The Latest Logo Design Trends
Question: What do “Supernova,” “Doodles,” and “Jawbreakers” have in common?
Answer: They’re all branding design trends.
So says brand expert Bill Gardner, president of Gardner Design, one of the nation’s top branding firms, with clients that include Fortune 500s such as Chrysler, Hallmark, Cessna Aircraft, and Kroger.
Gardner released his sixth annual report of logo trends in GD USA, a national design magazine. The report discusses 15 trends found all over the world and provides insights on how they may influence customers.
One trend, “Facets,” is composed of logos that remind the viewer of highly polished gems. Another is called “Animotion.” These moving logos are designed for the online audience.
What else does Gardner see among these trends?
- Clean, simple, more succinct identities–in type, in line, in color.
- Getting “metricized”: Increasing value of design on the bottom line.
- Less emphasis on “greenness” in logo design. It is not that unique anymore.
- More vivid colors. Out with desaturation; in with chroma.
- Less is more common: less calligraphy, Photoshop tricks, artificial highlights.
- Found pattern and illustration still hanging on.
Seeing all this, what’s his advice on logo design? “The key is to study the trends, then evolve forward — as far forward as you can leap — from them,” he says.
For a branding resource offering a database of more than 75,000 logos: LogoLounge.com
For a look at emerging trends: http://www.logolounge.com/trends
Christine Babick is a marketing strategist and linguist specializing in marketing language, website text, “emo copy,” and cause and relationship marketing. More…
More FROM Starbucks or More FOR Starbucks?
In the slow season, believe it or not there is a slow season, at Starbucks, the company recently announced they will be offering samplings of summer beverages to increase traffic throughout the summer season.
These sampling events have been in progress in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Washington for a few weeks and consumers are getting free small iced coffees on specific days with some restrictions. Is this a good marketing strategy or simply a way to boost sales?
Another summer promotion from Starbucks, that has a different twist on it throughout the country, is the offering a cold grande beverage for $2 in the afternoon if you have a Starbucks receipt from that morning.
Are you in a city offering one of these sampling promotions? What do you think? Are these sampling promotions helping to increase sales?
What do you think of the other discount promotions? Would you go back in the afternoon for a second caffeine kick?
Source: AdAge
Amy is a blogger at Talent Zoo’s website: www.beneaththebrand.com. She really enjoys researching creative marketing, public relations and advertising ideas and techniques and is always on the search for cool ads!
You can’t lose weight running your mouth.
Ever since the pseudo-documentary movie “Super Size Me” came out, bashing fast food restaurants has become as trendy as Croc sandals. But now it’s gotten ridiculous.
In a recent news article, city councilwoman, Jan Perry, is proposing banning fast food franchises from opening in her Los Angeles district because too many of her constituents are obese.
Despite the fact that most fast food restaurants serve healthy meals and side dishes, Perry seems to think that inviting chains like Marie Calender’s to South Central L.A. serves her public better than fast food restaurants. Never mind that Jared lost 245 pounds eating only at Subway. Or that one man actually lost 80 pounds eating only at McDonalds. Blaming fast food restaurants seems to be easier than cutting back on soft drinks and exercising.
This situation reminds of the famous saying from “Slick Willie” Sutton who was asked why he robbed banks. His answer: “Because that’s where the money is.” If “fresh” food franchises could make a profit operating in this South Central L.A. district, they would probably already be there.
Banning free enterprise is not the answer to curing obesity. Perry would do better to follow the tobacco industry solution and impose a fast food tax that could then be spent on educating the public on how to live a healthier life. To lose weight, you have to spend less time running your mouth and more time running your legs.
Karl Gromelski is a copywriter at sgdp who frequents fast food restaurants all the time but watches what he eats.
Technorati Tags: Jan Perry, banning fast food, South Central L.A.
Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover…Or Should You?
