in the media - archive

Ted Matthews, Brand Coach and Founding Partner, and Greg De Koker, Brand Coach and Managing Partner, are delighted to announce that Andris Pone has joined the firm as Brand Coach and Partner... Read more

Ted Matthews, Brand Coach and Founding Partner, is delighted to announce that Greg De Koker has joined the firm as Associate Brand Coach and Partner... Read more

Changing a name is easy; getting customers to play along isn't.

Ted Matthews, founding partner with Instinct Brand Equity Coaches Inc., said that by using a marketing campaign that positions Cashmere as a fabric that is much softer and more luxurious than cotton... Read more

Scott Paper's task: Rebrand Cottonelle and ScotTowel without making a mess.

Ted Matthews, Founding partner with Instinct Brand Equity Coaches Inc. in Toronto, said Scott Paper in Canada has a tough job ahead of it, but it seems to him the company is going about it in the right way... Read more

Blue Menu, Loblaw's latest addition to its President's Choice line of food, is a reminder the country's biggest grocer is trying to stay a step ahead of its competitors.

With the Blue Menu, Loblaw has created one of the more visually memorable campaigns in some time and has done so by breaking standard food packaging principles, said Toronto-based brand consultant Ted Matthews. ... Read more

With Jetsgo out of play, WestJet Airlines Inc. is set to step up its marketing with a new partnership with one of Canada's hottest advertising agencies.

Ted Matthews, a brand expert and president of we want ted inc. in Toronto, said WestJet has terrific people working for it and it should focus its marketing on the experience they offer. "The public's a little beat up on the price thing after Jetsgo," said Mr. Matthews. "Having an experience you can count on is worth more now." ... Read more

Some interesting research surfaced this week suggesting that Canadian marketers understand the importance of great customer service in winning business, but they often fall short when it comes to actually making it happen.

Ted Matthews, brand coach and founder of we want ted inc., believes companies make the mistake of believing customer experience is one small element of the marketing plan and instead they place too much emphasis on advertising. "One of, if not the most effective way to build a brand is through an experience," he says... Read more

Maker of 1980s iconic shirts, Lacoste to open three shops in Canada in next year. The uptown alligator is staging a comeback in Canada. Can the intrepid polo pony be far behind him? Lacoste, maker of the ubiquitous reptile-embossed shirts which, along with Ralph Lauren's Polo shirts, epitomized preppy style in the early 1980s, will open three boutiques in Canada in the next year, company officials confirmed yesterday.

"It is a critical balancing act to grow the brand by spreading it virally in the streets but to not become too pervasive through advertising," said Ted Matthews, founder of Toronto-based brand consultancy We Want Ted Inc... Read more

Years of controversy
French Connection Group PLC is removing the risqué FCUK logo from its new advertising campaign, but denies it is being killed after years of controversy. "We felt that all the advertising out there was beginning to look similar and decided to do something new," the London-based clothier said yesterday, noting the logo will be absent from a campaign set to launch Sept. 20.

Ted Matthews, founder of Toronto-based brand consultancy We Want Ted, said French Connection's challenge is to make the brand live beyond a few years of provocative advertising... Read more

In 1992, according to Interbrand's annual Top 100 Global Brands ranking, IBM had brand equity of negative $52 million. Right. It was calculated and determined that every time the IBM name was brought into the selling equation, it had a detrimental effect on the process, hence the resulting negative brand equity... Read more

A lot of companies are faceless even to the bulk of their workforce, which may explain why surveys indicate the majority of employees feel unengaged and disconnected at work. Internal branding, or HR branding, identifies a company's strengths and values to its current employees and helps keep them engaged while attracting potential candidates.

"Working with people inside the organization is the best way to go", says Matthews, adding that employees can be ambassadors for the organization... Read more

Businesses, including startups such as Everest, must differentiate or they will disappear. "While most new business owners dream of their company serving everyone, and therefore don't want to eliminate anyone, the first step in building a brand is selecting a very narrow, unique proposition, that will stand out from others in your field," Mr. Matthews says.

"Being unique qualifies as new information and it is filed away in the prospect's mind as something they didn't know. And a place in the mind is what building a brand is about."... Read more

The technology industry is still recovering from the dark days of its downturn but you wouldn't know it from the big-budget advertising campaigns being launched these days in Canada and beyond.

Ted Matthews, founder of Brand Coach Inc., a Toronto-based brand consulting firm, believes aggressive marketing by high-tech players is strategically smart... Read more

Incentives may be an easy route to a consumer's heart, but for carmakers, they can be a dangerous strategy.

"The U.S. car companies have ended up damaging their brands by discounting," said Ted Matthews... Read more

A company's brand is too important for the marketing department, says this 'man on a mission'.

Ted Matthews is a zealot. In a realm where a kind of cool distance is the default demeanour, Mr. Matthews is a true believer, working to imbue clients with his fervour. After 28 years in marketing communications, his business card describes him as a... Read more

The Hudson's Bay Company has replaced the Bay's "Shopping is good" advertising slogan, a tag line that sparked criticism from industry watchers, with a new campaign that marks a major shift in the retailer's marketing strategy.

"The biggest threat to a brand is when well-intentioned new people come in and drop an old campaign," he said... Read more

As life gets more complex, advertisers are targeting your fond memories from simpler times.

Ted Matthews, founder of Brand Coach, a Toronto marketing consultant firm said relaunching a brand gives you a head start against a new competitor because even if no one remembers it, an old brand comes with a history you can use in your marketing... Read more

Swiss watchmaker's success is based on contradictions: its ad campaigns are few and far apart, but its market share grows.

"The U.S. car companies have ended up damaging their brands by discounting," said Ted Matthews... Read more