BMW : History
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Brand: BMW
What is BMW: Bayerische Motoren
Werke (English:Bavarian Motor Works) is a German automobile, motorcycle
and engine manufacturing company- best known for its performance and luxury
vehicles, and is a global leader in premium car sales
FSE Ticker: BMW
Subsidiaries: It owns the Morris
Mini-Minor/Mini brand that produces small range of cars. BMW is the
parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces
motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands.
History: Aircraft engine
manufacturer Rapp Motorenwerke became Bayerische Motorenwerke in 1916
when the board of directors fired founder Karl Rapp and changed the company
name.
The company consequently shifted to motorcycle
production in 1923 when BMW was forced to stop aircraft engine
production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty
Trivia:
1) The circular blue and white BMW logo represents
the movement of an aircraft propeller, that signifies the
white blades cutting through the blue sky. Also, represents the
Bavarian flag.
2) BMW began building motorcycle engines
and then motorcycles after World War I. under the brand now
known as BMW Motorrad, with the first successful one being R32
after the failure of Helios and Flink.
3) A BMW New Class was used
as the taxi for shuttling sportcaster Jim McKay to the Olympic Village
during the terrorist attacks of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
4) BMW has been engaged in
motorsports since the establishment of the first BMW motorcycle, the major one
being Formula BMW (A Junior racing Formula category.) and Kumho BMW
Championship (A BMW-exclusive championship run in the United Kingdom.).
5) The English slang terms
Beemer, Bimmer and Bee-em are widely used for BMWs of all kinds, cars,
and motorcycles.
6) The BMW film series, The
Hire was a series of eight films starring Clive Owen as the “Driver”.
The films highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobile
7) The BMW Headquarters
in Munich
(built in 1972) was declared historical in 1999
BMW is only one of the 3
companies in the world that create both bikes and cars. Do you know
the other two??
Famous Ad Campaign:
BMW - ‘Joy Is Impatient’, ‘Joy Is Maternal’, ‘Joy Is Youthful’, ‘The ultimate attraction’ are some of the famous ad
campaign.
Brand: Godrej
What is Godrej: The
Godrej Group is an Indian Conglomerate Headquartered in Mumbai,
having interests in real estate, FMCG, industrial engineering, appliances,
furniture, security and agri care.
Brands: Good
Knight, Ezee, Jet, Hit, Genteel, Cinthol, Shikakai, Swastik, Godrej
No 1, Crowning Glory, Protekt, Godrej Shaving Cream, Kesh Kala, Anoop
Hair Oil, Kali Mehendi, Nupoor, Renew, Go Jiyo.
Founders: Ardeshir Godrej,
Pirojsha Godrej.
History: After two of his
ventures burst, Ardeshir Godrej established a Lock manufacturing
company in 1897 at a tiny shed in Lalbaug, Mumbai, rented at Rs.20.He
began by manufacturing hi-security ‘anchor’ lock on May 7. His
brother Pirojsha Godrej joined in 1906, after completing engineering from
Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, Bombay.
Trivia:
- In 1904, Godrej and Boyce gave the first public test of their fire resistant quality safes at Lalbaug which burned for three hours with paper inside. In 1905, they supplied a safe to her Royal Highness, The Princess Of Wales.
- Godrej secured its first patent (patent # 15773) in 1909 for spring less lock under the seal of King Edward VII of England.
- In 1919, godrej launched Soap No. 2. Ardeshir called it Soap No 2 as he hoped to better its quality and thereafter launch Godrej No 1 (1922).
- In 1951, in the wake of India’s 1st General Election, Godrej received an order from Election Commission to manufacture 9 Lac Ballot Boxes at Rs. 44 Lac within 3 months. These ballot boxes were dispatched from the railway sliding at Vikroli to different states.
- Cinthol was launched on 15th August, 1952 with the world-famous proven deodorant hexachlorophene (G-11). The name Cinthol is derived from Synthetic Phenol: Synth+ol.
- In 1955, Godrej manufactured India’s first indigenous typewriter, the market for which was dominated by foreign brands like Remington, Halda and Facit.
- In 1986, Sambhu Anubhawane, a job-typist from Bombay enters Guiness book of world records aftertyping continuously for 123 hours on a Godrej Prima Typewriter.
- Godrej Washing machine were used on the highways by dhabas to churn Lassi.
- The group’s original logo, red in color, depicts founder Ardeshir Godrej’s signature in a running hand. This was replaced with a bright rainbow colored cursive signature in 2008. The new corporate identity was created by Interbran
Brand: Walmart
What is Wal-mart:
Wal-mart is an American multinational retail conglomerate that
runs chains of large discount departmental stores, supermarkets and warehouse
stores.
