Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Past and Future Evolution of Famous Brand Logos

Alright, logo pigs—shuffle up to the trough for your latest meal. A fun little feature over at StockLogos.com looks at the evolution of some famous corporate logos, and tongue-in-cheek predictions for what they might look like in the future. The joke started with Starbucks around the time of its new logo—with people suggesting the zoom-in approach would eventually produce just a green dot. Several other logos get similarly simplified treatments in the StockLogos collection, but others get more ominous tweaks. Check out the Firefox logo in 2050, for example—seems the world is all ocean. Via Neatorama.

(Via AdFreak.)

How Storytelling Compares to Corporate Speak

Lou Hoffman’s telling infographic has been making the rounds this week. In the blog post in which he introduced it, he writes: ‘… we contend there’s often a gap between the content developed by the PR function and the type of content needed by journalists, bloggers and other influencers. Our infographic strives to capture this disconnect.
business-communication.jpg

(Via A Storied Career.)

Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles of Good Design

(Via @Issue Journal of Business & Design.)

Taller Intensivo de Creatividad

Coordinación: Mandrini, Elisa
Cuerpo docente: Sapoznik, Marcelo
Fecha de Inicio: Miércoles 26 de Octubre
Horarios: 26, 27 y 28 de Octubre de 14 a 18 hs.
Objetivos específicos del curso: Este taller de creatividad está diseñado para que los participantes adquieran una metodología para la generación de nuevas ideas de diseño a través de diferentes técnicas y herramientas que ayudarán a expresar el potencial creativo innato existente en cada uno, aprendiendo a crear un marco mental propicio y una variedad de estímulos para potenciar el poder mental creativo y resolver problemas tanto de diseño gráfico, industrial, arquitectónico como así también cuestiones cotidianas.
Temario:

Marco teórico
La creatividad y la resolución de problemas
¿Por qué utilizar técnicas de creatividad?
Generación de ideas creativas
Tipología de actividades para la generación de ideas
Principios clave para la estimulación creativa
Relacionar problemas, soluciones y actividades
Evaluación y selección de ideas

Marco práctico

En el transcurso del Taller de Creatividad se desarrollarán actividades individuales y grupales en un clima receptivo al pensamiento creativo y de nuevas ideas.

Actividades Individuales:
Generación básica de ideas
Estimulación vinculada
Estimulación no vinculada
Combinaciones
Asociación libre
Misceláneas
Actividades grupales:
Orales
Escritas
Estimulación vinculada
Estimulación no vinculada

Aranceles:$ 458.-
Duración: 3 clases (26, 27 y 28 de Octubre de 14 a 18 hs.)
Destinatarios: Diseñadores y profesionales interesados en la temática del curso.
Documentación: Se deberá presentar una copia (de ambos lados) del título de grado.
Título a Obtener: Se otorgará certificado de asistencia a los graduados de carreras de grado con duración mínima de 4 años.
Informes e Inscripción: Secretaría de Posgrado FADU-UBA
Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón III, 4º Piso. Buenos Aires.
Teléfono 4789-6235/36  Fax: 4789-6240
E-mail: centrocap@fadu.uba.ar
http://www.posgadofadu.com.ar/

Curso Intensivo Gerenciamiento Estratégico de Marcas

Coordinación: Mandrini, Elisa 
Cuerpo docente: Sapoznik, Marcelo 

Fecha de Inicio: Lunes 7 de Noviembre, 14 hs.
Horarios: 7, 9, 10 y 11 de Noviembre de 14 a 18 hs.
Objetivos específicos del curso: Las marcas sólidas son activos valiosos, crean beneficios para sus compañías, comunidades y países. Logran esto porque, a cambio, brindan valor a sus clientes. El valor que las marcas brindan cambian la actitud del cliente, asegurando el futuro flujo de beneficios para la compañía y creando valor al negocio. Para mucha gente este intercambio es reconocido intuitivamente: nuestra propia experiencia de consumidor cotidiana y las elecciones que nosotros mismos hacemos nos demuestra el valor de una fuerte marca. Este curso está diseñado para aprender cómo maximizar el valor de una marca a largo plazo.

