Larry Ackerman
Feb 25, 2010
Ever wonder what is really behind this thing we call "identity? "
It's one of those words that attracts a variety of meanings, ranging from a company's name and logo, to its business definition (Fuji: We're a digital imaging company), to its image in the marketplace, to its values.
Feb 22, 2010
I’m working with a client to develop a new brand platform and thought I’d share one of the tools I used in my engagement – Brand Obituaries. The client lacks a clear brand identity and their brand seems “forgettable.” The problem is not that they don’t have good products – it’s that they no longer know what they stand for, and so neither do consumers.
Feb 2, 2010
Forty years ago, there were only a handful of truly "global brands" and they were made up of only the biggest corporations -- Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, IBM, Shell. Then a rash of upstarts came along, such as Nike, Microsoft, Apple, and Honda, and pushed their brand reputation further than their actual sales footprint. But now that barriers to international trade have come down and the Internet has helped small and mid-sized companies compete on the global stage, building an international brand is a realistic goal for more and more businesses.
Jan 29, 2010
I believe a brand is a driver and compass for the organization – it focus and aligns all decision-making and it guides what we do/don’t do and what we say/don’t say. Having a clearly articulated brand strategy ensures everyone who works on our brand shares one clear, consistent, common understanding of what our brand stands for and how it competes. And this, in turn, helps them align their behaviors and decision-making with the brand so that it is delivered through every touchpoint with the outside world.
Jan 22, 2010
A prospective client came and visited us at the Brains on Fire worldwide headquarters this week about a naming and identity project. And in our discussions talking about how a solid identity defines who you are, she also mentioned how a solid identity also defines who you AREN’T.
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
Jan 21, 2010
You know that feeling you get when watching that show, What Not to Wear? Cringing and squirming, you watch as delusional people show off some of the most hideous outfits – they think they actually look good when it is so clear they don’t. That they would be so self-unaware is unbelievable. Well, that’s how I’ve felt as I’ve witnessed the recent campaigns by two fast food restaurant chains. They may think they’re rockin’ a good thing, but they’re not – and I’m incredulous that they don’t see it.
Armin
Jan 13, 2010
I gave myself a deadline of January 15 to do a recap of identity work in the 2000s, assuming that it wouldn’t be an editorial faux pas to do a list of this sort well into the new year. So here it is. An admittedly incomplete — it would take months to do this exhaustively — compilation of the most relevant identities of the past decade. The choices are listed chronologically and there is no ranking system, they are simply there as records of the corporations, products and services that shaped the decade and the identities that helped (or didn’t help) shape their perception in consumers’ eyes and minds.
Andrew Adam Newman
Jan 5, 2010
Special K, the 54-year-old Kellogg brand, has in recent years aimed at women with its “Special K Challenge,” which recommends replacing two meals daily with cereal and curtailing snacking to lose up to six pounds in two weeks. The popularity of the plan led the brand to expand to nine flavors and develop noncereal products like frozen waffles, protein bars, crackers, shakes and powdered drink mixes that can be substituted for cereal at mealtimes or eaten as the two daily snacks the plan permits.
Despite all those products to sell, a new series of Special K commercials, by the Chicago office of Leo Burnett, part of the Publicis Groupe, features none of them.
Dec 29, 2009
2009 has been a great year for Brand New, with a bottomless source of new and redesigned identities from around the world, and we’ve all had good fun critiquing them in sickness and in health. But it all comes down to this: The Best and Worst. I have gone through all the archives and selected the top 12 in each category. There were some dead-ringers for each category and some that required a little more self-deliberation acknowledging that some identities were left off the list. And just as well, I know my selections may incite some disagreements, which are more than welcome as we bring this year to a close.
Nov 24, 2009
It’s certainly not the nicotine that has visitors returning in droves to Marlboro’s website. It’s the curation. Perhaps it's appropriate that a cigarette brand would have the right ingredients to make a website addictive. Relaunched nine months ago, the Marlboro website has surged with 1.5 million unique visitors a month. Traffic that size bounty of plenty for any site, the audience figures for Marlboro are astounding considering the brand’s restricted online presence: due to demands of state Attorneys General, the Marlboro website is gated. Visitors must register by providing their full name, address, last four Social Security digits, and indicate that they are customers of the brand.
Nov 23, 2009
AOL unveiled a "new brand identity" Sunday night.
Instead of AOL, it's "Aol." -- period included. There are also six new logos -- from a goldfish to a paint swirl. A spokesperson says more are coming.
All of it is the result of work with brand consultant Wolff Olins, which AOL hired over the summer.
AOL is spinning off from parent company Time Warner this December. Last week, it told employees it needs 2,500 of them to volunteer for layoffs. The company plans to turn itself into a next generation media company, building on the 80 or so blogs and content sites it already runs.
Nov 5, 2009
The Kayak.com travel search engine is hoping to "flip" from a well-kept secret among frequent travelers to a tool used by mainstream travelers every day.
After discovering earlier this year that 68% of consumers who use online travel sites had never heard of Kayak, the company decided to focus on marketing.
