My Favorite Brands (Part 1)

I was in San Francisco last week visiting my brother and an agency or two. I was asked multiple times what my favorite brands were. Though I have never really thought about this before, it didn’t take long to compile a list. So, here it is so far:

1. Volkswagen. This is a car brand that can get away with funny advertising. It’s refreshing to see a car company completely understand their stance in the market and use it to their advantage. I can’t even think of another car company that would be able to pull off a humorous ad. Their most recent ads feature Max, the little black bug with a big German accent. Lexus, a high end luxury car company also does a superb job with ads. They are classy and sophisticated, which suits their brand and the target market. I especially love the narrators voice, it just oozes class.

2. Coach. This is kind of a no-brainer for me, because I love the Coach brand no matter what kind of advertising is involved. However, I do anxiously anticipate the seasonal catalogue. Their ads are simple, classy and represent the brand in a fun way. I tend to enjoy brands that do little to no advertising except for catalogues. Coach, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, etc. I would also like to include American Apparel, but when was the last time you logged onto Facebook or PerezHilton and didn’t see an A.A. banner? I also tend to appreciate ads when they are simple and include a lot of white space. I think that when white space is done in a creative way, it comes off elegant and helps the audience focus on the product. For example, any Clinique ad made in the last couple years.

3. Old Navy. Now, I used to work at Old Navy (for a whole month!) and I would never work retail again, but I do recognize and appreciate the brand make over that has been implemented. I remember talking with my manager at the time about the new, semi-risque ads for their new jeans. He said that Old Navy used to want to be in the same category/compete with Wal-Mart. That wasn’t working too well and ON saw an opportunity to be an inexpensive fashion brand. So, they changed their direction and decided to go after the American Eagle consumers. It seems to have worked for them. Their broadcast advertisements are fun, fresh, and constantly new (like every week it seems). Good for Old Navy.

4. Haagen-Dazs. Ice cream, in general, seems to be pretty important to me. But, Haagen-Dazs? That is like the ultimate ultimate. You know that when you buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream, you’re getting a good thing. And the ads for Haagen-Dazs are perfect for the high quality ice cream - When was the last time you saw an ad for Haagen-Dazs and didn’t immediately want to eat ice cream? Yeah, never. Not only do the ads effectively represent the brand, but they also coincide with current events. The Haagen-Dazs Honey Bees was an opportunity for H-D to educate the world about the decrease in honey bees, while effectively selling ice cream. I believe I learned that without honey bees, there would be 40% fewer Haagen-Dazs flavors. That is terrible! And, it’s something that I wouldn’t have known without the ads. (Thanks, Goodby!)

 

Those are just four brands that I wanted to highlight at this point. Each is unique, special and understands its place in the market. There are many more brands in my little brain, but I’ll get to those at a later time. What are some of your favorite brands…?