Shape as a brand attribute

Magic Tree shape

Little Trees (or Magic Trees as they’re called in the UK) were invented in 1952 by the late Julius Samann (c. 1911 – May 9, 1999) of Watertown, New York, who came up with the product after listening to a milkman complain about the stench of spilled milk in his delivery truck.

“Unlike the contoured bottles that people immediately associate with Coca-Cola and the Golden Arches that is synonymous with McDonald’s, these cut-out tree silhouettes don’t recall a name so much as a particular scent, location and purpose. That hasn’t hurt sales a bit; (the trees) have sold in the billions since they came on the market in the mid-1950s.”

Quoted from @issue.

There’s a fragrance for Black Ice which is a bit odd. But then, there’s one for Passion, too: “Mysterious and masculine, enhances the mood.” For the bachelors, I suppose.

Update: Stop by Brand Spirit for more examples. Like this one for Trivial Pursuit.

Trivial Pursuit pie

Via @DixonBaxi.


Comments

5 responses to “Shape as a brand attribute”

  1. Coca-Cola bottle has to be an obvious one.

  2. Acrobat Avatar
    Acrobat

    The Nike tick.
    Every time I see a tick of any sort I think of Nike.
    Often Nike don’t even use the word anymore.
    Now that’s a powerful shape!

  3. The current Coca-Cola bottle was modeled on Marilyn Monroe.

  4. Sorry, Bill, but Marilyn wasn’t even born when the Coca Cola bottle was designed. It’s pretty well documented and neatly explained here…
    http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/bottle.asp

  5. Tiamate Avatar
    Tiamate

    Amusingly, I think in France Trivial Pursuit would not at all be the first association people would make with the round box. They would rather immediately think “La Vache qui rit”!

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