December 1
2012's big Tony winner is also a reminder of one of this year's biggest themes in branding - the power of storytelling. In fact, at the start of the year, Direct Marketing News forecasted 2012 to be "the year of the story".
December 2
2012 is the year Kraft split in two, selecting Mondelez as the name for the new global snacks company. We understand the difficulties of developing a global brand name better than most, but the TippingGardner jury is still out on this name.
December 3
Thanks to the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, "mommy porn" was a runner-up in the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year contest.
December 4
21 years ago today, Pan Am airlines went bankrupt and ceased operations. In spite of its overseas popularity, ABC canceled Mad Men look-alike drama Pan Am in May 2012.
December 5
Forget five gold rings - this was Britain's year to shine in the glow of five Olympic rings, a Diamond Jubilee, and first Grand Slam winner since 1936. No wonder then that the UK came first in Monocle magazine's annual Soft Power Index in 2012.
December 6
In 2012, Motel 6 celebrated its 50th anniversary by creating a cool road trip ad and selling itself to an affiliate of The Blackstone Group for $1.9 billion.
December 7
Facebook hit the 1 billion user mark on September 14, 2012, meaning that approximately 1 in 7 people on the planet are now on Facebook.
December 8
Happy first night of Chanukah from all of us at TippingGardner.
December 9
In October 2012, Wal-Mart Stores said it expects to generate $9 billion in global e-commerce revenue in its next fiscal year, no doubt helped by this year's purchase of China's largest Internet supermarket Yihaodian.
December 10
Each year, 24/7 Wall St. identifies 10 American brands that it predicts will disappear within a year. The list of brands expected to bite the dust in 2013 includes American Airlines, Research In Motion, and Current TV.
December 11
Hostess Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2012 and closed shop some ten months later. But TippingGardner doesn't expect we've seen the end of iconic brands like Twinkies, Wonder Bread and Ding Dongs.
December 12
According to an August 2012 study, 12% of all online adults say they use Instagram. These folks were busy during Hurricane Sandy, with users uploading 10 storm-related photos to Instagram every second at peak times.
December 13
In an October study commissioned by Adobe, only 13% of consumers agreed that marketing benefits society. As marketers, we're ranked below nearly every other profession including bankers and politicians. Ouch - that's definitely unlucky for us!
December 14
Jeremy Lin's performance for the New York Knicks saw him become the world's fastest-growing athlete brand back in February 2012, worth around $14 million according to Forbes. This led to a trademark battle over the term Linsanity, eventually resolved in Lin's favor by the USPTO.
December 15
Apple, whose shares hit an all-time high of $705 in 2012, reported this year that China now delivers 15% of its global revenues. This comes a year after Chinese authorities discovered 22 fake Apple stores in one Chinese city alone.
December 16
TippingGardner has been thrilled to work on a number of projects with Gillette this year. Gillette ranked #16 in the 2012 Best Global Brands study, with a brand value of $24.9 billion.
December 17
According to Google's 2012 Holiday Shopping Intentions Study, 17% of customers will visit a store first, then go online to purchase the product they saw. This practice is known as "showrooming" - a term you can expect to see more of in 2013.
December 18
One month ago today, South Korean pop artist PSY closed the 40th American Music Awards show with a performance of Gangnam Style. The original Gangnam Style video is now YouTube's most viewed video ever, and has spawned a slew of spoofs.
December 19
On May 19, 2012 Duke Farms opened to the public after a $45 million makeover that transformed Doris Duke's old estate into a 21st century model of environmental conservation. TippingGardner is thrilled to have developd the brand strategy, identity, and website for Duke Farms.
December 20
2012 is the 20th anniversary of the ThinkPad. Back in 1992, a 7.3lb IBM ThinkPad with a 540 MB hard drive would set you back approximately $7,600. Today, a top-of-the-range Lenovo ThinkPad sells for around $1,600, has 8GB memory and weighs over a pound less.
December 21
Welcome to Doomsday! According to the so-called Mayan Prophecy, today could mark the end of the world. Which would be a shame because we have 4 more days left on the TippingGardner Advent Calendar.
December 22
P&G has the largest lineup of leading brands in its industry, with 22 brands generating over $1 billion in annual sales and another 19 brands generating $500 million or more. We're proud to have been working with P&G for over 15 years.
December 23
After photos of Prince Harry's crown jewels made the papers in August, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority reported a $23 million publicity boost. The incident also led to a cheeky one-off ad from Lynx (Axe in the US) for their irresistibly odorous body sprays.
December 24
Almost 6 months ago to the day, Oreo posted an ad on Facebook showing an Oreo cookie with rainbow colored cream to commemorate Gay Pride month. Other commemorative ads followed, including a tricolor Oreo for Bastille Day, and a cookie with a jagged bite taken out of it for Shark Week.
December 25
Merry Christmas from all of us at TippingGardner. We hope you've enjoyed our 2012 Advent Calendar and wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2013.
Can’t wait until December 25 for your goodies? Go ahead and cheat – we won't tell Santa.
