Are hotel guests OK with hygienically questionable and cheap looking toiletries in the name of saving the environment? I say probably. International Hotels Group, parent of Holiday Inn and many other brands, is about to find out.

Will Monster Energy Drink get squashed like the Golden State Warriors by the Toronto Raptors? Check out my interview with CBC Radio to find out.

Some thoughts in addition to those shared yesterday in the interview:

Mastercard is drowning in their own Kool-Aid if they think their new nameless logo, which they call their Symbol, represents Mastercard better than the word “Mastercard.”

That said, my first question upon hearing of the logo change was whether people would recognize the Symbol as being Mastercard. So I did three very quick person-in-the-street interviews, showing each individual the new, nameless logo and asking them: “What brand is this?”

All three answered “Mastercard.” Instantly.

So, Mastercard’s claim that 80% of people recognize the Symbol unaided seems credible.

This is a triumph of visual communication, to be sure. One only arrived at after having the courage to stick with essentially the same logo for 50 years. But what value will this change ultimately accrue to the bottom line?

It’s up to Mastercard’s CMO and his agency to show us the money. The biggest boost, at least for now, will come from the buzz and respect this brand will receive as one of the world’s few – including Mercedes, Apple and McDonalds, for example – that can communicate visually without a name.

Also for the moment, back to Mastercard’s belief that their logo is more important than language. Back to their claim that the Symbol represents Mastercard better than the word “Mastercard.”

Well, I think there actually may be something that represents this brand better than its name. But it’s not an image. It’s a word: Priceless.

To align with their new strategy, Weight Watchers has changed their name to WW. What do I think of the new moniker?

According to LinkedIn, you’re all saying the same thing in your profiles. But: you and I both know you have a unique gift. How, then, to express it differently?

That’s what Attract is all about, and what Meegan Read and I talked about on CBC Radio One yesterday, here:

Happy Easter everyone,

If you happen to be near a radio later this afternoon or in the morning, a short interview I did with Paul Haavardsrud of CBC Radio One will air during their business segment.  I provided some opinion regarding potential damage to Air Canada’s brand, in light of the baggage-tossing incident captured on video here and watched more than 1.2 million times.

My short answer:  it is very difficult to change what people think of you.  The baggage may have been bashed, but Air Canada will suffer no measurable damage – because this incident aligns with the narrative that Canadians already have in their heads.

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IN THE MEDIA:  Andris Pone comment on the Super Bowl, WestJet, Tim Hortons, Lululemon, Indigo and more.
BOOK:  Buy the #1 Globe and Mail bestselling Brand: It Ain’t the Logo or download a free chapter.