Marketers could be excused for thinking that not-for-profit sector brands learn from commercial consumer brands, not the other way around. But Insight’s Steven Giannoulis says developing a new brand for a long-established NFP organisation has been a salient reminder of the wider, strategic roles that a brand can play.

In April this year, international media reported on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) decision to refuse registration for Apple’s iPad Mini trademark on the grounds it’s simply descriptive. But within days of the story breaking, the USPTO was backtracking on its decision.

Changes to postal services—and NZ Post’s reluctance to budge on price—are pushing direct marketers down the digital path, says Ben Goodale.

A recent decision in the UK found that Marks & Spencer misled consumers by using a competitor’s name—‘interflora’—as a keyword trigger for advertisements on Google. AJ Park’s Nigel Robb looks at what it might mean for Kiwi marketers.

Following news of Dole’s decision to ditch its ‘ethical choice’ label, Kath Dewar offers the company some advice and looks at how consumers might respond to its greenwashing.

A host of advertising luminaries—and plenty of non-advertising non-luminaries—ventured to AUT’s beautiful new building on Monday night to celebrate the launch of Idealog editor Hazel Phillips’ new book Sell: Tall tales from the legends of New Zealand Advertising. Here she is on how it all came about, what’s changed over the years and, of course, where you can buy it.

We rarely recognise the power of really radical ideas and the messy process of making them great, says Powershop’s design director and co-founder of All Good Organics Simon Coley. But that’s exactly what design thinking requires.

The man who discovered the Keep Calm and Carry On poster at the bottom of a box of books and then sent it hurtling into pop-cultural orbit is currently fighting to retain the right to use the phrase. AJ Park’s Kim McLeod and Catherine Fry tell us what this legal stoush teaches us about trademark protection.

The study of behavioural psychology isn’t a staple on the marketing education agenda. But, given the way emotions can affect consumers’ logical decision-making skills, Ben Cochrane thinks it should be.

Georgie Pie is back. And the decision by McDonald’s shows how brands need to think about the past, writes Rachel Dawson.

The consumer may always be right. But let’s stop pretending consumers know what they’re doing, writes The Research Agency’s Andrew Lewis.

If you get to know your customers, keep them engaged and talk to them occasionally without a hard sell, Michael Goldthorpe believes it will pay off in the long run.

Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches’ campaign has hit the mark, says Lynda Brendish. But Dove’s parent company Unilever still has some improving to do.