NYSE Ticker: WMT
Subsidiaries &
Brands: Walmex (Mexico),
Asda (U.K), Massmart (Africa), Sam’s Club(North America, Canada), Seiyu Group(Japan)
History: Sam
Walton founded Wal-mart in the year 1962 after
studying about discount retailing, incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc in the
year 1969, and went public for trading in 1972. Walton opened its
first Wal-Mart Discount City
store at 719 Walnut Ave.
in Rogers, Arkansas. Entered Fortune 500 in
the year 2002
Trivia :
1) Walmart’s initial logo
was a hyphenated name with a star and then unveiled a new logo
featuring the non-hyphenated name “Walmart” and a symbol resembling a sunburst
or flower.
2) Change in Walmart’s slogan to “Save
Money Live Better,” replacing the “Always Low Prices, Always”
slogan is one of its recent initiatives.
3) Walmart currently has 8,500
stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names making it the largest
retailing corp.
4) A joint venture with Bharti
Enterprises lead by Sunil Mittal have been signed to open its retail stores in India.
5) Equate is the brand name
for consumable pharmacy, health & cosmetics items, such as shaving
cream, skin lotion, over-the-counter medications, and pregnancy tests while Ol’
Roy is Walmart’s store brand of dog food.
6) Other Walmart’s in-house brands
include, White Stag for Women’s clothing, footwear; George
for formal wear; Canopy; @the office…
7) Walmart in association with Procter
and Gamble produced family movies such as Secrets of the Mountain and
The Jensen Project and featured characters using Walmart and
P&G products.
Famous Ad Campaign:
All Walmart’s ad campaign bears the
message “Low Prices. Every Day. On Everything” One such ad is
the clown commercial
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvAj6qfmFQ
Brand: Phillips-Van Heusen
What is PVH: Philip-Van
Heusen is an American apparel company, and
the world’s largest shirt company.
Brands: Tommy Hilfiger,
Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Izod, Arrow, Bass.
Founder(s): John M. Van Heusen,
Isaac Phillips.
History: The history of
Phillips-Van Heusen can be traced back to 1876, when G. H. Bass
began his shoe manufacturing company in Maine.
Separately, John M. Van Heusen and Isaac Phillips met and formed the Phillips-Van
Heusen Corporation. In 1881, Moses Phillips and his wife Endel
began sewing shirts by hand and selling them from pushcarts to local Pottsville, Pennsylvania
anthracite coal miners. This grew into a shirt business in New York City.
Trivia:
- PVH placed one of the first ever shirt ads in the Saturday Evening Post.
- The Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation received a patent for a self-folding collar in 1919, which was released to the public in 1921 and was successful. The first collar attached shirt was introduced in 1929.
- In 1927, Charles Lindbergh wears Bass Aviation Boots on his historic transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.
- In 1952, Legendary tennis player René Lacoste partners with the David Crystal company, owner of the IZOD brand, to market a new pique knit. The company’s popularity soars, as an increasing number of celebrities are spotted in these shirts.
- In 1982, PVH launches Geoffrey Beene shirts, one of America’s top selling designer dress shirts.
- Vin Draddy acquired the rights to the Izod name in the early 1900s. PVH acquired the brand in 1995. It was followed by the Arrow brand in 2000 and the Calvin Klein Company in 2002.
- In 2004, PVH Dress Shirt Group expands it license agreements to include MICHAEL Michael Kors, BCBG Max Azria, BCBG Attitude, Sean John and Donald H. Trump Signature.
- The corporation began making men’s apparel under the Timberland name in 2008
- On 15th March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen acquired Tommy Hilfiger for $3 Billion
- PVH has licensing agreement with brands like Chaps, DKNY, Michael Kors, Donald Trump’s Signature Collection, Joe, Kenneth Cole, Nautica, Ted Baker.
·
Brand utch Boy Paint
History: The company was
founded in 1907 as the National Lead Company, Dutch Boy is
currently a subsidiary of, and is owned and operated by, the Diversified
Brands Division of the Sherwin-Williams Company.
Trivia:
- The company was named after “The Dutch Process” which helped perfect paint quality in 16th century Holland.
- The boy in the Dutch Boy logo was painted by artist Lawrence Carmichael Earle.
- Ironically, Michael E. Brady, the nine-year-old boy who became the inspiration for the famous Dutch Boy® trademark, was not Dutch at all, but an Irish-American who lived near the artist commissioned to create the logo.
- Dutch Boy paint has been used for some very prestigious jobs including: The Hollywood Sign, The White House, The Golden Gate Bridge, Disney World, US Naval Battleships and aircraft carriers.
- Since 1907, the Dutch Boy logo has changed seven different times: 1917 1947 1957 1967 1977 2000.
Brand: ITC
What is ITC: ITC is an FMCG
major, headquartered in Kolkata
,India. The
company’s business interests spans Cigarettes & Tobacco,
Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers,
Agri-business, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing, Education & Stationery and
Personal Care.
Brands:
Cigarettes: W. D. & H. O.
