Starter activity 2

You can download this A - Z Brands quiz that I developed with Tutor2u a few years ago. It is totally editable, and a great lesson activity for branding. You'll need to have "Macros" enabled on PowerPoint, but the rest should be intuitive. I hope you enjoy using this.

Download the PPT file here.

 Case Study 1 - The Walt Disney Company

Coming up with the right brand name for a business can be a challenging task. The Walt Disney Company is the world's largest entertainment company. Founded in 1923, the company was originally called "Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio" (1923 - 1926). It has since changed its legal name numerous times, to "The Walt Disney Studio" (1926–1929) and "Walt Disney Productions" (1929 - 1986).

The Walt Disney World Resort Theme Park, Orlando, USA

Brands owned by The Walt Disney Company include:

 Case Study 2 - Customer loyalty card schemes

A common way that businesses compete is through the use of customer loyalty cards (or rewards programmes). It is a strange paradox that petrol stations (gas stations) around the world post their prices for all to see on the roadside yet have customer loyalty cards which then change that price (members of the rewards programme may qualify for discounts and other special offers).

The idea behind this is called price-masking. If the petrol station were to lower its price as advertised on its external digital display boards, the firm's competitors would simply just do the same. However, through the use of customer loyalty programmes, where the discount depends on the number of points accumulated, it is not possible for competitors to see the real price that is charged to each customer.

 ATL Activity 1 (Thinking skills) - A to Z Branding Quiz

Some businesses spend millions of dollars a year to promote their brands. How many of these companies can you identify from their brands? Hint: the answers are in alphabetical order from A-Z.

Download the PDF version here for classroom use.

Challenge your students to create their own A-Z Brands Quiz. Alternatively, they can create an A-Z Slogan's Quiz, e.g. A = Impossible Is Nothing, B = The Ultimate Driving Machine, C = It's The Real Thing, etc.

 Did you know?

Did you know that back in 1971, Nike hired a student to create a logo for the comany? Carolyn Davidson (b.1943) was a graphic design student at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She was offered $2 an hour for her work, so having spent about 17 hours to create the logo design, she was paid $35.

However, in 1983, Carolyn Davidson received 500 shares after Nike’s IPO, which she yet to sell. She had first met Phil Knight, Co-founder of Nike, who was teaching an accounting class at the university.

 Watch the moment that Carolyn Davidson receives her shares from Nike during a company reception.

 Case Study 3 - Branding gone wrong

Not all brand names are ‘good’ nor would they succeed in overseas markets. Some branding mishaps include the following:

• Crapi Apartments – not the best of brand names for an Australian property developer

• Gumpert – a very nice German supercar, super expensive and super fast, but with a silly name

• Meta – Facebook's announcement in Oct 2021 that it changes its name to Meta caused a stir in Israel where the word is pronounced like the feminine form of the Hebrew word for "Dead"

• MP4-12C – a very nice British supercar; super expensive at £175,000 with its Formula One 600bhp McLaren V8 engine; but a shame about its name

• Nova – brand name for small car manufactured by Vauxhall (General Motors), although the word 'nova' in Spanish means "no go" or "does not go"

• Pee Cola – Ghanaian brand of coca (Ghana is an English-speaking nation)

• Pees Boy Club – maybe not a family-friendly Ukrainian restaurant chain

• Pity – a brand of Japanese toilet tissue

• Stiff Nipples – air conditioning service company in the UK

• Terra Bal – terrible choice of brand name for this Japanese driving school company

• Wong Kee Bikes – ride carefully when hiring bicycles from this company in Hong Kong

• Woori Bank – you might be a little concerned about leaving your cash at this South Korean bank.

 Case Study 4 - How much for those grass-stained jeans?!

In September 2020, during an economic crisis caused by the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, luxury brand Gucci launched its grass-stained overalls for US$1,400 and grass stained jeans for US$1,200(!) Gucci's website described its new products as "denim... crafted from organic cotton and specifically treated for a stained-like, distressed effect."

Only a brand as recognised and reputable as Gucci could demand such a premium price during a time when the world witnesses the greatest global recession in living memory.

 ATL Activity 2 - The meaning behind famous brand logos

Some of the most well-known brand logos were purposefully designed to indicate something much more than simple beauty. In many cases, marketers have put a lot of energy, time and money into designing logos, paying attention to every line, curve, and colour to add meaning to the logos. Watch this video that examines the meaning behind 16 infamous logos - did you know the meaning behind the designs of these logos?

Logos covered in this video include the logos of Adidas, Apple, BMW, Coca-Cola, and Toyota. Students should make note of the meaning behind the 16 brands covered in the above video.

 Teacher only box

Teachers' notes

Video times are shown for reference only

Hyundai 0:33
The letter ’Н’ symbolizes two people – a client and a representative of the company – shaking hands. It also looks like the first letter of the company brand name, of course.

Adidas 0:52
The current logo is three stripes at an angle which together form a triangle. This symbolizes a mountain, which in turn represents the challenges that all sportsmen have to overcome day after day.

Apple 1:21
Rob Janoff, the designer who came up with the world-famous Apple company logo, explained his idea in one of his interviews. He bought a bag of apples, placed them in a bowl, and spent time drawing them for a week, trying to break the image down into something simple.

Vaio 1:58
The first two letters of the Sony Vaio logo symbolize an analogue wave. The last two are similar to the numbers 1 and 0 — that is, symbols of a digital signal.

Amazon 2:14
The orange arrow is similar to a smile because the company wants its customers to be satisfied. The arrow is also stretched between the letters ’A’ and ’Z’, in a hint that the company sells absolutely every product you can imagine.

Baskin Robbins 2:40
The pink-coloured parts of the "BR" section make up the number 31, which is how many ice cream flavors Baskin Robbins used to famously sell.

Toyota 2:56
The logo represents a stylized image of a needle eye with a thread passing through it. This is a hint at the company’s past – they used to produce weaving machines.

Continental 3:28
Continental, a famous car tyre producer, has a logo in which the first two letters depict a car wheel.

Formula 1 3:41
If you look carefully at the white space between the letter ’F’ and the red stripes, you can see the number 1.

Pinterest 3:59
On Pinterest, people collect images they like from across the Internet and ’pin’ them to their online boards. That’s why the image of a pin is hidden in the letter P.

Beats  4:17
Beats, an audio equipment producer based in the USA, uses a logo in which the letter ’B’ looks like headphones on a person’s head.

Toblerone 4:32
The famous chocolate company based in Bern, Switzerland, has a silhouette of a bear in its logo. That's because Bern is sometimes called the "city of bears".

BMW 4:55
The Germany carmaker's logo is simply a part of the Bavarian flag, the area of Germany where the company originated.

LG 5:18
The South Korean company's logo is a stylized image of a person’s face. According to the company, this represents its aspiration to have human relations with their customers.

Evernote 5:34
The corner of the elephant’s ear is folded over in a similar way how people fold the corner of a page to make notes.

Coca-Cola 5:57
In the space between the letters ’O’ and ’L’, you can see the Danish flag. It’s purely a coincidence. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola has used this as part of its marketing campaigns in the Scandinavian country.

 Case Study 5 - The world's most valuable brands (2022)

The 10 most valuable brands worldwide 2022

Source: Statista

 Key concept - Change