Temario:Introducción y conceptos básicos
Los beneficios de una marca sólida
Proceso de construcción de una marca
Componentes esenciales de una marca
Diferentes tipo de marca
Los principios del Gerenciamiento Estratégico de Marcas

Paso 1. Organizarse para el éxito
El plan de negocios
Determinación de la misión, visión y valores corporativos
Determinar el alcance del Gerenciamiento Estratégico de Marca
Establecer el equipo de trabajo del Gerenciamiento Estratégico de Marca
Definir objetivos iniciales y cronograma

Paso 2: Descubrir la Marca Actual
Beneficios de contar con una definición de la Marca Actual
Estructura de la ‘Declaración de la Marca’
Identificar y prorizar la audiencia de a marca
Obtener e interpretar la información necesaria
Lograr consenso sobre la Marca Actual

Paso 3. Definición de la Marca Deseada
Definir y analizar el mercado
Identificar y analizar la competencia
Comprender a los consumidores
Fortalezas y debilidades de la marca
Personalidad de la marca
Contrato marcario
Definición de la Marca Deseada

Paso 4. Comunicación de la Marca Deseada
Definición del posicionamiento de la marca
Identidad de marca
Cultura de marca
Puntos de contacto
Comunicaciones marcarias

Paso 5. Seguimiento a través del tiempo
Prepararse para el futuro
Comprender la marca actual (a través del tiempo)
Monitoreo del mercado
Investigaciones
Revisión anual del proceso de Gerenciamiento Estratégico de las Marcas

Aranceles:$ 572,50.-
Duración: 4 clases intensivas (7, 9, 10 y 11 de Noviembre de 14 a 18 hs.)
Destinatarios: Diseñadores y profesionales interesados en la temática del curso.
Documentación: Se deberá presentar una copia (de ambos lados) del título de grado obtenido.
Título a Obtener: Se otorgará certificado de asistencia a los graduados de carreras de grado con duración mínima de 4 años.
Informes e Inscripción: Secretaría de Posgrado FADU – UBA
Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón III, 4º Piso. Buenos Aires. teléfono 4789-6235/36
Fax: 4789-6240 – E-mail: centrocap@fadu.uba.ar
http://www.posgradofadu.com.ar

i-Wood

This wooden kids ‘laptop’ i-Wood made me chuckle. I am tempted to get one and use it during a meeting. No better way to poke fun at all the people hiding behind their laptops.

(thank you Larissa)

(Via swissmiss.)

Overcoming Negative Brand Perceptions

Brand Strategy Brand Perceptions Shopping

Brand perceptions are much more often created by the product or service experience itself than from marketing communication. Marketing communication is much more effective in building brand awareness than it is in creating or changing brand perceptions.  That is not to say that marketing communication cannot be used to help change perceptions, but it can’t do it alone and it can’t do it in the absence of real changes in the product or service experience. So, when a brand perception is negative and requires a change, that change is likely to include one or more of the following:

  • competitive strategy
  • business model
  • vertical or horizontal integration
  • hours
  • pricing strategy
  • distribution strategy
  • product functions, features and styling
  • product line breadth and depth
  • bundling/unbundling of products and services
  • product/service customization
  • amenities
  • customer service, including problem handling
  • technical support
  • internal culture
  • employee hiring criteria
  • employee training
  • performance metrics
  • common measures
  • internal systems and procedures
  • capital investments

These all require the support of the organization’s CEO and his or her leadership team. So the main point in this post is that brand repositioning is not just a marketing activity. It goes well beyond marketing communication and requires real changes in product/service delivery across multiple functions. This is an enterprise-wide activity that must be driven from the top to be successful.

(Via Branding Strategy Insider.)

Moët & Chandon: Message On A Bottle

09 14 11 moet

This premium champagne special-edition gift set comes with a marker to personalize your present. Check it out below!

(Via TheDieline.com: Package Design.)

