I don’t know why this fascinates me so much, but Global Branding has been on my mind a lot. Today’s diversion was this Wired article on Samsung’s Transformation from cheap manufacturer of crappy TVs 10 years ago to design and technology leader, with twice the market capitalization of Sony.

Here’s a list of the top global brands, as reported by Interbrand. The Brand Channel site that hosts the list has some pretty interesting articles, like how global companies successfully localize, such as the defunct Singer corporation, an American company:

By the early twentieth century the German public so widely accepted Singer sewing machines that they were purchased by the German army—to the embarrassment of Singer’s German competitors. Later, during World War II, German aviators avoiding bombing Singer’s European factories because the pilots thought the factories were German-owned.

Fascinating.

I think ultimately, the appeal of brands is that they mean something to people. I’m sure the study of brands is related to the study of semiotics in some way, and I bet that following brands on either the local or global scale will teach you something about human nature you didn’t know.

Someone told me about Dr. Temple Grandin, an assistant professor at Colorado State University who is a high-functioning autistic. She recognized her strengths at an early age with the help of a mentor, and is now a designer of livestock handling systems. She’s one of those bridge individuals that has provided insight into the autistic frame of mind, and by extension the mind of animals. Her latest book, Animals in Translation, describes the world from an animal’s point of view. Her previous books, Thinking in Pictures and Emergence describes her experiences with autism. I’ve just added these to my Amazon wishlist :-)

I did, however, just listen to a fascinating Interview on NPR with Grandin and Terry Gross. Although I’m not autistic, I found a lot of relevance in her description of the autistic frame of mind and design process.

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