Over the weekend, I went with some old friends from college to eat at this little “hole in the wall” seafood restaurant in St. Augustine. When I say St. Augustine, I say that loosely because the address may technically be St. Augustine but the restaurant is in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around it for miles. It sits on a portion of the St. John’s River that has extremely black, dark water and alligators. When you first drive up to the place, the parking lot is packed, which is always a good sign for a restaurant, but the building itself looks like a shack. Now, in fairness, “shack” is part of the restaurant’s name, so this may or may not be on purpose. When you walk into the restaurant it is very rustic, and the outside area isn’t anything to speak of either. The food, however, is amazing. This experience made me think of the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Then it led me to think about how marketing is the direct opposite. Marketing and advertising puts products and services in pretty little packages, which attract buyers. Sometimes when you open the packages there truly are great products and services inside, but sometimes the package is much prettier than what’s inside. That’s what marketing is. It is the process of capturing “lookers.” Lookers of the pretty packages need to do their own research to find out if what is inside is as pretty and worthwhile as the package.
Kristie Lorette is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the financial services, mortgage, real estate, event planning and non-profit industries. Kristie holds a BS in marketing, BS in multinational business and an MBA. You can learn more about Kristie and her expertise by visiting her website www.studiokwriting.com.
Blogs Improve Productivity
Many companies have created a blog for employees to collaborate and share ideas. In fact, these types of blogs have replaced those “reply all” emails that clog up everyone’s email inbox. The outcome of companies that use blogs - the employees are more productive!
- Easy way to tell a story. Whether the story is a new product update or a change in policy, in 10 minutes (sometimes less and sometimes more) management can have it posted on a blog for all to see.
- Collaboration. Employees can read posts from fellow employees and management, post replies to the posts and on and on.
- White board. Blogs are the replacement of the White Board. Ideas can be posted. Internal communication can take place. Employees can be involved.
- All media options. Text, pictures, documents, presentations, and more can all be posted to a blog. Blogs eliminate the problem of emailing an attachment that nobody can seem to download or sending an email at all because it’s all right there on the blog!
Read this case study about a company who traded in an Intranet system for a blog system, which increased employee participation by 20%, 100s of 1000s of dollars in savings, and created more effective communication among employees.
Kristie Lorette is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the financial services, mortgage, real estate, event planning and non-profit industries. Kristie holds a BS in marketing, BS in multinational business and an MBA. You can learn more about Kristie and her expertise by visiting her website www.studiokwriting.com.
IBM Drives the Bandwagon
Kristie Lorette is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the financial services, mortgage, real estate, event planning and non-profit industries. Kristie holds a BS in marketing, BS in multinational business and an MBA. You can learn more about Kristie and her expertise by visiting her website www.studiokwriting.com.
Race Fans Welcome!
I spent the weekend in
Kristie Lorette is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the financial services, mortgage, real estate, event planning and non-profit industries. Kristie holds a BS in marketing, BS in multinational business and an MBA. You can learn more about Kristie and her expertise by visiting her website www.studiokwriting.com.
Other Uses for Starbucks: An Eco-Friendly Solution
With the recent news of 600 Starbucks stores closing, Starbucks is using alternative and very creative marketing messages to continue to sell and promote the Starbucks brand (and get you in the doors to buy a skim latte!).
Now, more than just your taste buds can enjoy the Starbucks experience; your garden can also take part in its enriching experience. Starbucks developed “Grounds For Your Garden,” a program that reuses coffee grounds for composting, says Trendhunter.
Starbucks now offers free bags (made of recycled materials of course) of coffee ground waste to customers, parks, schools and nurseries as an initiative for waste reduction on a first come first serve basis.
This is a great asset to Starbucks and the environment as coffee grounds make up the heaviest portion of waste in Starbucks.
What do you think? Creative marketing? Eco-friendly brand?
Source: Trendhunter
2 Interactive Coasters!
Advertising meets the coasters at your favorite local hang out!
What do you think of the following not only very creative displays of coaster advertising but also interactive?
1. Nicorette: Kick it!
According to Ads of the World, when smoking was banned in pubs in Australia, Nicorette created a coaster that could be turned into goal posts to give people something to do with their hands instead of smoke.
What do you think of the play on words with kicking and goals and “kicking the habit?”