Nextel New Logo: X Connects the Spot

Nextel Logo, Before and After

Although most of us here in the U.S. associate Nextel with the now defunct company that merged with Sprint in 2005, which basically stopped pushing the Nextel brand at the consumer level, there is a whole alternate universe of Nextel-branded mobile services in Latin America. First extended as Nextel de Mexico in 1998, the company changed to NII Holdings in 2002 and now oversees the Nextel brand in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Chile. Employing more than 14,000 people, NII Holdings counts with 9.84 million subscribers. This week, the company introduced a new identity designed by the San Francisco office of Landor.

‘The new slogan, ‘Your world. Now’ (‘Tu mundo. Ahora’ in Spanish and ‘Seu mundo. Agora’ in Portuguese) builds on the brand’s existing business focus while emphasizing the relevance for personal as well as business use,’ said Greg Santoro, NII’s executive vice president and chief marketing and strategy officer. ‘Our new visual identity uses connectors derived from the ‘x’ in the company’s new logo that are meant to join ideas and focus attention. They express the professional and personal nature of our network and provide tremendous flexibility to deliver our message to customers while maintaining a clearly recognizable visual language that expresses how the brand connects customers to what’s important to them,’ Santoro said.
Press Release [PDF]

Nextel

The new identity system, which begins rolling out today, features a lower-case Nextel word mark set in a customized, orange typeface. The ‘X’ in the center is made up of ‘the connector,’ or two arrowheads pointed at each other to frame ideas and personal stories of customers.
Landor Press Release

60-second TV spot. In Portuguese.

Nextel

Nextel

The old Nextel logo was as plain as cell phones used to look in the late 1990s so it’s very welcome to see a new version. The new logo strikes all the trendy chords: lowercase, bold sans serif, ‘l’s with a little flare at the bottom, orange. The wordmark is nicely done and it has a nice weight to it. The ‘x’ is the item up for debate, I think you either hate it or love it. My initial reaction is to hate it because of the weird extended space it occupies but that’s really just me expecting an ‘x’ to take up half the space this one does. After seeing how the ‘x’ transforms into ‘the connector’ I like it more. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. In the TV spot the connecting idea comes alive and I like how it’s subtle and moody, rather than all jumpy and fast, and even in static applications you get exactly what it’s trying to do. I wish the tagline supported this idea more, instead of the overly generic your-world thing, which could apply to any other mobile provider. Overall, a great redesign and repositioning for what was looking like a completely stale brand.

Nextel

Logo of NII Holdings, the parent company.

Quick note on the parent company logo. Big improvement, although it’s hard not to read it as Xnii.

(Via Brand New.)

Do You Deliver On Your Brand Promise?

McDonalds Advertising
 
To the degree your brand meets the expectation of your customers, will define the true value by which your brand is measured.

I absolutely love these fast food images from a blog called Alphaila. (There are more if you have the time to visit.) They are perfect for illustrating the false promises brands can make to their audience/customers.  Now I am not picking on these fast food brands, I want to know how anyone continues to believe they will receive the product as promised, when the reality is so starkly different. Especially when people are in the store consuming the sorry reality right in front of a large poster beautifully illustrating the fantasy. Don’t these fast food companies realize that what they promise is a big fat lie?

Promises matter to people. If you don’t deliver what you promise to people, in time, you won’t matter to them. This is true in every product category. This is true in all walks of life.  More importantly, in our social media crazed world, vetting out broken promises made to consumers has instant ramifications to the credibility and trajectory of your brand’s perceived value.

Advertising images make implicit promises. When the product doesn’t match up to the advertised promise, isn’t that like cheating, or on some level, stealing from people’s hopes? Perhaps most advertising (in any form) is useless crap. Maybe brands can get away with this sort of thing because nobody is really paying attention anyway. But it’s worth thinking about… sh*t or shinola.

Like these brutally honest images, ask yourself if there is some part of your marketing and visual messaging that over-promises and under-delivers. In what ways could your marketing imagery be breeding mistrust and degrading your brand’s value?

Think about it.

Big Mac Advertising
 
Burger King Advertising
 
Taco Bell Advertising
 

(Via Branding Strategy Insider.)