A brand revisited becomes a new favorite of sorts.

I have been a brand enthusiast and brand ambassador for more years than I can remember. Sure it may have started as a youngster in Cleveland, Ohio, when that brand was probably more ethnic than traditional. By that I mean Hungarian! Huh, you ask? Hungarian is a brand? Well absolutely. Several years ago, I penned an article Made in Hungary -- Not JUST Goulash which celebrates the many high-profile brands that are indeed made in Hungary and in a sense Hungarian. Take a look at ALL of these brands! I think it is quite a remarkable list.

Alba, American Girl, Ann Taylor, Baumler Avantgarde, BCBG Max Azria, Benetton, Berwin & Wolff, Bogner, Bonpoint, Breckenridge, Cerruti 1881, Christian Aujard, Coach, Cornell, CRISCA Escada, Dana Buchman, DKNY, Dries Van Noten, Earl Jean, Escada, Faconnable, Feraud, Harve Benard by Bernard Holtzman, Hess Frackmann, Innocence, International Scene, J. Crew, Josef Seibel, Kishi, Lacoste, Lanz of Salzburg, LaMax Alba, Laura Ashley, Laurel, Levi, Liz Claiborne, LL Bean, Louis Feraud, Marc Jeffries Bronze Collection, Margaret Godfrey, Mark Henri, Marni, Mondi, Oilily, Pez, Pleasant Company, Polo, Portland, Puma, Rene Lezard, Rockport Dresports, Rodier, Sonia Rykiel, Stafford, Stanley Blacker, Stella McCartney, Strenesse, Theo Miles, Thierry Mugler for Mugler Trademark, Think!, Vass, Zippo, and Zodiac.

For the most part, you will notice that these brands are fashion or clothing labels. An exception would be Coach -- I'm sure you are familiar with the Coach Company line of handbags? Those that were produced in Hungary are the more classic and traditional style of handbags which are completely leather.

A couple of Fridays ago, hubby and I ventured to our local St. Johns Town Center mall. This mall has some fabulous brand stores including Brighton, Coach, Swarovski Crystal, abercrombie, BCBG, Bebe Sport, Betsey Johnson, GUESS, Juicy Couture, MAC Cosmetics, Pottery Barn, Tommy Bahama, and last but not the least Louis Vuitton. After an early dinner, we strolled through the mall and stopped in to a number of these brand stores.

Hubby did not accompany me into the Kate Spade store, but he did do a tour of the Coach and Louis Vuitton stores. Together we spent the longest time in the LV store deciding what we both agreed on would be my purchase if I won the lottery. We agreed on the Judy multicolor white handbag thinking that $2,200 was more affordable than the $4,400 limited edition handbag that I found "under glass" in the back of the store.

Several years ago, we visited Paris, France for St. Valentines Day and made it a point to visit the Louis Vuitton Paris store and the flagship Printemps store. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the luxury brands up close. At that time in my brand ambassador career, I was more of a Chanel and Givenchy brand enthusiast. I even opted for a purchase of a Givenchy clutch at the Paris airport. While I appreciated the many styles, shapes and colors of the Louis Vuitton luxury brand, it really didn't appeal to me as a brand collector.

So it was thanks to the recent revisit to the LV brand that I actually found an interest in that brand to the point that I would actually consider making a purchase ... making a purchase of the Judy multicolor white handbag with all the beautiful hardware. That is, when I win the Florida lottery! Are you a fan of this brand, or perhaps you have another that appeals to you? Hubby told me that I better start saving up my Squidoo monthly royalties to be able to afford this bag. That's OK, a girl can dream.

I am a Brand Ambassador -- How about YOU?

I have been a Brand Ambassador for more than a decade. It is thanks hugely to the impact of the internet and digital, social media which has brought Brand Ambassadorship to the forefront. My previous blog post, I love my brands and love brands in public - neat project, introduced my readers to Brands in Public -- brands that I support. It also discussed how I have been a BzzAgent for many years and that the Brands in Public project is a co-project between BzzAgent and Squidoo. Since that blog post, I followed up with Brands in Public on Twitter to spotlight the buzz on Twitter about this project.

