Warmer, Fuzzier: The Refreshed Logo
Bill Marsh and Alicia Parlapiano
Published: May 30, 2009
The world economy is in mid-swan dive. Wallets are in lockdown. So how does a company get people to feel just a little bit better about buying more stuff? (And perhaps burnish a brand that has taken some public relations lumps?)
Behold the new breed of corporate logo — non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like. Not emblems of distant behemoths, but faces of friends.
“A logo is to a company what a face is to a person,” said Michel Tuan Pham, a professor of marketing at the Columbia Business School. “It’s hard to memorize facts about a person when you only know their name but you haven’t seen their face.” So logos remind consumers about companies’ traits and pluck at emotions — “the glue that ties all the information about the brand name together,” Mr. Pham said.
The economy, environment, image repair — new logos may address all of these. They are also meant to stand out in a crowd, but there are striking similarities among recent redesigns.
TONED-DOWN TYPE Bold, block capital letters are out. Their replacements are mostly or entirely lower case, softening the stern voice of corporate authority to something more like an informal chat.
“Logos have become less official-looking and more conversational,” said Patti Williams, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “They’re not yelling. They’re inviting. They’re more neighborly.”
Blogs and e-mail, Ms. Williams said, may be encouraging a quieter, calmer, lower-case branding vernacular. Who isn’t tired of screeds that assault the reader via THE CAPS LOCK KEY?
Letterforms in many new emblems are lighter and rounder — an extended family of homogenized fonts that would be comfortable on a local newsletter or generic Web page.
FRIENDLY FLOURISHES Kraft Foods has joined Amazon.com and Hasbro, all represented by logos that smile. And to further lighten the corporate mood, whimsy in the form of sprigs and bursts has been appended to several big brands.
Wal-Mart’s old mark was navy blue, but it felt Red State. The company has been under heavy attack for its labor and environmental practices, bruising its brand in bluer quarters.
A major image overhaul is under way, and a new logo is starting to appear across the country. The military-style Wal-Mart star has given way to a yellow twinkle that punctuates a new message: this is a company that cares, with fast and friendly service and a fresh, innovative outlook, according to Linda Blakley, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
Ms. Williams, of Wharton, said the softer Wal-Mart logo serves another purpose: to stand apart from the bright reds and louder typography of its main competitors, Kmart and Target. While Target’s design says bold and cutting-edge, Wal-Mart’s sends a signal that it is approachable and sincere, she said.
HAPPIER COLORS “The economy is the No. 1 influence this year,” said John H. Bredenfoerder, a color expert and design director at Landor Associates, the brand-consulting company that produced the new Cheer detergent emblem. Amid all the gloom, he said, “people need a little joy in their lives.”
Cue the new logos: electric blue type with accents in school bus yellow, red, purple, orange and green.
Last year’s top influence, green for sustainability, remains; leaves still sprout across the corporate landscape.
Mr. Bredenfoerder said that blue was also gaining as a stand-in for the environment (think of earth’s blue orb as seen from space, or clear blue waters) as well as for fresh optimism. But please, make it a joyful sky blue — not dark, corporate-titan navy.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
If Obama Were a Brand, He'd Be a Porsche
Let’s face it. President Obama is one cool customer. Through a global economic meltdown, two wars, and a potential pandemic, Obama is a study in composure and confidence. With the intense media coverage of the First 100 Days, the President remains poised and polished. He genuinely appears to be comfortable in his own skin. At a press conference last month, Obama calmly diffused the growing panic over the Swine Flu by telling Americans to wash their hands. No kidding. And the press responded as though he had imparted great wisdom.
What’s more, Obama really seems to be enjoying himself. He is frequently seen laughing his head off with David Axelrod, or playing basketball with Reggie Love, or simply relaxing with his kids and the first family dog. In his appearances on both 60 Minutes and Jay Leno, Obama demonstrated his intellectual acumen in global matters, while tossing off jokes about everything from Air Force One to the over-protectiveness of the secret service. Last week at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Obama joked that Dick Cheney couldn't make the event because he was working on his memoir entitled “How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.” He also playfully hinted that Hilary Clinton would like very much for him to contract the Swine Flu.