Source: Ads of the World
2. Lowes: Build it!
These Lowes coasters were strategically placed at local bars. They were meant not only to be used as a coaster but also for users to interact and actually build with.
Source: Frederik Samuel
What do you think of the idea of using coasters for advertising?
Which one above do you like the best?
Are they effective? Does the interaction aspect of the coasters make them more so?
Express yourself! (By removing parts of your expression)
So last week I went to a routine dermatologist appointment. No super big deal, I just had some spots for her to check out and that was that. Lately though, I’ve noticed some lines on my forehead. Granted, I’m only 21 but I just wanted some helpful hints to decrease the lines for when I’m older. Naturally I was waiting for my doctor to suggest maybe sunscreen, some moisturizer, the usual OTC items or tell me I was completely crazy. The first thing out of her mouth –”BOTOX! I’ll be right back with a quote. Honestly I thought it would be much more expensive but she assured me “Beauty is priceless”. Personally, the sound of needles stabbing me in various spots on my forehead does not seem appealing in the least. I like my expressions and I’d rather be doomed to a life of using the “blur” tool in order to stay forever young. And as my life normally does parallel with infoMANIA of CurrentTV, leave it to “Target Women” to reinforce my feelings (that I am proud to express even with the nooks and crannies) towards BOTOX!
That Brand Makes $¢ents:Part III
In a third and final entry about scent branding, also called “aroma branding” or “olfactory branding”… 
You can build brand loyalty with fragrance, but you can’t just slap a scent to a product:
–Match the scent with the product, customers
–Base it on values, positioning, and personality of brand
–Fit into the environment; smell authentic. Ex: Landor works with P&G and helps them to decide on a fragrance for a detergent from a branding standpoint. Is the fragrance right according to the positioning of the detergent?”
–Is it a masculine or a feminine brand? This distinction can lead to different fragrances. A masculine character will require building around leather, musk, tobacco, wood, amber or chocolate. A feminine one to leads to more floral, fruity, sweet, or spicy.
But you have to be careful. Long-term exposure to a particular scent lessens its effectiveness, and you need “cultural sense”—smells have different associations in different cultures.
The smell of nature after the first rain creates positive associations, especially in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where people look for rain. However, how do you think people from the United Kingdom who have rains for a good part of the year feel about the smell of rain?
The smell of shisha, curry, and coconut, might be yummy for some parts of the world, but it may not appeal to other cultures.
Curcuma is a common cooking spice in India but it can be something exotic and different in other parts of the world.
What to do? Stick to smells that are “international.”
Christine Babick is a marketing strategist and linguist specializing in marketing language, website text, “emo copy,” and cause and relationship marketing. More…
That Brand Makes $¢ents: Part II
They say the nose knows. And some corporations are starting to get a whiff of the power of scent branding when it comes to their brand strategy.
A relatively new approach within the realm of experiential branding, some companies have wielded the power of scent branding for a long time. The fashion industry has used scent as a brand identifier. Victoria’s Secret has long used fragrance as part of the sensory environment in their stores. Others:
Johnson & Johnson: Recognizable as the clean baby smell because of its baby lotion and baby powder.
Crayola Crayons: Offers a nostalgic trip back to childhood. Unconvinced? Crayola’s smell is ranked 18 among the 20 most recognizable smells in the US.
Memories, imagination, old sentiments and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel. Humans have the ability to differentiate more than 10,000 odors.
So now you can see why more companies are looking to scents as a way to negotiate through the cluttered advertising/media environment and distinguish their brands from the competition.
What’s the most universal appetizing smell in the world?
Roasted chicken.
Christine Babick is a marketing strategist and linguist specializing in marketing language, website text, “emo copy,” and cause and relationship marketing. More…
Roots “FLICK OFF” Campaign
Made you look didn’t it! Did you think the above was telling you to “[BLEEP] OFF”? It says, “Flick Off,” as in flick off the power when not in use.
There’s a good chance quite a few of you had to do a double-take or look a little closer. That’s exactly what Roots wants you to think when you see it on a t-shirt worn by a friend or even a random passerby. The image above is part of Roots campaign to make the environment better off by conserving energy and make people become more conscious about taking better care of the environment.