Wills, Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Premium, Navy Cut, Insignia,
India Kings, Classic (Verve, Menthol, Menthol Rush, Regular, Mild
& Ultra Mild), 555, Benson & Hedges, Silk
Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol,
Lucky Strike, Players and Flake
Foods: Kitchens Of India,
Aashirvaad, Minto, Sunfeast, Candyman, Bingo,
Apparel: Wills
Lifestyle, John Players.
Personal Care: Fiama Di
Wills, Vivel, Superia,
Stationary: Paperkraft,
Classmate
Matches: iKno, Mangaldeep,
Aim, Aim Mega and Aim Metro.
Agarbattis: Spriha, Mangaldeep.
History: The Company traces
its origin to Wills, Watkins & Co. founded by Henry
Overton Wills I and his partner Watkins, who opened a shop in Castle Street,
Bristol in 1786.
After the retirement of his partner in 1789, it became Wills & Co.
The company pioneered canteens for the workers, free medical care, sports
facilities and paid holidays. In 1830, the company was renamed W.D.
& H.O. Wills. In 1901 Sir William Henry Wills
formed the Imperial Tobacco Company from a merger of W.D. &
H.O. Wills with seven other British tobacco companies.
ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name
Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. As the Company’s
ownership progressively Indianised, the name of the Company was changed from
Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India Tobacco Company Limited in
1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974.
Trivia:
- The company’s corporate HQ ‘Virginia House’ is located on the plot of land at 37, Chowringhee (now renamed JL Nehru Road), which it purchased on August 24, 1926 to mark its 16th anniversary.
- In recognition of the Company’s multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses, the full stops in the Company’s name were removed effective September 18, 2001. The Company now stands rechristened ‘ITC Limited’.
- The Company’s ‘e-Choupal’ initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. It has been chosen as a case study by Harvard Business School
- In 1975 the Company launched its Hotels business with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai which was rechristened ‘ITC-Welcomgroup Hotel Chola’.
- In 1985, ITC set up Surya Tobacco Co. in Nepal as an Indo-Nepal and British joint venture. Since inception, its shares have been held by ITC, British American Tobacco and various independent shareholders in Nepal.
- In 1979, ITC entered the Paperboards business by promoting ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards Limited, which today has become the market leader in India. Bhadrachalam Paperboards amalgamated with the Company effective March 13, 2
Brand: Dell
What is Dell:
Dell, Inc. is one of the largest technological corporations in the world,
employing more than 103,300 people worldwide that develops, sells and supports
computers and related products and services.
Founded by: Michael
Dell on November 4, 1994 in Austin,
Texas.
Trivia
• The company originally started as
PCs Limited in Michael’s dorm room in Austin
• From its early beginnings, Dell
operated as a pioneer in the “configure to order” approach to
manufacturing—delivering individual PCs configured to customer
specifications. In contrast, most PC manufacturers in those times delivered
large orders to intermediaries on a quarterly basis. As a pioneer in
e-commerce, Dell.com sold $1 million per day just seven months after its
launch. In 2007 Dell.com was the fourth largest U.S. e-commerce site, with $4.2
billion in sales.
• Siegel+Gale developed the
Dell logo. The slanted E represents Michael Dell’s
wish to “turn the world on its ear”
• The company was started with
$1000. Four years later, shares of Dell stock were sold for $8.50, and the IPO
raised $30 million.
• Dell now does business with every
Fortune 100 company.
• Michael Dell became the youngest
CEO to head a Fortune 500 company when the company was first included
on the list in 1992.
• In 2003, the company changed its
name to Dell, Inc (from Dell Computers) to reflect its expansion into other
products like televisions, digital audio players and computer printers.
Brand: Amazon.com
What is Amazon –
is a Fortune 500 American e-commerce company which is the
largest online electronic retailer in America
Founder: Jeff Bezos
in 1994
Brand History
– Amazon began as an online bookstore. This gave it the
advantage of having more titles than the traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
The company was originally named Cadabra, Inc., but the name was
changed when it was discovered that people sometimes heard the name as
“Cadaver”.
The name Amazon.com was chosen
because the Amazon River is one of the largest rivers in the
world and so the name suggests large size, and also in part because it
starts with “A” and therefore would appear near the beginning of alphabetical
lists.
Brand Logo: The
Amazon logo represents the very same message that they sell everything
from A to Z and the arrow below the logo represents the smile that
customers would experience by shopping on the Amazon.com website.
Trivia
• The company began service in July
1995, and sold its first book on amazon.com – Douglas
Hofstadter’s Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the
Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.
• Amazon.com powers and operates
retail web sites for Target, Sears Canada, Benefit Cosmetics, bebe Stores,
Timex, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, and Lacoste. For a growing number of
enterprise clients, currently including the UK merchants Marks & Spencer,
Benefit Cosmetics’ UK entity, edeals.com, and Mothercare, Amazon provides a
unified multichannel platform where a customer can seamlessly interact with
some people that they call the retail website, standalone in-store terminals,
or phone-based customer service agents.
