When is it okay to change your logo?

When your brand has such a negative stigma, it can't hurt to change the logo.

If a company is truly trying to change their image, they should take some risks. It would be risky to not change every aspect of their new branding effort. If the brand loyal consumers are truly loyal, they will stick to the brand no matter what font type they use.

Walmart recently just changed their logo from a boxy font to a more feminine looking one. They are also changing the color of the font from a harsh blue to a soft blue. When The Martin Agency gained the Walmart account, they added an emotional aspect to the brand over a purely economical approach. They also did away with the dark blue spiky star in the logo. They replaced this with a soft yellow cheerful sun. Does this now mean that Walmart will make your day more cheerful because you saved a few bucks on your family?

If you could actually feel and touch the new logos, would you rather touch the spiky dark blue star or the soft yellow cheerful sun? Maybe this will pull in some new customers to the store after all. After a few months of this logo transformation it will be interesting to see if their sales and perception increase. The next step is for Microsoft Word to update their spell check option from Wal-Mart to Walmart.

A twist on insights

I believe that the role of a strategic planner is to make the ordinary into extraordinary. Really good insights do just that.

Here are some insights:




***Non-branded art: Filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns



***Non- branded art: Cappuccino Art

***Duck Tape: Stuck at prom - Duct brand duct tape scholarship contest

***Toyota: Banana leaf print advertisement

***Honda: Plant this letter direct mail piece

"This is the best hamburger I've had in a long time." -Leo Pike

There is a burger and hot dog chain restaurant in Richmond, Va that I think is an interesting brand. All of their food is apparently "famous". While "famous" might not be an added value they sure live up to their brand promise. Their hamburgers and hot dogs are made with high quality meat, which makes them taste like real meat. My friend Tristan and I were discussing what kind of restaurant we think Five Guys is classified as. Is it fast food? We knew the food was fast, but to us the connotation fast food meant something less. Also this so-called "fast food"/restaurant/chain/outstanding place adds a lot of extra value to their products for their customers. They provide an array of free toppings, which includes: grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, etc.. If this is a fast food chain joint, then why are they offering so many toppings for free? Isn't that the essence of a chain restaurant?

When the customer orders fries they put the fries in a cup in their brown paper bag. They then take the french fry scooper and dump another serving of fries into the brown paper bag. This makes the customer think that they are getting more bang for their buck. Tristan also thinks the grease that appears on the outside of the brown paper bag is added value. I agree with that disturbing pleasure. The whole point of this post is an opportunity that I think some brands are missing out on. I predict that in the future more brands will understand how small added values can add up to create a big impact in their consumers' minds.

My Brand Book

The next generation of art directors

Elephant painting an elephant

In the spirit of internship season

google is cool, BUT ChaCha is cooler

In my creative brand management class I am working on a semester long white paper project on the future of online retailing. While researching this topic I came across what I believe to be the future of the online search engine. ChaCha is the human search engine. It is the only search engine of its kind. I like to call it my personal search secretary. A live person (guide) does the searching for me. I can also chat with the live guide to help them understand exactly what I am looking for. These two-way conversations are the key to searching success. Instead of consumers talking to the brand, the brand needs to talk back. The results come out much more specific than a google search would. Another great thing about this website is that it automatically saves my searches for up to 60 days. I can't remember how many times I wish I could have gone back to previous searches.

Thank you ChaCha for making my life a whole lot easier!

Oh yeah..did I forget to mention this service is free?