For those of you unfamiliar with Roots, that’s okay. It’s a Canadian brand that hasn’t quite made its way into the cerebral real estate of American consumers yet. “Roots is Canada’s leading lifestyle brand known around the world for its wide range of quality leather goods, clothing and accessories.” (Source: www.roots.ca)
I LOVE Roots’ “FLICK OFF” campaign. Currently, it is my favorite campaign.
1. It brings conscious awareness to environmentalism without having some extreme nut job scare the bejesus out of you by his or her preaching or rants and raves.
2. The slogan is simple: “FLICK OFF.” The message is clear. Flick off (turn off) your lights, power, etc. when they are not in use.
3. The font of “FLICK OFF” makes the brain take notice and most likely do a double take. It’s creating a memory node with a better chance of registering and storing in your memory bank compared to the hundreds of messages you see daily.
3. The “O” in “OFF” represents a power button. Pretty clever and relevant to the message. Power requires energy. If you have a Mac computer just look at the power button. It is the same as the “O.”
4. The shirts have more than just the “FLICK OFF” message. Here are a few of the messages: “STOP THE GLOBAL MELTDOWN: FLICK OFF”; “TAKE ACTION, CHANGE THE WORLD, STOP GLOBAL WARMING, SUPPORT ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: FLICK OFF”
5. The campaign has made me more aware of my own energy usage and has me trying to conserve energy as often as possible.
My only real critique of the campaign is that the “FLICK OFF” slogan doesn’t necessarily make one associate it with Roots. From a branding perspective, that’s a bit chancy. However, not every piece of apparel needs to slap its name/logo on the front of a shirt. In fact, I prefer most apparel brands don’t do that. You don’t see a Banana Republic button down with “BANANA REPUBLIC” pasted on the front of it (or on the back for that matter). On the simple view of it all though, it’s the message being conveyed that is most important not the brand. That’s what Roots has set out to do with its “FLICK OFF” campaign and that’s what it is achieving even if it is only one person at a time.
Adios,
Michael
PS-For the record, I have a few of these shirts and I often have people say to me, “whoa. At first I thought your shirt said something else.”
Technorati Tags: Flick Off, Apparel, energy conservation, environment, Roots, Roots Canada
Off Road Vehicles = Off Road Advertising
“Off road” vehicles take this outdoor rugged message to their most recent ad campaigns.
The following two ads are from Mercedes Benz. The G-Class line of vehicles stands for perfect performance in every vehicle; therefore the company used rocks and sand in their most recent ad campaign to get this message across to consumers.
What do you think of the ads? Do they get the message across?
Have you seen any other brands that have used this advertising technique? I think there are many other brands out there that could take advantage of this technique of advertising. You?
Can AT&T Handle the Pressure?
I admit it, I can’t wait to jump on the Apple bandwagon as soon as the 3G Iphone comes out. I’m an AT&T customer and I’m eligible for a phone upgrade on June 24th and I’ve already conceded that I will be buying the 3G Iphone.
Historically, Apple is a beloved brand that can’t seem to go wrong. Even with the ridiculous price of the 1st generation Iphone last year, followed by immediate discounts and missing features, Apple is still king. While I anxiously await the coming of the 3G Iphone, I can’t help but think that the real pressure is on AT&T. Can the 3G network that the masses of new Iphone users will be surfing on handle the load? Will the new activation program that has to occur mostly in-store be a seamless, apple-esque process? Gizmodo and the NY Times have raised the same question.
AT&T’s coverage for 3G is acceptable in most major metropolitan areas is acceptable but what about the outlying areas. Throw on the multitude of new Iphone users who have proven to use twice as much data as other users and we’ll see what happens. Good luck AT&T, I’m not sure the good graces of Apple will be enough to save you if you fail.
