After a decade of hype from Meier's former company, MicroProse , Meier's name has become a powerful videogame brand name, associated with brainy strategy games.

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They've adopted a brand-name strategy devoid of their own technology.

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Gilmour says his marketing strategy, launching next year, will make the brand a household name.

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Mike Kostoff, a brokerage consultant and managing partner at Kostoff Group, says the strategy seems sound, and using the Merrill Lynch brand instead of Bank of America's name could help the online product succeed.

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