Semantic Argument

Thinking different

Rob — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:58:06 +0000

In my last post I wrote about the strategist’s role of finding the compelling idea within an organization and stripping away the rest, and made an admittedly highfalutin’ comparison to Michelangelo’s statement that the sculptor’s task is to find the statue hidden inside every block of marble. No one’s saying brand strategy or corporate ID design [...]

Throwing out the bathwater

Rob — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:49:54 +0000

I just read a nice post on a blog called MisEntropy. The post is a reaction to the Forbes.com article entitled “The Man Who Predicts the Medals,” about an economist named Daniel Johnson who has predicted medal counts over the past five Olympics with 94% accuracy. The accuracy is impressive, but more interesting is Johnson’s [...]

Do abstract real words make the best brand names?

Rob — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:52:20 +0000

It’s been awhile since my last post. In the interim, I’ve moved to Shanghai where I’ll take a position as Senior Consultant with a Shanghai-based strategy firm. More on that later. Today’s post is about naming—specifically naming in English, or at least for primarily English-speaking audiences (suppose I have to make that distinction now). Upon seeing [...]