• In 2001, “Amazon spent 7 dollars
to acquire a new customer” and the average “customer spending was 123 dollars.”
• In 1999 Time Magazine
named Bezos its 1999 Person of the Year. This was largely in
recognition of the company’s success in popularizing online shopping.
• Amazon suffered a lot criticism
for terminating the hosting of Wikileaks the controversial website. Despite
accusations of political pressure, Amazon maintained that the termination was a
consequence of a violation of their terms and conditions by Wikileaks.
• Today, Amazon.com has also
launched an extremely popular e-reader called Kindle and a
popular cloud computing service called EC2
Brand: Adobe Systems
Brand History :
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company
focusing upon the creation of multimedia and creativity software products, with
a more-recent foray towards rich Internet application software development.
Founded by John Warnock and
Charles Geschke in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States.
Founders:
John Warnock and Charles Geschke
Brand Name Origin:
The company name Adobe comes from Adobe Creek in Los Altos, California, which ran behind the house of one of the company’s
founders.
Trivia
• Adobe is the company which
created the PDF format and now owns Macromedia, which created the Flash
Player.
• Before founding Adobe Systems,
Inc. in 1982, both men worked at the prominent Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC) in the late 1970’s. The inspiration to create Adobe came from the
research they conducted on device-independent graphic systems and printers.
• In the beginning on 2010, Adobe
entered into a major controversy with its long term partner Apple.
The issue was sparked by Apple’s announcement that it would stop
using Adobe’s Flash technology in the newer versions of its iPad.
Apple blamed the software for most of the crashes and called it ‘buggy’. This
resulted in a major war of words between the two giants.
Adobe stopped the funding of iPad
applications and joined hands with rivals Google to develop the Android system.
Adobe went so far as to launch an
ad campaign criticizing Apple’s decision to stop the usage of Flash.
Brand: Pillsbury
Founder: Charles Alfred
Pillsbury, John Sargent Pillsbury.
History: The C.A.
Pillsbury and Company was founded in 1872 by John Pillsbury and his
uncle John on the bank of river Mississippi.
In 1923, the Pillsbury company regained the lost control of Pillsbury-Washburn
Flour Mills Company, Ltd. which subsequently was incorporated in 1935
as Pillsbury Flour Mills Company.
Trivia:
- Charles Pillsbury painted his name on the top of the 196-pound flour barrel, with ail heads around the circumference. As packaging evolved the barrelhead remained, looking much as it does today: a blue and white circle with the Pillsbury name and nail heads in white
- The Pillsbury Company acquired Burger King, Steak & Ale, Bennigans, Godfather Pizza, Haazen Dazs and Green Giant in the second half of 20th century.
- The Pillsbury Doughboy, Poppin’ Fresh, was created by the Leo Burnett advertising agency’s copy writer, Rudy Perz, as he was sitting in his kitchen in 1965, under pressure to create an advertising campaign. It was originally drawn by Martin Nodell (creator of Green Lantern) and brought to life using stop motion clay animation.
- In 1970s, a Pillsbury Doughboy family was created and sold as dolls. They include—Poppie Fresh (Mrs. Pillsbury), GrandPopper and GrandMommer, Biscuit (Cat), Flapjack (Dog), Popper (Son), Bun-Bun (daughter), Rollie (Uncle).
- Pillsbury Atta was one of the first brandS in India to offer a toll free number. It was branded Namaste Pillsbury and was operational from 9am to 9pm from Monday through Saturdays.
- The company was purchased by Diageo in 1989 and in 2001, it merged with its old rival General Mills.
- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the Ghostbusters movie is inspired by the Pillsbury Doughboy
Brand : Nivea
What is Nivea: Nivea
is a global skin- and body-care brand, owned by the German company Beiersdorf.
History: The Company Beiersdorf
was founded on March 28 1882 in Hamburg,
Germany by pharmacist
Carl Paul Beiersdorf. In 1890 it was acquired by pharmacist
Dr. Oscar Troplowitz who had, till then, successfully developed and
produced the first technical adhesive tapes along with medical plasters and the
first adhesive rubber. NIVEA Creme required the work of three extremely
resourceful men – Dr. Oscar Tropowitz, Prof. Paul Gerson Unna and Dr. Isaac
Lifschutz - for its development.
Trivia:
- NIVEA is of polish origin, bought by German investors.
- In 1909, Beiersdorf had launched Labello. It is the first lip care product in sliding tube packaging. The term Labello is derived from the Latin for “beautiful lip” (labeo = lip; bello = beautiful).
- After decades of research, Dr Isaac Lifschutz invented Eucerit, which meant that a product was now available which could combine an active substance, fat, with water to give a stable base for ointments. Dr Oscar Troplowitz used this as the base for his new innovation: NIVEA.
- In accordance with the custom of giving Latin names to pharmaceutical products, Dr. Troplowitz called his snow-white cream “NIVEA”, derived from the Latin adjective “niveus/nivea/niveum”, meaning snow white.
