Articles – Brand Commentary
Useful articles about brands and the world they live in.
Client Brand Stories Brand Reviews Brand Commentary Brand Tools & Tips Published Articles All Articles
The Persuaders - Host Alex Gibson dedicates this edition of The Persuaders to a discussion with Gerard on the challenges facing SMEs in
A Reality Check: Bridging the Gap Between Perception & Truth - A reality check serves as a powerful tool for navigating the complex terrain where perception and truth intersect.
Brand-building for Competitive Advantage - A strong brand is especially important for small businesses, which are unlikely to have the spending power or marketing resources available to larger competitors. The smaller business can play to the strengths of its brand relationship with its customers to distinguish it from other businesses in the marketplace, and so level the playing field. 
How to make business a handshake rather than an arm wrestle - Too often, as a business grows the customer gets left behind. When a brand is understood to reflect the relationship between the buyer and the seller, then a thoughtful, fair, and fruitful exchange is much more likely to be the result, which makes for better business all-round.
Make Your Brand The Bridge To Recovery - A brand helps an individual make an informed decision about the purchase they're looking to make. View your brand through this prism as we enter this recovery period, says Gerard Tannam
Take On A Hard Thought Battle To Stand Out From Your Rivals - Sharing knowledge and expertise is a cost-effective way of establishing your company as a leader in its field, finds Sandra O'Connell in the Sunday Times of September 26th, 2021
Like A Virgin, Sold For (Almost) The Very First Time - Ever feel like you’ve just been bought and sold?
Islandbridge Kingfisher Game Of The Name - Hey, did you see that? A flash of brilliance. Our lockdown walks along the river Dodder have been enlivened
Brandwidth 2020 – The Year In Review - Although 2020 will be forever branded indelibly in our minds as the year of Covid-19, hindsight may find it more remarkable as the year the science fought back.
Barry’s And Lyons Deliver A Masterclass In Branding - Gerard Tannam, in his Guest Blog on Bizplus, November 18th 2019, wrote: Great brands like Barry’s Tea and Lyons Tea
Why Marketing Matters - Marketing Matters, is a new series from The Marketing Institute of Ireland, featuring perspectives from the most senior and accomplished marketers in Ireland.
In this issue, Gerard Tannam of Islandbridge Brand Development discusses his career, the challenges facing marketers today, his advice on how to be a great marketer and his favourite marketing campaign of all time.
Brexit: How To Remain Standing When Two Giants Collide - Whilst a referendum offers the advantage of a clear-cut decision, it’s a crude instrument to use when dealing with the nuances of relationships, whether between countries or people
All Has Changed (But Not Utterly) - How The Future Of Marketing Looks Just Like The Past
Debased Metal: Restoring The Currency Of The Olympic Brand - It’s hardly news that the Olympic movement returned from Rio with its precious brand badly tarnished, causing many to question its value to the world
Faster, Higher, Stronger…Cheater? - All over the world this morning, young athletes are shaking themselves awake and taking to the track, the pool and the gym to complete yet another round
2015: The Brand Year In Review - With 2015 a year when the Oxford Dictionaries’ Word Of The Year is a pictograph (the ‘tears of joy’ emoji), it’s unsurprising that it was also a year when the idea of a brand took some surprising turns
A Meeting Of Minds - As we know from experience, nothing changes if nothing changes
Does This Name Ring A Bell? - Launch of a New Irish Hotel Brand - Maldron Hotels
A Knight In Branding Armour - This, mark you, is a true story
Purpose – Built for Success - The best taglines capture something of what's on offer to the customer in a catchy and memorable way and can help bring a brand to life
When Words Fail Us - In business, our words are often the first thing our customer sees and hears from us
Brandwidth 2007 – The Year In Review - It seems 2007 was the year which brought everyone to their feet
Let The Mystery Be - The typical customer shuns complexity and unnecessary detail. He doesn't have time for it
Branding To The Power Of Three - Brand-owners are urged to build awareness by stepping out from the crowd and offering something startling and rare
When Great Brands Come In Small Packages - There are a number of brands that celebrate the individual whilst delivering success to their owners
Brandwidth 2006 – The Year In Review - A brand called 'you'?- Irish Entrepreneur Magazine – A Brand New Start - Entrepreneurs can come in all shapes and sizes, but we typically have one thing in common: an eagerness that's difficult to resist
IFSC: International Market Leader or No-Man’s Brand? - For almost twenty years, Dublin's International Financial Services Centre has been at the heart of the Celtic Tiger revival
Guests Of The Nation - Stories of the hospitality industry that is occasionally in two minds as to how it should treat its guests.
Don’t Stop Me Now! (I’m Having Such A Good Time…) - The team at Quality Hotels Ireland decided to set their course to shoot beyond the stars.
That Certain Something - Graduating into leading hoteliers, tourism chiefs and venue managers across the world- Brandwidth 2005 – The Year In Review - I shop therefore I am?
Adding To The Mix - So how do we find another way to breathe life into our business and safeguard its future?
Jacob Fruitfield – Cool, Clean (and Local) Hero - Size matters. Or, at least, that is what the big players like to think.- Something Smells Good In The Kitchen - PR is defined as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill between an organisation and its public
- The Magic Ingredient - Taking charge of your brand destiny and building a business that stands on its own two feet and really makes a difference.
MCANAX Equipment – Putting The Brand To Work - You would think the choice a simple one- Everyone Can Play - Using storytelling to stand out in the marketplace and stand up to the competition
- Inside Business – I’d Rather Go Blind - A Story Of Vision & Courage
All Fired Up: David McKernan and Java Republic - The story of man is as much the story of fire as it is anything else- The Perfect Match - If we find the part that our business can play for our customers we can deliver our service or product in a way that offers true competitive advantage
- Genuine Affection - A writer in 'Fast Company' magazine recently suggested that companies that prosper over the long term don't just offer good deals - they exude genuine affection for their customers
- Building A Great Brand For Your Business - To Brand Or Not To Brand? That is the question
- Bringing It All Back Home - Every great business has a great story to tell. The task of every business owner is to find a compelling story and tell it
- Brandwidth 2004 – The Year In Review - The brand is dead! Long live the brand! Some would have it otherwise but last year was one where the brand played on
- The Road To Success - Enjoy a thrilling ride during these early months; the first leg of your journey
- Tell Me A Story - The success of every type of communication we create in business comes down to our ability to tell a good story
- The Brand As Story - If we can weave our own business experience into a compelling narrative, we stand a much greater chance of engaging with the customer.
- The Brand In Action - Let's take a look at what happens when theory is put into practise.
- Choosing Ingredients for your Brand - We must resist the temptation to simply lump everything together into the pot, stir it up and hope for the best
How To Raise & Keep A Brand - The challenge in raising a brand is to describe what sort of people we are, how we relate to others and how that makes us different.- Keeping The Faith - The Road To The Promised Land of Brand Greatness
