“This is Dubai” — a campaign intended to shift attention from Dubai's troubled economy toward Dubai's cosmopolitan mixture of cultures and unique opportunities, via testimonials. From Dubai's buildings to Dubai's people — a smart move.

Ah, I get it. Sony will be enhancing the identity of Vaio by renting out the name to other manufacturers, and by putting the Vaio logo on machines they don’t even build. Clever.

—Ken Segall, Sony shoots its brand in the foot.

Can you imagine Apple doing this? Not in a million years.

So, yes, MTV has changed, but so have those of us that turned to MTV before YouTube for the latest music video, and it’s probably best that we all just go our separate ways.

—Armin Vit in MTV: More TV, Less M identity review.

Stylistically, the new one is pretty awful, with very amateurish renderings of depth and shine, whereas the old one had managed to convey volume with a single change of shade.

—Armin Vit in The Cat got Peugeot's Tongue at Brand New.

I liked the old one better—heraldic tongue included.

Watch the animated history of Peugeot's logo.

Armin Vit grades The Best and Worst Identities of 2009.

Among the worst: Yale University Press, Hilton Worldwide, Art Directors Club, Kraft Foods, MSN and Bing.

Among the best: Meredith Corporation, Commerzbank, Syfy, Pfizer and AOL.

Russians pay too much attention to rethinking their past. The key to improving external perceptions is to identify a forward and future story.

—Rebranding Russia From Communism to Cool at The Moscow Times.

Thanks to Iancul.

It’s no surprise that the logo is a consequence of design-by-committee. Sixty-five people to be exact. Oh, and even more obviously, it was done for free.

—Kosal Sen, guest writer at Brand New on Philadelphia’s New Logo.

Sickly.

—John Gruber, writing on the same issue.

As I said, Wolff Olins makes people blow a fuse again, this time over AOL's rebranding (operational from December 10 when AOL begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange as a separate company). Cogitation:

• 'trying way too hard to be modern' —MTLB
• 'somebody had to pay Wolff Olins, no?' —Fast Company.
• 'whatever. Isn't that goldfish cute?' —CNET
• 'there's a fish and a hand which likely wouldn't be drawn by kindergarten students' —Strategic Name Development
• 'it’s obvious, I don’t care for the new Aol. identity' —Liquid Brand Exchange

I'm confused. Is this how experts talk?

Update: Armin steps in, doesn't throw his weight around.

Here. Let's see how Wolff Olins blows design/branding community's fuse once again.

Watching The History of the CBS Eye Logo 2001 at 3:26 I giggled: CBS necktie? We did like three or four models for CEC Bank. Ha!

Underconsideration's Brand New reports on the corporate identity changes Carrefour and Audi undergo.

It always surprises me how uncomfortable accepting change can be, regardless — in this case — of the fact that my emotional stakes in the two brands are almost null.

God only knows what kind of message were Arnell Group people trying to get across with that infamous PDF, but I haven't seen a shitstorm this nasty in a long time.

All I know is that creatives often jump the shark and say pretty crazy things when they're... you know... creating stuff, but any trace of humor—if any—is lost now, while the shit keeps hitting the fan.

Tony Spaeth's 'Brand evolution' report covering the foremost rebranding programs of the year 2008 is now on-line at The Conference Board Review's web site and also available as a PDF.

Among the 10 selected cases, "a uniquely twenty-first-century branding story": CEC Bank.

"Redefining the American “brand” to be less about Guantánamo and more about equality."

Rebranding the U.S. With Obama in New York Times.

"The company was once based on the leisurely Italian coffee house model of a quiet place away from house and office, with personal relationships between customers and baristas, and a nice wait for hand-brewed coffee. Those days are over." James Biber Remakes Starbucks.

"One of the most influential books I read when I first started marketing was entitled, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by the heralded Jack Trout. [...] Law after law seemed to crumble as I explored the reality of the business world, and I came to understand that Trout took a very narrow look at marketing, a shortsighted approach that continues this day." Russell Fisher.

Read Captain Jack Trout and the Old Guard.

Here we go again—only this time it's a logo for Bucharest.

So—who's responsible for this one? Who commissioned, approved and paid and who delivered the horror?

Journalists might want to look into this.

"This is a uniquely 21st Century branding story—the reinvention of a government-owned bureaucracy, to compete in the marketplace with some of the world's sharpest marketers." Read the review on Identityworks.

Lovemarks, the book: "aimed at six-year-olds"—rarely does bullshit get exposed with such clarity and wit. Forget brands. What you need is an intimate bond with your dandruff shampoo. Read it.

"It seems that with admirable loyalty, management returned to Wally Olins, whose 1988 team designed Akzo's 'Reaching Man.' Wally's post-Wolff Olins firm is Saffron." Read more at Identityworks.

"It's like casting off the signs of youth to embrace adulthood." More at Identityworks.

"Intelligent information is alive". More at Identityworks.

"Engineers meet branding and get it! Fantastic." More at Identityworks.

Was perfectly happy flying under the radar for a while, but the time had come to look like a leader. More at Identityworks.

This new brand will saturate roadside Ireland, replacing both the Shell and the Statoil brands on some 350 petrol service stations. More at Identityworks.

Romanian car manufacturer Dacia revealed its new logo today at 78^th Motor-Show in Geneva.

Credits: Renault in-house design department, according to internal sources.

Cultural differences and all, I still think I'm missing something here. Captiva? WTF! Why not Chevy Prisonera, Convicta or even Victima?

"Rob Machin, co-partner of English & Pocket has taken over and created E&P Associates." Thank you, Dan.

Adrian Shaughnessy writes an article that was long overdue. Read Expectations Confounded at CR Blog.

London is rebranding its global identity for the first time in five years by commissioning branding agency Saffron to overhaul its consumer, corporate and business branding. This includes the Visit London logo and the Totally London identity. Via BrandRepublic.

Brand New York: from Woody Allen to Wolff Olins.

BusinessWeek repositions as a conversation, not a lecture. Rebranding includes redesigned magazine layout and new logo.

Pentagram's principal Paula Scher interviewed about how and why the US needs to overhaul its image, brand promise, name and messaging—watch the video at Monocle.

Our esteemed Lektor — reputable representative of blogging diaspora — acts like a brand champion (or brand evangelist, if you will) on behalf of brand Copenhagen. Watch the movie, and you'll understand why. I know I did (1, 2, 3, 4).

Official on September 1st, BenQ will change its name to Qisda, that stands for "quality innovation speed driving and achievements." Well BenQ, in Romanian your name stays for something else entirely — being more specific, this is like changing your name into Qunt.

Italy's new logo and slogan — "Italy leaves its mark" — to promote tourism was designed by Landor Italy. As it always happens with this things, people automatically vociferate.

"As increasingly the brand consultants control the strategy, the advertisers supply the tactics." Is advertising becoming just a channel? Read Ideology or policy on The Johnson Banks Thought for the Week.