- Just after invention, NIVEA Cream was sold in a yellow tin. The fanciful decoration of green tendrils reflected a popular artistic trend of the period, Art Nouveau (French for “new art”).
- The now popular blue packaging was introduced in 1925.
- The first advertisement of NIVEA was created by the famous poster artist Hans Rudi Erdt who designed the poster “With the Likeness of a Lady” in 1912.
Brand: Samsonite:
What is Samsonite:
Samsonite is a US Corporation known for its products ranging from large
suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases.
Founder: Jesse Shwayder
Brands: Samsonite, American
Tourister, Lark.
History: Samsonite was
founded by Jesse Shwayder, as the Shwayder Trunk
Manufacturing Company in Denver,
Colorado, USA
in 1910.
Brand Name Origin: Shwayder
named one of his initial cases “Samson”, after the Biblical strongman, and
began using the trademark Samsonite in 1941. The company changed its
name to Samsonite in 1966.
Trivia:
- Jesse Shwayder worked as a luggage salesman, selling suitcases made by the Seward Trunk & Bag Company, until he used his life savings of $3,500 to establish his own Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company, on 10 March 1910.
- The business initially made folding card tables and furniture under the “Samson” brand
- Shwayder, who was devoutly religious, also named his son King David and required all company executives to carry the Golden Rule engraved on a golden band.
- In 1973, The Shwayder family sold the company to Beatrice Foods, which later sold it to PE firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1987. Samsonite is currently owned jointly by Citi Venture Capital (CVC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
- In 1993, Samsonite acquired ‘American Tourister’, whose most memorable ad campaign featured a gorilla (actually a man called Don McLeod in a costume).
- Samsonite’s early tagline was “Strong Enough to Stand On.“, which later changed to ‘Tough Luggage for a tough world’. Its current tagline is ‘Life is a journey’.
- The brand is endorsed by Kareena Kapoor in India.
- Samsonite also got world renowned businessmen including Richard Branson, to endorse their brand
Brand: Britannia:
What is Britannia: Britannia
is India’s
leading biscuit manufacturer with an estimated 38% market share.
Brands: Tiger, Marie Gold,
Nutri Choice, Time
Pass, Milk Bikis, 50-50,
Good day, Bourbon, Treat.
History: Britannia was founded
in 1892 with an investment of Rs. 295. Initially
biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata. Later, the
business was acquired by the Gupta brothers and operated under the name
of V.S. Brothers.
In 1918, C H Holmes, an English
businessman in Kolkata was taken as a partner and ‘The Britannia Biscuit
Company Limited (BBCo)’ was launched. The Mumbai factory was setup in 1924 and
Peak Freans, UK
acquired a controlling interest in BBCo.
Corporate History: Kerala
businessman K. Rajan Pillai secured control of the group in
the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the ‘Biscuit
King’. In 1993, the Wadia Group acquired a stake in ABIL, UK
and became an equal partner with Groupe Danone in Britannia Industries Limited.
Trivia:
- In 1921 it Britannia becomes the first company east of the Suez to use gas ovens.
- The company name was changed to the current Britannia Industries Limited in 1979.
- In 1989, it moved it corporate HQ to Bangalore.
- In 1997 BIL adopted a new corporate identity ‘Eat Healthy, Think Better’ and a new mission: ‘Make every third Indian a Britannia consumer’.
- In 2009, Britannia takes full control of Daily Bread; buys out New Zealand’s Fonterra from existing dairy joint venture— Britannia New Zealand Foods (BNZF)
- The Wadia Group acquired stake holdings from Group Danone and becomes the single largest shareholder in BIL.
Brand: Adidas
What is Adidas:
Adidas is a sports apparel manufacturer based out of Germany.
Adidas also produces products like shirts, watches, eye gear, bags and other
sports and clothing-related merchandise.
FWB Ticker: ADS
Subsidiaries:
Reebok, Rockport, Ashworth golf co., Salomon-AG.
History:
Adidas was founded in 1924 by bothers Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler. His brother,Rudolph
later joined the business. The company was first named ‘Dassler shoes’
and later named Adidas after the split. ‘Horst Dassler’ took over the company
from 1978.
Trivia :
1. Did you know? After the brothers
Adolph and Rudolph split, Rudolph ‘Rudi’ Dassler went on to
start leading shoe maker PUMA.
2. The 3 parallel bars
in the Adidas logo were created to keep the foot stable,
however ended up being the logo and the name is actually a portmanteau
formed from “Adi” (a nickname for Adolf) and “Das”
(from “Dassler”).
3. The brand is further divided
into 3 trademark ranges- Adidas Performance, Adidas Originals,
and Style Essentials.
4. “Impossible is Nothing”
is the current mainstream marketing slogan for Adidas.
5. Adidas took over
‘Reebok’ in January 2006 and acquisition allowed Adidas to compete
with its American rival ‘Nike’ by bringing the business sales closer.
