 | Mean Mr. Magenta: T-Mobile vs. Engadget Mobile
T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless division, is demanding that popular technology news blog Engadget Mobile stop using the color magenta in its logo. Exclusive use of magenta? That’s absurd.
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 | Surf the Web, AT&T Style
David Krantz, VP of Business Development at AT&T recently presented a new web browser called “AT&T Pogo”. The CoreBrand interactive group is already testing web solutions on a dozen or more web browsers for our clients to make sure our projects are up to brand and web standards. So, my first reaction: “Oh boy, just what we need, yet another web browser!” (With each of the leading browsers having its share of quirks and proprietary standards, it is already a challenge for web developers to create a consistent experience across platforms.) And my second reaction: What is AT&T up to? Is this an effort to continue to shake off its phone company heritage and more closely tie its brand to the promise of IP? Or are they, as they say, truly looking to create a better web experience for everybody?
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 | Can Branding Save Your Corporate Soul?
Mention the brand Dow Chemical and the associations might conjure up some of the worst industrial nightmares against humanity: Napalm, Agent Orange, Dioxin. But branding and its avatar, advertising, can be the most transformative of communications, transmuting negative perceptions into shiny new visions of a corporation.
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 | Charging by the Inch at JetBlue
As of April 1st, JetBlue has begun charging an additional fee for seats with 4 more inches of legroom. For an airline that has always had a single class cabin, has prided itself on the use of the pronoun “we” and has leveraged its founder’s propensity to fly amongst customers, this is a bad idea.
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 | Do Brand Mascots Ever Truly Retire?
It is interesting to see how some brand mascots fade into obscurity while others return decades later in triumph. This recurring phenomenon gives companies the encouragement to build and maintain brand mascots for both current and future generations. However, just as a favorable current or retired mascot can illuminate brand reputation, so can a flawed mascot tarnish brand respectability.
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 | Opening Week?
This could be the year. Coast to coast, from Camden Yards to Great American Ballpark to Safeco Field, the aura of possibility is palpable. This is our year!
Opening Day is on Sunday night! Or did it already happen in Japan? Or is it really on Monday? All of the above, kind of. And that’s where Major League Baseball has lost sight of some of its magic.
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 | Fuji Xerox: ...and they said it wouldn't last
Common wisdom has it that joint ventures can’t last. Typically, they serve a purpose of business extension or expansion for a time – and, once fully established, are spun off or bought out by one of the partners. Fuji Xerox is an exception to this principle. The success of this 45-year-old company (75% owned by Fuji Film; 25% by Xerox Corporation) stands both as a testament to the staying power of a successful joint venture and as a warning to the staying power of a successful joint venture.
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