Now this is what I call advertising. After the auto maker Audi ran a national billboard campaign featuring the text “Your move, BMW” a local BMW dealer came up with the perfect counter ad: “Checkmate”

Via SvN.
If you like that sort of thing, the comments on the SvN post lead me to some more interesting examples (which may or may not be real.)
04.16.09 | # | 1 Comment
I’m not quite sure why so many companies undergo rebranding initiatives. Walmart did one recently that made no sense to me, and Tropicana just decided to rebrand as well. In fact, it appears that Tropicana’s rebranding directly caused a 20% reduction in sales. It’s not hard to tell why when you compare the old and the new packages. More on the AdAge article about this blunder.
Branding is expensive. Changing an existing brand is even more expensive. Going from a good brand to what can only be described as “generic” is sheer insanity. Idiots.
EDIT: Zeldman makes a good case too about how this is proof design matters.
04.05.09 | # | Start the conversation