
On my day off, I visited Basel in Switzerland and must say that I felt at home there. Being a "sibian" (Sibiu is the town where I grew up) helped, as I think Basel is a bigger Sibiu with less dust and more branding. :p

Basel's brand mantra is written... on the walls of its old city hall:
1.) Show goodness and you will receive goodness --> tolerance, readiness to help
2.) Freedom is more precious than silver and gold --> the love for being responsible for his/her life (goes with the Swiss brand), Switzerland is neutral to most conflicts trying to guard its independence
3.) God lives where the people are united --> religious, sense of belonging

One of Basel's slogans: "Culture unlimited" (did you know that Sibiu is the European Cultural Capital of 2007?)
One of Sibiu's ... hm... selling propositions: "You don't have to learn a foreign language, as you'll spend the whole trip speechless"

Basel's site (see city marketing with "Basel ticks differently" - campaign)
Sibiu's site