brand-e

By Mark Terry. UK record company Relentless Records, which boasts artists such as Joss Stone and KT Tunstall on its roster, is taking on the might of Coca-Cola, having filed a writ against the brand for breach of trademark over its Relentless energy drink.

By Steve Mullins. Nokia is dropping its Ovi brand starting with some new devices in July and August. Ovi services will be rebranded Nokia in a transition expected to continue into 2012. Each of the services under the Ovi umbrella will simply be rebranded as Nokia.

“We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia,” says the company’s chief marketing officer Jerri DeVard. “By centralising our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture.”

By Maria Stadtmueller. More than 90% of 2,000 women bloggers in the BlogFrog network are eager to partner with brands, but almost two thirds have never been approached by a brand or agency to work on a campaign, according to a survey conducted by the Social Studies Group.

The City of Ottawa is considering selling the naming rights to a number of municipal buildings to brands, and officials have identified 16 recreation facilities for possible re-branding, among them the Nepean Sportsplex, Kanata Leisure Centre and the St-Laurent Complex.
Proposals also include allowing sponsorship of city events, pouring rights for drinks brands, plus upping paid [...]

FanGager has rolled out its engagement platform in the US, aiming to help brand managers to convert Facebook and Twitter fans into community members and drive revenue through social media activity.
FanGager’s tech, which uses Facebook and Twitter APIs, has been enhancing social media interactions between Israeli consumers and brands such as Nokia, American Express, Red [...]

Product placement has arrived in the UK this week, but film and TV audiences are hardly excited at the prospect, according to new research from YouGov. Half of viewers think the practice is neither good nor bad, while 23% believe it’s a negative thing – 7% says it’s ‘very bad’ – and a only 14% regard it as positive.

Prepare to check out The Marketing Century. The UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing has teamed up with publisher Wiley to issue a volume bearing that very title to celebrate the 100 years of its existence. The book looks at the development of key elements of marketing, how marketing contributes to performance, what it is that great marketers [...]

Good doers. Brands seem rather keen to do good. Take Virgin Atlantic, for one. The airline recently launched its first iPhone app in the US and, rather than do something tiresome like track flight arrivals and departures, the little gizmo has been developed to help fearful travellers.
The Flying Without Fear app boasts an in-flight explanation video, relaxation and course therapy, breathing exercises and quick tips. There’s also a personal video introduction from Richard Branson – but hey, no one’s perfect.