6. Sachin Tendulkar being the brand
ambassador, Adidas ushered a cricket bat, ‘Adidas Master Blaster’,
personalized for him.
7. The logo of Adidas is
called Trefoil
8. Adidas acquired Salomon
group in 1997, specialized in skiwear and functioned as ‘Adidas
Salomon AG’. The logo incorporated three shapes to look like a diamond.
Famous Ad Campaign:
The “All Adidas” ad
campaign is tipped to be the largest campaign ever. created by Montreal agency Sid Lee.
Brand: Chevrolet
What is Chevrolet:
Also known as, Chevy is a brand of vehicles produced by
General Motors Company (GM).
Brands: Chevrolet
is the wholly subsidiary of General motors Co.
that was acquired to sell mainstream vehicles to compete with Ford’s T
Model.
Corvette- Sports
cars, Malibu- Mid size cars, Chevelle are the
major brands of Chevrolet.
History:
Founded by Louis Chevrolet and expelled GM founder William C.
Durant in 1911 as Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Later acquired
by General Motors Company. Chevrolet Classic Six (Series C) was the first ever
Chevrolet designed by Etienne Planche.
Trivia :
1. Chevrolet first used its
“Bowtie emblem” logo in 1913 designed from wallpaper Durant
once saw in a French hotel; Later stylized the Swiss cross, in
honor of the homeland of Chevrolet’s parents.
2. Chevrolet brands in India was launched by GM’s India
operations- Originally a joint venture with Hindustan Motors.
3. Chevrolet is the sole Engine
supplier for the Formula Rolon single seater series in India.
4. “Excellence for
Everyone” is the present tagline of Chevrolet (2011)
5. William Durrant assembled these
three companys to form Chevrolet: The Little Motor Car Company; The
Mason Motor
Company; The Republic Motor
Company.
6. Saif ali Khan and Rani Mukerjee
are the brand ambassadors of mid size Chevrolet Aveo, in India.
7. General Motors permitted AJS-Production, South Africa to register under
Louis Chevrolet trademark for its line of premium quality Swiss Watches
in order to pay tribute to Louis Chevrolet, the founder.
Louis Chevrolet: Louis
Chevrolet , founder of Chevrolet General Motors best selling brand, was born in
1878. He won his place in the International Motorsport Hall of Fame
and the national Sprint car Hall of Fame as well as
Motorsports Hall Of Fame in America.
He later died in 1941.
Famous Ad Campaign:
Chevrolet has many ad campaigns
under its banner, The Chevrolet Spark; Chevrolet Super bowl commercial “Ain’t
we got one” being the famous one.
Brand: GUCCI
What is GUCCI:
Gucci is a high fashion and leather goods label from Italy,
known for its luxury handbags, shoes and small leather goods for men and women
Euronext Ticker: PP
-after the parent company- Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR)
History:
The House of Gucci, or Gucci , an Italian haute couture
establishment was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921. Gucci later expanded the
company to include stores in Milan and Rome as well as additional shops in Florence from 1953.
Trivia :
1. Gucci logo is “facing
double interlocking Gs”, actually featuring Guccio Gucci’s
initials.
2. In 1998, Guinness World Records
cited the Gucci “Genius Jeans” as the most expensive
pair of Jeans in existence. These distressed, ripped jeans were
offered for sale for US$3,134 in Milan.
3. GUCCI is the first high
end leather label to design leather accessories for pets.
4. Jakie Onassis, Sophia Loren,
Rock Hudson, Duchess of Windsor, Sidney Poitier, Andrey Hepburn, Andrew
Peacock, Kim Novak, Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable, John Wayne, Jack Nicholson,
Madonna, Elizabeth Hurley, Gwen Steffani, Jessica Simpson, Lars Ulrich –
Metallica, Mark Wahlberg are the faces of Gucci and have been
associated with the brand strappingly.
5. Gucci designed handbags
of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II because of
material shortages.
6. Gucci is one of the
brands mentioned in Bryan Adams’ popular song – ‘The only thing that
looks good on me is You!!’
Famous Ad Campaign:
Gucci has launched various ad
campaigns for different products.
Brand: Domino’s Pizza
What is Domino’s Pizza:
Domino’s is an international pizza delivery corporation
headquartered in Michigan, United States.
NYSE: DPZ
Founders: Tom
Monaghan
History of Domino’s : n
1960, Tom Monaghan and his brother, James, purchased
DomiNick’s, a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Eight months later, James traded his half of the business to Tom for a
used Volkswagen Beetle.
Trivia:
1) Tom bought 50% of Domino’s from his brother in return
for a used Volkswagen Beetle.
2) The three dots in the Domino’s Pizza logo
represents the first three stores of DPZ that had opened
3) The company logo was originally planned to add a
new dot with the addition of every new store, but this idea quickly
faded as Domino’s experienced rapid growth
4) Domino’s faced a lawsuit by Amstar
Corporation, maker of Domino Sugar for trademark infringement
5) A Domino’s employee rang the opening
bell at NYSE when the shares started trading in 2004.
