Woodward Dream Cruise logo hits on all cylinders

I really like what I'm seeing over at the Woodward Dream Cruise—a new energy level and some solid thinking.

What really caught my eye was the new logo designed by renowned automotive designer, Dick Ruzzin. Is there a better way to create a visual symbol of the event than to commission someone who played such a major role in shaping automotive design? Successful branding usually starts with a story and the meaning behind this design is a history lesson in and of itself. Take a look at the Evolution of a Logo page on the Woodward Dream Cruise site for a quick overview.

For so many years the Dream Cruise drew a lot of people, but had a difficult time owning an identity. Was the perception "summer fun" or 'loud, annoying, obnoxious cars and people," or a little bit of both? This logo is crisp, fun and extremely photogenic—a huge plus when considering the merchandising opportunities. I can definitely relate to "summer fun."

There's always been a fairly big love/hate relationship that surrounds the Dream Cruise. People living near the route and business owners along Woodward who couldn't care less about classic cars generally wish the event would go away, while car enthusiasts from all over the world see the event as a cruising mecca.

Hopefully the new identity and branding can serve as a starting point in eliminating some of the hate and steer the event in a direction that is beneficial to everyone in this area. After all, cars and cruising is a major part of this region's identity. We need to embrace it and we need to make the Woodward Dream Cruise a win-win for everyone involved—otherwise it's a week-long festival for some and a seven-day traffic nightmare for others.

Brand tags

Here's a follow up to my post back in May about a site called Brand Tags.

After taking a closer look at this page my first thought is how do you really get to the core of what your brand is really all about through research. Take a look at DHL (the more a key word is referenced, the larger it appears on the list) and you'll see that the keyword "fast" is only a few font sizes more popular than "slow." How can there be such a contradiction?

Clearly when you open up something like this to the public you're going to get all kinds of inaccurate responses, but there are wide variances in opinions among even the most popular brands. I know people who love their iPhones and others who hate them. Some people prefer Coke over Pepsi and vice versa.

The key is to eliminate the fan boys and haters from your research. Their passion is on steroids and their opinions don't mirror the majority.

Music as a brand tool

"Well that's the CBC for you." Dave Hodge, former Hockey Night in Canada Studio Host

Since 1968 millions of Canadiens and Americans in the bordering states have heard the familiar theme song coming from their televisions on Saturday nights as we tuned in for Hockey Night in Canada.

Forty years later, it comes to an end. CBC decided not to re-up the rights to the song composed by Dolores Claman and its competitor CTV grabbed it up and plans to use it in its hockey programming.

Hockey Night in Canada holds a very special place in my heart and that theme song is as familiar to me as the Star Spangled Banner, Joy to the World and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. While CBC will argue that the content—the hockey—is what brings in their viewers, they're missing out on something deeper. There's a connection that we make to these games and sports that go way beyond individual games. After all, 99% of all sports games contain no memorable content over time. It's why the teams wear uniforms and have half-time shows. It's about a brand experience and for HNIC it's an experience that takes me back as long as I can remember:

--as an 8-year-old watching hockey with my dad on Saturday night. He was a Leafs fan and I rooted for the Wings—Nothing better than seeing the Original 6 on HNIC.

--as a 12-year-old playing table hockey while HNIC was playing in the background.

--as a 19-year-old grabbing some Tubby's subs and watching the first couple periods before we'd head over the border for some Windsor bar-hopping.

--as an adult watching the broadcast with my son and still feeling the chills when they rolled that theme song.

No other sports program—Monday Night Football included—had as much of an influence on me as a sports fan and it all started with that theme song...

Your website...today, yesterday and 10 years ago

Here's an interesting post showing some popular websites and the designs of each throughout the history of the web. While in many cases the websites went through drastic design changes over the years, one thing didn't change—the brand and message of these companies.

How has your website changed with technology? How did your first site look and how does it appear today? Has it carried a consistent message?

Branding illustrated

Sometimes its difficult to verbally paint a picture of effective branding. This illustration by David Armano tells it pretty clearly.

Person David Armano

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For Steve & Barry's, backwards thinking works

Just the other day I noticed the old Wayne State University t-shirt I was wearing to the gym. Gosh this thing is old and it doesn't show any wear-and-tear at all. It's been in my workout rotation, I would estimate, for about eight years. (Please, no jokes asking how often I actually hit the gym)

Today, after reading this article in the New York Times, I thought about that t-shirt again and realized it's the oldest workout shirt I have—by far. Many of these shirts are free giveaways, but this particular one cost me $5 at Steve & Barry's. At the time, I'm sure I thought cheap shirt, but it's only $5.

Maybe it wasn't such a cheap shirt. Let's call it inexpensive. Or better yet, let's call it priced just right.