Obama’s unflappable style has now crystallized into his personal brand. Like all good brand-makers, he has established his reputation through consistency, always appearing thoughtful and resolute in the face of adversity. We know Obama is reflective. We know he will speak calmly and pause before answering any questions. No wonder Saturday Night Live continues to make fun of his cool, controlled demeanor and lack of temper. In a hail storm of calamities both big and small, Obama wears sunglasses.
The branding of Obama on the digital airwaves began early and without his consent, back when the Obama Girl video hit YouTube in the summer of 2007. It was viewed at least 13 million times on YouTube, twice the number of views for any of the official campaign videos. The video was followed by the Obama Hope poster, which was created by a graffiti artist and was by definition user-generated content. The poster became an iconic campaign image for the first African American president of the United States, effectively linking Barack Obama’s image with the word Hope. In a weird Internet-culture moment, the Hope poster also went viral and together these two pieces of content seemed to solidify the pop-icon status of Barack Obama.
If you compare political branding fundamentals with that of commercial brands, you will see that the goals are not much different. Corporations desire a strong brand image in order to sell products, while politicians sell ideas. Just as Obama’s image will shape the perception of America on the world stage, the brand image of business leaders formulates the perception of their products and companies. With today’s powerful social media tools, it is critically important for corporations to develop brand personalities that positively represent the company.
There are many CEO personalities that enrich a company’s culture, and help to establish a brand’s reputation. Think of Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, Steve Jobs, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin. These companies benefit from the strong association between leader and company. Brands that do not have an iconic founder handy can still participate in this game. With the emergence of so many new social media channels, it is becoming mandatory that brands develop and groom executives to represent the company across the web. A smart and trustworthy spokesperson will become the public face of an organization, and will humanize a brand within social media circles.
Today, social media for business is like one big American Idol contest. New platforms enable companies to amplify their message and promote their best talent, but ultimately customers will vote on what they like and don’t like. Too often public chatter about a company is largely ignored by senior executives until it is too late. A company’s silence in the media-sphere creates a vacuum which is naturally filled with user commentary. A few individuals can create a great deal of pain for a brand by spreading inaccuracies and disinformation, which then gains traction through repetition across the blogosphere. Conversely, active participation by a company’s management can insulate a brand from one-sided, unflattering content. Brand perception can be influenced by engaging directly with customers through many digital channels.
Obama is the first president to extend his brand image through social media. In a role reversal of the usual formula, the new administration is leading, rather than following private industry with the adoption of social media. The tech-savvy Obama team has established a presence on many networks including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn, YouTube, and iTunes. They have even created an official White House flickr channel to disseminate photographs in real time, along with a White House blog. With these initiatives, Obama has ushered in a new generation of leadership. He is creating a government that is accessible and participatory, using multiple Internet channels to quickly and effectively connect with the public.
Our business leaders have to be on the forefront of this movement as well. We need to understand Internet technology, mobile platforms, and the inherent ramifications of social media, and become active members in these communities. We are fast becoming a micro blogging culture, where the minutia of everyday life is shared with the world. Some call this the era of social colonization, where all products and services are reviewed by consumers in real time. Relinquishing the idea that it’s possible to control all brand communications is the first step to understanding the new rules of the game. We do know that customers expect to hear from brands on a consistent basis. Companies that satisfy this need will move forward quickly and experience a whole new level of customer engagement. Those who do not will continue to struggle.
One thing great leaders and great brands have in common is transparency. If you’ve delivered on the promise of the brand, then people will believe in you and they will trust you. That’s how you know that your branding is working. And although we have still difficult days ahead, the polls continue to show that as a nation we are feeling very hopeful. That’s how you know that leadership is working.
Ironically, journalists have likened Obama’s style to both Abraham Lincoln and Spock from Star Trek. A few publications have written extensively on the Spock analogy, describing the president’s ability to balance his finely tuned intelligence with a talent for restoring order and inspiring confidence. In the new Star Trek prequel, Spock’s father tells him “You will always be a child of two worlds.” Just like Obama, who was recently called “a cultural translator” by Salon magazine. That my friends, is branding.
What’s more, Obama really seems to be enjoying himself. He is frequently seen laughing his head off with David Axelrod, or playing basketball with Reggie Love, or simply relaxing with his kids and the first family dog. In his appearances on both 60 Minutes and Jay Leno, Obama demonstrated his intellectual acumen in global matters, while tossing off jokes about everything from Air Force One to the over-protectiveness of the secret service. Last week at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Obama joked that Dick Cheney couldn't make the event because he was working on his memoir entitled “How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.” He also playfully hinted that Hilary Clinton would like very much for him to contract the Swine Flu.