6) Domino’s had a 30-slice, yard long pizza called
‘The Dominator’
7) Famous for their 30-minute guarantee,
Domino’s stopped the offer in the 1990s because of the “public perception of
reckless driving and irresponsibility”, according to Monaghan but was
reinstated in 2007 with a new slogan - ‘You Got 30 Minutes’
The Noid was an advertising
character for Domino’s Pizza, created in 1986. He was a villainous
red-suited character with red rabbit ears who attempted to ruin
Domino’s pizza but was constantly thwarted.
9) The Noid was created by
advertising agency Group 243 and was animated by Will Vinton
Studios
10) Commercial used slogans ‘Avoid the
Noid!’ . Even a computer game with the same name was released in 1989!
Brand : American Express
What is American Express: American
Express, popularly known as AmEx is a global financial services company
headquartered in New York.
They are best known for their credit cards and traveler’s cheques.
NYSE: AXP
Founders: Henry Wells
, William Fargo , John Warren Butterfield
History of AmEx : American Express
was started as an express mail business in Albany, New York,
in 1850. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the
express companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William Fargo
(Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells,
Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson
& Company)
Trivia:
1) AmEx’s mascot, adopted in 1958,
is a Roman gladiator whose image appears on the company’s
travelers’ cheques and charge cards.
2) The founers of the company also started
Wells, Fargo & Co
3) Amex started as an express mail service (faster
delivery postal service) before becoming a financial conglomerate.
4) History of Traveler’s Cheque:
Between 1888 and 1890, J. C. Fargo took a trip to Europe
and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president
of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit,
he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Fargo went to Marcellus
Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than
the traditional letter of credit. Berry introduced the American Express
Traveler’s Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50,
and $10
5) Expressing grief over the high merchant fees
that Amex used to charge, some merchants revolted and the revolt was called
‘The Boston Fee Party’
6) American Express formed a joint venture with
Warner Communications in 1979 called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which
created MTV, Nickelodeon, Star Plus, Aaj Tak, Sony, Max, IBN-7, Star News and
The Movie Channel. The partnership only lasted until 1984. The properties were
sold to Viacom soon after.
7) Amex publishes the Travel + Leisure, Food &
Wine, Executive Travel, and Departures magazines.
Famous Advertising:
In 1975, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy
& Mather developed the highly successful Don’t Leave Home Without
Them ad campaign for American Express Traveler’s Cheques, featuring
Oscar-award-winning actor Karl Malden.
Brand: Durex
What is Durex: Durex is one
of the most popular condom brands in the world
History: The story of Durex
began in 1915 when L.A Jackson founded London Rubber Company.
He established the company in a small room in London . The Durex trademark was
registered in 1929.
The company changed its name to London
International Group. It merged with Seton Scholl in 1999 to
form SSL International. Durex was sold to Reckitt Benckiser
in July 2010 from SSL.
Brand Name : Durex is a
portmanteau of “Durability, Reliability, and Excellence”
Trivia:
1) Durex stands for ”Durability,
Reliability, and Excellence” and not
Durable Latex as is guessed by most people.
2) Durex condoms account for a quarter of a latex
products sold in the world!!
3) Their most popular brands are: Play, Avanti,
Performa , Colors & Scents, Extra Sensitive and Rainbow Colors.
4) The Durex website – www.durex.com is one
of the largest in the world with 46 country sites making it as large
as Yahoo.
5) A Durex Condom can hold over 40 litres
of air and lift over 7 kilos of weight!!
Famous Ads:
Their most famous ad is the one they launched on
Father’s Day, shown below:
Brand: McDonald’s
What is McDonalds: McDonald’s
is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants,
serving millions of customers daily.
NYSE Ticker: MCD
Subsidiaries: McDonald’s
Corporation held a minority interest in Pret A Manger until 2008,
was a major investor in the Chipotle Mexican Grill until 2006
and owned the restaurant chain Boston
Market until 2007.
History: McDonalds
began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by brothers Richard and
Maurice McDonald in San
Bernardino, California.
Although the present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a
franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc in 1955.
Trivia :
1) The McDonalds brothers started the “Speedee
Service System” in 1948 which established the principles of the modern
fast-food restaurant.
2) Speedee was the mascot of
McDonalds before Ronald McDonalds
3) Ronald McDonald is modelled to be the Chief
Happiness Officer of McD… His creation is beleived to revolve around
Willard Scott.
4) Ronald McDonald is the second
most recognizable character in the world, only after Santa Claus.
5) The word McJob – is considered
a derogatory term and used to describe a low-skill, low pay job.
6) The Economist newspaper uses the “Big
Mac Index”: the comparison of a Big Mac’s cost in various world
currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies’ purchasing power
parity.