This week, Kayak is launching its first national advertising campaign on TV, online and outdoors, created by its new agency of record, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. The creative features the tagline: "Search one and done," a device that resembles the traditional destination/time flip display boards once found in train stations and airports around the world, and a new logo based on this "flippy" device.
Sep 9, 2009
Never overlook the power and importance of packaging. It is the last chance for a consumer to say yes or no to your brand. You may have done an excellent job with your brand name, PR, word-of-mouth and advertising, but if that last piece of the puzzle (the package) doesn’t fit into the consumer’s mind, you are out of luck. No sale.
Sep 8, 2009
Does where stuff gets made matter to consumers, and thus to brand identity?
I keep thinking that it does, and that it will play an ever-increasingly important role in purchase decisions. Reality hasn't quite caught up with my forecast.
Aug 19, 2009
Community marketing strategies are now common. Years of research have demonstrated that transforming customers into community members yields higher repeat purchase, greater loyalty and stronger brand advocacy. This, in turn, creates a virtuous cycle of greater brand authenticity, increased marketing efficiency and the ability to reinvest marketing dollars in building the community.
Aug 12, 2009
The folks at condom marketer Durex had an identity problem. Brand leader Trojan was known as the brand men grew up with, the "boy scout" of condoms, if you will, for its preparedness in the wallet. No. 3 LifeStyles brand is associated with the partying lounge lizard. So what's the niche for the No. 2 seller, Durex? Somewhere in between.
Aug 4, 2009
Forget about ‘positioning’, luxury is not comparative. In consumer marketing, at the heart of every brand strategy you will find the concept of positioning, of the ‘unique selling proposition’ (USP), and ‘unique and convincing competitive advantage’ (UCCA). Every classic brand has to specify its positioning, and then convey it through its products, its services, its price, its distribution and its communication. Positioning is the difference that creates the preference for a given brand over the one that it has decided to target as a source of new business and whose clients it is going to try to win over.
Jul 21, 2009
Mainstream brands such as Godrej, Shoppers Stop, India Post and CEAT Tyres have undertaken rebranding initiatives to shed their old corporate images and position themselves in a new, more modern light. Some have simply upgraded their logos, while others dug much deeper. Which leads branding enthusiasts to wonder, just what is the difference between an identity refresher and a true rebranding—and when is one, and not the other, needed?
Bill Gardner
Jul 9, 2009
These are austere times, but the logos recently loaded onto Logo Lounge.com–nearly 35,000 since 2008 – certainly do not reflect it, writes Bill Gardner. And that is how it should be. Wary homage may be paid to marketing in lean times, but not to identity design. These are two wholly different efforts with different goals. Identities should set a long-term course for clients, not fall into the pits carved out by economic phases.
Our seventh annual logo trend report, as always, is as much a forecast as it is a study of the past 12 months. The past informs the future, and the recent past has such momentum that designers would be well-advised to stay this course, even when clients are only maintaining the brands they have, not creating new ones. Business may be slow, but it does not have to be dull.
Herb Meyers and Richard Gerstman
Jul 6, 2009
The recent debates about the redesigned Tropicana orange juice packages that made a brief appearance on the market and disappeared after an outpouring of customer complaints brought to light again the need for caution when changing the packages of major brands.
Jun 25, 2009
At this point, I don't need to lament anymore the ailments of the print-newspaper industry. It's a well-chronicled and covered story.
Brad VanAuken
May 24, 2009
“We thought we’d update the logo a little.” “It’s not a new tagline. It’s just a catchy phrase that we are using instead of the tagline.” “We thought the icon would make a great decorative element.” “We are thinking about creating a new name for the organization.” “We developed a new product so we created a new brand for it.” “We created a different tagline for each audience. Pretty clever, huh?” “We were getting so tired of the old logo.” “It’s more fun to present the brand in a wide variety of colors.” “There was no room for the icon so we left it off.” “This is a funky stylized version of the logo targeted at younger audiences.”
What is it about marketers that cause them to want to create something new all of the time?
Denise Lee Yohn
May 22, 2009
To extend or not to extend? With apologies to the Bard, allow me to suggest that is the question -- for marketers. The lure of sales growth combined with lower advertising and promotion costs makes brand extensions an attractive move, but success is not guaranteed. For every brand extension win (iTunes), there are countless failures (Google print ads, Hooters airline, Bic underwear ...)
Brand extensions are risky - but by following the methods of successful extenders, marketers can increase their chances of a win. Looking at what drove recent brand extension success stories, we find the questions of why, what, and how have been carefully considered.
May 14, 2009
With all the commotion about Pepsi's recent makeover of its brand, you would think a new, fully global effort would try to strip out its old logo from every nook and cranny of the globe. Think again.
Feb 20, 2009
If the secret of becoming big and successful meant staying small, would you stay small? Making a company bigger has a way of changing a company for the
worse. There are few experienced-based retail brands that have
successfully gone from small to big without losing their brand identity
and specialness.
Feb 17, 2009
Kraft Foods today unveiled a new corporate logo and brand identity,
a move analysts say could better position the food company against
private label goods.
Davis Thinking
