William Chong

Woolworth’s rebranding seems to be increasingly problematic, as AppleInsider reports:

Attorneys for Apple have begun a legal response against the largest supermarket chain in Australia over a logo the electronics company says is too similar to its own iconic trademark.

Woolworths Supermarkets announced in August 2008 that it would revamp its corporate branding strategy (PDF) with a new logo, among other changes.

The Australian company has steered clear of mentioning apples in relation to its new mark, claiming the stylized ‘W’ was been paired with “an abstract leaf symbol” to represent fresh food. But others have noted its similarity to that particular fruit, including a trade publication that has twice compared the logo to a “peeling apple” (1, 2).

The weird thing is, in New Zealand they’re using the same logo but the stores will all be rebranded as “Countdown”. Countdown, which only just received a revamp in design and colour (its stores are currently a gaudy orange on flourescent green), will now be rebranded yet again with a borrowed logo from Australia. In addition all Foodtown and Woolworths stores in NZ will be turned into Countdowns.

The logo itself is clearly a stylised “W”, so it’s a bit daft to use it as a the logo for Countdown in NZ. The whole thing just seems like a marketing shambles…

Am at Sydney International furiously tapping something brief out, just before boarding call. It’s been a hectic two days and I’m on about 5 to 6 hours of sleep at the moment. The plus side is that I’ve been getting intense training to improve my writing. Discussing run-on sentences, pronoun errors, appropriate apostrophe use, writers block, the inverted pyramid, ad so on.

The minus side is that I’m tired and full-on church camp is tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I got the chance to ugly-run around the Sydney Botanical Gardens; catch the morning harbour breeze; pace fruitlessly through the tiled mezzanine layers of QVB’s toy shops; gaze slowly at the Apple store facade (mmm… candy); and eat happy Sydney food.

Happy.

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iPhone 3G. The facts are sobering.

It’s fascinating to note that vodafone.co.nz‘s servers have collapsed since 10am. Obviously this has generated interest not just from Apple lovers in New Zealand, but also those from overseas who are definitely considering flying over here just so they can be the “first in the world” to have one. I agree there’s a bit too much hype over an electronic device, and my budget isn’t looking good enough for me to splash out on a new phone (not that I need it anyways): 2-year contract plans start from $80 a month, and if you pay for the highest data plan (1G/month), you’ll be forking out $250 a month for the next two years.

Read and weep (since the main site is down):

Add it up guys – buying an 8GB iPhone 3G at the lowest pricing plan in NZ will cost you, by the end of your 2 year contract, NZ$2,469. Actually, let’s spell it out properly:

24-month contract prices:
iPhone 250 (8GB): NZ$2,469.00
iPhone 250 (16GB): NZ$2,619.00

iPhone 500 (8GB): NZ$3,569.00
iPhone 500 (16GB): NZ$3,719.00

iPhone 1GB (8GB): NZ$6,199.00
iPhone 1GB (16GB): NZ$6,349.00

Yup. I think I’ll stick to my pre-pay and my TXT2000.

I guess this will bring the demand back down to realistic levels, though I’m not convinced that all the fanboys out there will be impressed, given the less-than-happy response of pitiful pricing plans announced in other countries like Canada and Scandinavia.

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The term for this crazed rush of the masses: eager beavers.