MDC ACQUIRES STAKE IN MAU MDC Partners Inc. announced today that they have acquired an equity stake in Bruce Mau Design, Toronto. KREMLIN TO ENDORSE SELECTED BRANDS By the end of the year select goods will be allowed to carry a small crest bearing the red, white and blue of the Russian flag and the Kremlin's golden gate and eagle. STRETCHING BRANDS UNTIL THEY SNAP The launch of the initial Courvoisier "Autumn collection" marked the liqueur company's attempt to transform it from the label behind "the world's first cognac" to an icon of fashion. *************************************************** CASE STUDY ***************************************************
CHIPPENDALES Chippendales, the male dance revue, legendarily got its name in the late 70s from the time-honored furniture that founder Steve Banerjee had in his dilapidated California nightclub. Like their namesake Chippendale chairs, the dancers were to be classy and top of the line. *************************************************** OPINIONS ***************************************************
IS AL RIES DANGEROUS TO YOUR BRAND? Regretfully, Ries's continued influence is becoming today a considerable danger to successful brand building and brand management. Despite his historic importance, in the current business and marketing realities Al Ries is outdated and limited. BRANDING AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY has come up for analysis in the last few years. Now, its very idea, the American national image, globalization and the war on terror seem to be converging. The solution, or at least the framework in which to make sense of some of this, can again be found in branding. EMOTION & DESIGN: ATTRACTIVE THINGS WORK BETTER Advances in our understanding of emotion and affect have implications for the science of design. *************************************************** CHARACTER ***************************************************
HANS "ZERO" SCHLEGER An early proponent of the concept of 'corporate identity', Hans Schleger (1898-1976) designed the bus-stop symbols for London Transport in 1935 and created a unified design policy for a number of British companies. His work has been hugely influential for subsequent generations of designers.