7) Thomas Friedman once said that
no country with a McDonald’s had gone to war with another and called it ‘The
Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention’. However, this theory is
not strictly true. Exceptions are the 1989 United
States invasion of Panama,
NATO’s bombing of Serbia in
1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia
war.
Famous Ad Campaign:
The ‘I’m loving it’ campaign is
called ‘ich liebe es’ in Germany , c’est tout ce que
j’aime in French, me encanta in Spanish. This can be
noted on the Coke cups provided at McDonalds.
Brand: Nike
What is Nike: Nike is a sportswear
and equipment supplier based in the United States. THey are most famous
for their running shoes.
NYSE Ticker: NKE
Brand Name: The company
takes its name from Nike – the Greek Goddess of Victory
Subsidiaries : Cole Haan,
Umbro, Hurley, Converse
History: Nike was founded
in1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by University of Oregon
track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman and
officially became Nike in 1978. The company initially operated as a distributor
for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger
Trivia :
1) The ‘Swoosh’ logo and the ‘Just Do It’ taglines
are recognized trademarks of Nike
2) The Swoosh was designed by Carolyn
Davidson, a graphic design student at Portland State University for which she was paid
$35 (she was later given Nike stock in 1983)
3) One of Nike’s 1970s ad claimed their growth was
largely due to ‘Word-of-Foot’ advertising.
4) Dan Weiden of Weiden and Kennedy came up with
the ‘Just Do It’ tagline. Wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan
to “Let’s do it”, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was
executed.
5)Nike’s first professional athlete endorser was Romanian
tennis player Ilie Năstase, and the company’s first track endorser was
distance running legend Steve Prefontaine.
6) Nike was the focus of criticism for its use of
the Beatles song “Revolution” in a 1987 commercial, against
the wishes of Apple Records, the Beatles’ recording company. Nike discontinued
airing ads featuring “Revolution” in March 1988. Yoko Ono later gave permission
to Nike to use John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” in another
advertisement.
Brand: Marlboro
What is Marlboro: Marlboro
is the largest selling brand of cigarettes in the world. It is
made by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the US, and by Philip Morris International (now
separate from Altria) outside the US. It is famous for its billboard
advertisements and magazine ads of the Marlboro Man.
Brand Name: The brand is
named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its
original London
factory. Richmond, Virginia is now the location of the largest
Marlboro cigarette manufacturing plant.
History: Philip Morris
launched the Marlboro brand in 1924 as a woman’s cigarette, based on the slogan
“Mild As May”.
Trivia:
1) Marlboro was launched as a woman’s cigarette
2) Their earlier marketing campaign was so
woman-centric that the filter had a printed red band around it to hide lipstick
stains, calling it “Beauty Tips to Keep the Paper from Your Lips”
3) In the 1950s after a report linked lung cancer
with smoking , Philip Morris repositioned the cigarette as a man’s brand.
4) The repositioning of Marlboro as a men’s
cigarette was handled by advertiser Leo Burnett.
5) Leo Burnett conceived the Marlboro Man
in 1954. The image involves a rugged cowboy or cowboys, in nature with
only a cigarette.
6) William Thourlby is believed to
have been the first Marlboro Man
7) Three men who appeared in Marlboro
advertisements – Wayne McLaren, David McLean and Dick Hammer – died of lung
cancer, thus earning Marlboro cigarettes, specifically Marlboro Reds, the
nickname “Cowboy killers”
A movie was created in 1991 called Harley
Davidson and the Marlboro Man
9) James Blake Miller an American
Iraq War veteran, served in the United States Marine Corps and was dubbed “The
Marlboro Man” / “Marlboro Marine“, after an iconic, close-up
photograph of his dirt-smeared, battle-weary face, with a cigarette planted in
his mouth, was published on the front page of more than 150 American newspapers
in 2004
Brand: Coca Cola
Founder: John Pemberton
History: Originally
intended as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th
century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa
Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of
the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.
Trivia:
1) Coke was created as a response to Prohibition in
Atlanta in 1886
2) The first sales were at Jacob’s pharmacy
in Atlanta
3) When launched Coca-Cola’s two key ingredients
were cocaine (benzoylmethyl ecgonine) and caffeine. The
cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut,
leading to the name Coca-Cola (the “K” in Kola was replaced with a “C” for marketing
purposes)
4) The exact formula of Coca-Cola’s natural
flavorings is a trade secret. The original copy of the
formula is held in SunTrust Bank’s main vault in Atlanta. Its predecessor, the Trust Company,
was the underwriter for the Coca-Cola Company’s initial public offering in
1919.
5) On February 11, 2011 Ira Glass revealed on his
PRI radio show, This American Life, that the secret formula to Coca-Cola had
been uncovered in a 1979 newspaper. The formula found basically matched the
formula found in Pemberton’s diary
6) The famous Coca-Cola logo was created by John
Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885.
The typeface used is known as Spencerian script,
7) The Shape of the Coke Bottle is believed to be
inspired by the Hobble Skirt as shown below: