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Brandchannel interbred

Recently brandchannel.com reviewed a commercial web site that I have spent the past five years dramatically improving.

The site in question now conforms to WAI AA standards, is fully CSS driven, has a crisp conservative design that supports its brand extremely well but the Brandchannel reviewer gave it a right good pasting because it is not pushing the boundaries that they have decided need pushing. Actually the site pushes a lot more boundaries than the brandchannel.com site itself, which is not accessible, does not use css, does not validate for html, has predictably crap design and from a company that steers large corporate marketing departments on branding and design is not a very good shop window. I mean look at those stupid animated animated lozenges. Very 1997.

Actually Interbrand, who run brandchannel as a sales portal, used to do a lot of work for the company reviewed but recently lost its contract - hence the potentially libellous headlines used I suspect. No bitterness there at all then...

Interbrand are quickly loosing credibility as a leading light on brand direction – they may have become "Interbred".

This rant is my own personal opinion and is not the opinion of the company that was reviewed on brandchannel. Probably.

Posted by Simon at September 9, 2004 1:11 AM

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Comments

1 January 14, 2005 4:44 PM BrandGuy

I read brandchannel from time to time and find them Ok. Why don't you tell us know what the site was and we can see for ourselves?

2 January 14, 2005 11:06 PM Simon Cox [TypeKey Profile Page]

Basically I decided long ago that I would never actually mention my employers on this my site as I didn't want it to turn into a place where commenters would talk about them and not my topics. This website is about me. And Paula. A bit. This is the one place I can be a bit selfish like that. Plus a lot of people at work read this so I have to tiptoe! So no I am not going to name the site. Actually lately there have arisen issues with employees blogging about their employees, inevitably with potential court actions happening.

This aside, I was incensed by Interbrands review especially in the light of recently loosing the branding business of my employee. It was not a constructive piece of criticism but read like a dismissive 'look down the nose' piece of journo by a wannabe critic trying to get profile for themselves by taking cheap and easy pot shots at high profile targets. Ironically a lot of the Brand strategy that lies behind the site derived originally from Interbrand work.

I have always had a high regard for Interbrand and I did quite a bit of work with Newell and Sorrel and then Interbrand after the takeover. Brandchannel has always been a useful resource but for me the credibility has been somewhat tarnished.