That article is a Twitter List of what people are saying on Twitter -- about brands, branding, brands in public -- and where people are openly debating whether this new project is brand ambassadorship or a form of brand jacking or brand hijacking. When I caught that stream of consciousness, I must admit that I was bewildered to say the least. I wondered if maybe it was sour grapes or someone having an axe to grind with this project or with Seth Godin, Squidoo and/or BzzAgent. It seems that there are always going to be naysayers when there is a 'good' thing or something new or another way of 'looking at something.' And, from my years of online brand ambassadorship, I have seen that many people just HAVE to take the other side of the argument, to agree to disagree!

After another sleepless in Jacksonville night, I was up early to make some coffee, feed the plethora of cats, and then pen a new article, Brand Ambassador. I celebrate the brands; I celebrate what I do; I celebrate BzzAgent; I celebrate Squidoo; and I celebrate brands in public!

Amazon in Public | Crate & Barrel in Public | The Gap, Inc. in Public
Hermes in Public | KitchenAid in Public | L'Oreal in Public
Oracle in Public | Reality Check in Public | Wikipedia in Public

I love my brands and love brands in public - neat project!

Something new for me would be Brands in Public -- I Support. You see, recently BzzAgent and Squidoo launched the project of Brands in Public whereas certain Squidoo lensmasters were invited to create brand pages for brands they love. It was a first come, first served basis, limited to 15 lensmasters. Thankfully, I got the go-ahead to participate late on Friday, September 18, 2009. Initially I selected 3 brands, from what was left on the availability list, on which to create an unofficial brand page:

• Amazon in Public
• L'Oreal in Public
• Wikipedia in Public

I have a few more pages to add to the project and hope to get those produced before this Friday! I'm working on Crate and Barrel, Gap, Hermes, Intel, KitchenAid, Oracle, and Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. A great selection of cool brands!

Have you participated in this project and created your own brand page? Well, you are cordially invited to add it to the special brand plexo list.

For more information on the Launching of Brands in Public, be sure to check out Seth Godin's blog post. There's a lot of great information there about brands in public! And, I would think that there is a pretty cool incentive to participate!

The first 100 brands that sign up will benefit from a share of the $500,000 in house ads Squidoo will run across the site promoting the service and the first partnering brands. Sales are handled by BzzAgent, so you'll be in good hands--please give them a call if you have any questions about the service.

P.S. I happened to see some source code which is interesting! target="_new" -- I've heard all the chit chat about the topicability of target="_blank" and no follow stuff too! But, now "new" -- this is interesting!

Victoria's Secret - Brand is ON TARGET

Victoria's Secret - Brand is ON TARGET - Sexy, Red Hot Fashion! I personally love to check out Victoria's Secret stores, catalogs, and online offerings on a regular basis. And, no surprise, so does my husband! I also wear many of their items, love those intimates, and I am a reseller of their fashions. Well, it was no surprise to read in a latest Brand Channel e-newsletter that VS gets high marks for their branding efforts.

The following is from a recent article in Brand Channel.

"Want (her) to be sexy? Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and brands are offering up a plethora of "in your face" material to wake the dead. Among those brands, Victoria's Secret catalog returns each year to remind one of the coming date with a scream. (Gentlemen, it's February 14.) This year, the scream is a pants' bursting bright-red lacy double D push up bra.

With three distribution channels-stores, catalog and e-shop-and marketing communication to match, Victoria's Secret has consistently delivered its brand message at each contact point with the customer. In particular, a visit to VictoriasSecret.com shows an attention to details that has been hitting the right balance between branding and usability for years.

Not only is the first impression on target, with the screen dominated by a picture of a voluptuous model, but all the elements of a branded e-commerce are present: From color-palette, to thumbnail pictures to promotions.

In sum, Victoria's Secret has developed a superb customer-focused marketing tool-at both strategic and operational levels-that is undoubtedly a benchmark for its lingerie category. Its brand focuses on a lifestyle that teases, shocks, and woos our deepest feelings. Far from lagging behind the stores and catalogs, the e-shop is nicely integrated with the other distribution channels and reinforces the brand presence in a sizable fashion."