That Brand Makes $¢ents: Part I
Sometime in 1968, I was standing on a chair at a table spooning out heaps of chocolate powder from a large tin container of Nestle’s QUICK into my glass of milk, making a big mess. Suddenly, on the radio, a Beatles song began playing: “Help…I need somebody, help….not just anybody, help…you know I need someone…help…” and then the melodic part: “When I was younger so much younger than today…”
Now in my adult life, every single time I hear that song, whether in the car, in the mall, or at a party…I smell the distinct scent of that luscious dry Nestle’s chocolate powder, and a happy childhood memory makes time stand still for me.
Bottling this experience is what some brands are now trying to do. While some “scent marketing” comes naturally, such as Cinnabon using the scent of its fabulous cinnamon buns to lure passersby to want to have a cinnamon bun, there is a type of scent marketing that is synthetic. Not two-faced, but two-nosed, if you will.
Rachel Herz, author of “The Scent of Desire,” explains how some stores are using smell to enhance the purchase environment. She says smell is the retailer’s dream.
Cinnabon is also actually one of many retailers known to pump synthetic smells into its immediate environment to entice customers. KFC is doing it, and Exxon On The Run has been adding a coffee scent to their brewing kiosks. And their sales have increased 55 percent for coffee.
Hermann Behrens, CEO Middle East, The Brand Union, said: “83 per cent of the commercial communication we’re exposed to everyday is crafted to appeal to just our eyes….The branding trend is moving towards experience and everyday it is becoming more and more difficult to reach out to audiences through different touch points.”
For an interview with Rachel Herz revealing fascinating research into scents and human reactions: http://www.nerve.com/screeningroom/books/interview_rachelherz/
Christine Babick is a marketing strategist and linguist specializing in marketing language, website text, “emo copy,” and cause and relationship marketing. More…
Social Media Mistakes According to Jaffe
During a recent integrated advertising conference, Joseph Jaffe has provided an interesting perspective on Social Media mistakes made by some of the top marketers: Sprint, Sony, T-mobile, Target and Starbucks. Jaffe has been challenging corporations and individuals to harness the power of social media and new opportunities for one to one communication. I think it’s a challenge to all of us, to bring our brands to the conversation. This age of conversation is an open door for brands to change the game and truly interact with consumers. Are you up for the challenge?
Head over to AdAge for the Video.
Marketing Myth #1
Some think that marketing is a set of formulas and rules, that when followed like a chemistry formula, will produce positive results. Marketing is actually the direct opposite of this. Marketing creates its own rules and successes because what may work for one company may not work for another. What may work one time may not work the next time. Marketing is a testing process. Remember to always keep everything constant and change one thing when doing your marketing testing.
For example, if you are trying to test a direct marketing message on different age groups in your database, then you would keep the message the same for every mailing. You are changing the age groups who receive the message. On the other hand, if you want to test the message itself, then you would change the message for each mailing, keeping the recipients of the message constant.
Happy testing!
Kristie Lorette is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in the financial services, mortgage, real estate, event planning and non-profit industries. Kristie holds a BS in marketing, BS in multinational business and an MBA. You can learn more about Kristie and her expertise by visiting her website www.studiokwriting.com.
Tweet2Win
Social media has taken the marketing world by storm with sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc. An old faithful friend of marketing is a contest. Online contests are a great way to gather information from the people who are visiting your website. From one of my Twitter Followers, I learned about a contest yesterday that has these two worlds colliding. If you Twitter, then you can enter this contest to win a variety of prizes, which are drawn on a weekly basis. In order to be entered for the drawings, you have to Twitter about the contest. For an added chance to win, you can blog about the contest.
This is the perfect example of how marketing is not a one time mailing or creation of a brochure. Marketing is a process that requires multiple steps and the use of multiple mediums. In this case the use of a contest (marketing 101), Twitter (social media), and blogging (social media).
Bravo Tweet2Win!
For more information on the contest, visit www.Tweet2Win.com
Yogurt, Official Food for Women!
Majoring in Advertising for the last two years has taught me many things about the industry. I have learned about copywriting, logo development, and the value of team work. One important lesson I have yet to learn is how to target certain groups. Thanks to infoMANIA of CurrentTV, I now know how to penetrate the largest spending group of them all, women. (Gray sweat shirts, a diet reference and of course, weddings) Check out this educational video here.
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