Obama’s unflappable style has now crystallized into his personal brand. Like all good brand-makers, he has established his reputation through consistency, always appearing thoughtful and resolute in the face of adversity. We know Obama is reflective. We know he will speak calmly and pause before answering any questions. No wonder Saturday Night Live continues to make fun of his cool, controlled demeanor and lack of temper. In a hail storm of calamities both big and small, Obama wears sunglasses.
The branding of Obama on the digital airwaves began early and without his consent, back when the Obama Girl video hit YouTube in the summer of 2007. It was viewed at least 13 million times on YouTube, twice the number of views for any of the official campaign videos. The video was followed by the Obama Hope poster, which was created by a graffiti artist and was by definition user-generated content. The poster became an iconic campaign image for the first African American president of the United States, effectively linking Barack Obama’s image with the word Hope. In a weird Internet-culture moment, the Hope poster also went viral and together these two pieces of content seemed to solidify the pop-icon status of Barack Obama.
If you compare political branding fundamentals with that of commercial brands, you will see that the goals are not much different. Corporations desire a strong brand image in order to sell products, while politicians sell ideas. Just as Obama’s image will shape the perception of America on the world stage, the brand image of business leaders formulates the perception of their products and companies. With today’s powerful social media tools, it is critically important for corporations to develop brand personalities that positively represent the company.
There are many CEO personalities that enrich a company’s culture, and help to establish a brand’s reputation. Think of Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, Steve Jobs, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin. These companies benefit from the strong association between leader and company. Brands that do not have an iconic founder handy can still participate in this game. With the emergence of so many new social media channels, it is becoming mandatory that brands develop and groom executives to represent the company across the web. A smart and trustworthy spokesperson will become the public face of an organization, and will humanize a brand within social media circles.
Today, social media for business is like one big American Idol contest. New platforms enable companies to amplify their message and promote their best talent, but ultimately customers will vote on what they like and don’t like. Too often public chatter about a company is largely ignored by senior executives until it is too late. A company’s silence in the media-sphere creates a vacuum which is naturally filled with user commentary. A few individuals can create a great deal of pain for a brand by spreading inaccuracies and disinformation, which then gains traction through repetition across the blogosphere. Conversely, active participation by a company’s management can insulate a brand from one-sided, unflattering content. Brand perception can be influenced by engaging directly with customers through many digital channels.
Obama is the first president to extend his brand image through social media. In a role reversal of the usual formula, the new administration is leading, rather than following private industry with the adoption of social media. The tech-savvy Obama team has established a presence on many networks including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn, YouTube, and iTunes. They have even created an official White House flickr channel to disseminate photographs in real time, along with a White House blog. With these initiatives, Obama has ushered in a new generation of leadership. He is creating a government that is accessible and participatory, using multiple Internet channels to quickly and effectively connect with the public.
Our business leaders have to be on the forefront of this movement as well. We need to understand Internet technology, mobile platforms, and the inherent ramifications of social media, and become active members in these communities. We are fast becoming a micro blogging culture, where the minutia of everyday life is shared with the world. Some call this the era of social colonization, where all products and services are reviewed by consumers in real time. Relinquishing the idea that it’s possible to control all brand communications is the first step to understanding the new rules of the game. We do know that customers expect to hear from brands on a consistent basis. Companies that satisfy this need will move forward quickly and experience a whole new level of customer engagement. Those who do not will continue to struggle.
One thing great leaders and great brands have in common is transparency. If you’ve delivered on the promise of the brand, then people will believe in you and they will trust you. That’s how you know that your branding is working. And although we have still difficult days ahead, the polls continue to show that as a nation we are feeling very hopeful. That’s how you know that leadership is working.
Ironically, journalists have likened Obama’s style to both Abraham Lincoln and Spock from Star Trek. A few publications have written extensively on the Spock analogy, describing the president’s ability to balance his finely tuned intelligence with a talent for restoring order and inspiring confidence. In the new Star Trek prequel, Spock’s father tells him “You will always be a child of two worlds.” Just like Obama, who was recently called “a cultural translator” by Salon magazine. That my friends, is branding.
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