Apple launched a completely refreshed line of MacBooks and MacBook Pros last week, to the by now predictable fanfare and guessing-game imbroglio in the blogosphere. I have written previously how this is a deliberate, well-designed Archetype Branding strategy on Apple’s part, using aspects of "The Enigma" archetype among other things.
The MacBooks’ launch did contain the [...]

The news regarding the ongoing problems in our financial systems, analysis and second-guessing of those news, and prescriptions for or against proposed ways to right the ship (AKA the Bailout/Rescue package) have reached a fevered pitch.
Rather than add to this imbroglio, I’ve decided to "take a time out" (though I’ll admit I have been an [...]

Microsoft’s indirect attempt at a youthful social networking site, Wallop, is packing it in after 2.5 years as a venture-backed spin-off company.
And one thing appears to be clear: Regardless of the merits of the technology and features behind the platform, Wallop never had much of a chance of succeeding during the same time frame in [...]

Microsoft’s new Seinfeld & Bill Gates commercials have been widely panned. Presumably the first two salvos in a $300 Million ad campaign launched to soften and redefine Microsoft’s image, it would seem questionable whether years of consumer experience with Microsoft as the consummate powerbroker can be erased, regardless of the question of the ultimate quality/enjoyability [...]

A little while ago I told you about Apple’s carefully crafted Archetype Branding of Steve Jobs as a "Wizard of Oz"-like character, the magician who disappears behind the curtains and reappears with new, ever-more-amazing wonders of technology.
Since then, there have been a number of developments that both prove the power of this form of marketing, [...]

I already wrote in detail about Cuil’s branding crimes last week.
Then an interview by Silicon Alley Insider’s Peter Kafka with Cuil’s CEO  Tom Costello today reminded us of everything that went wrong with the would-be Google competitor’s lauch, as well as everything that is still wrong with it.
While apparently the outages of the first days [...]