You may be saying what does this have to do with branding? Until a couple years ago, Steve & Barry's spent very little in advertising and quite frankly they still don't. However, they have signed on some pretty big celebrities and are selling clothing lines with their names behind it. Big shots like Sex and the City actress, Sarah Jessica Parker, and basketball star, Stephon Marbury. (check out the post I wrote last year about his very affordable basketball shoe that he actually wears in games)

The truth is, Steve & Barry's has created an outstanding brand with rather unconventional methods. I don't necessarily identify with the company's logo or its in-store merchandise displays and presentation and I don't see any advertising. But what I do see is buzz. Take a look at the article and you'll see how Steve & Barry's gets creative in keeping their prices low while still providing a quality product. They cut corners where, frankly, corners can be cut. From second- and third-hand office furniture to a non-existent advertising budget, just hearing that they sacrifice those expenses in order to pass along the savings to the customer is the best way to build a solid brand position in their niche.

Great branding isn't accomplished by following the same recipe for every company. While messaging, identity and design are huge tools to carry out a strong branding strategy, a deep understanding of your business and what you want to accomplish is the best place to start with any brand. Like marketing, PR and advertising, pricing is a tool.

In Steve & Barry's case, it's about looking at the retail price first and then figuring out how to produce a quality product that will allow the company to thrive. IKEA has also built its brand in a similar fashion—working backwards from the price tag.

MTV's Engine Room designs reality

So MTV is doing a reality show on graphic designers called Engine Room. My first thought was how is this going to be any different than The Apprentice? Didn't it seem like the bulk of the projects on that show revolved around designing a brochure or ad campaign?

It will be interesting to see how the "reality" of design fits into the genre of MTV. How much attention are they going to place on the business strategy that must go into the design? Are they going to align the design with the brand or are they just going to design something trendy and cool?

I'm looking forward to seeing this show, but I'd be a heck of a lot more excited if it was going to be on CNBC rather than Music Television.

FedEx removes the kink in its operation

When I was in college, Kinkos was one half life-saver, the other half pain in the butt. It really all depended on what kind of day you were having as to whether or not you took on a half full or half empty point of view of the place.

I used to swear there was a conspiracy going on when I'd rent a computer by the minute only to have a paper jam every time I tried printing my documents. Those were the old days. We didn't have computers, let alone the free HP printer they now throw in with every Mac purchase. So off to Kinkos I would go at 2am to print off my college presentations and reports.

The problem with Kinkos back then was its very poor customer service. You walked into a Kinkos outlet with a do-it-yourself mentality and walked out four hours later saying why did this 15 minute job take half the afternoon.

As technology became more and more affordable, you could see the pending demise of Kinkos. After all they weren't doing anything all that special before, there was no need to go there anymore. Then FedEx purchased them in 2004 for $2.4 billion—a lot of money considering Kinkos should have paid FedEx to swoop in and saved its concept.

The new FedEx Kinkos now served more as a small businesses mail and production room—a much better concept than the original Kinkos. The FedEx brand and personality also seemed to spread throughout the Kinkos culture making it more friendly and accessible. "How do I work this photocopier?" was now met with a response of showing you how to operate it rather than ignoring you and pretending they didn't see you standing there next to the machine without a clue.

So the story continues and today FedEx has decided to drop the unique and catchy Kinkos name—it was about all that was really solid with the company's branding—and change it to FedEx Office.

I don't particularly like the name change, but I'm guessing FedEx is only willing to put its money on a division using the strength of its name rather than one that conjures mixed emotions with everyone from college students to business professionals.

So will there be big changes beside just the name change? It's the perfect time and, FedEx Office if you're listening, I have plenty of ideas.

To me Kinkos should have always been a happy place. After all, you're there to finish something—whether it's a big project you're printing off or mailing a gift to a friend. You should be able to go there and get it done and walk out with that important item checked off your to-do list. Too often for me a trip to Kinkos meant more work and more frustration during the final stages of a project.

There is so much potential in the Kinkos concept and I do believe, based on its strong brand and marketing track record, that FedEx will take it to anothernlevel. There's always been a huge opportunity to create a sense of community. Unlike the community feeling created by Starbucks, the Kinkos' customer base has one very strong characteristic in common—stress.

• It's 2am and I don't have this done!
  
• How is my presentation going to go tomorrow morning!?
  
• I'm going to miss my flight if I don't get this done!
• How will this look when it's actually printed?
  
• I'm getting 5000 of these printed, I hope I don't catch a spelling error after it's too late!

There is a lot of tension within the walls of a Kinkos and having the right people doing the right things could take a lot of anxiety out of the experience and make it that happy final destination. In addition, you could have classes teaching people how to use PowerPoint effectively or how to use Photoshop better. You could have a small deli and coffee bar for people to enjoy lunch while they get their items printed, photocopied or shipped. You could have small business seminars and networking functions.

Photocopying and color printing is so "yesterday," can FedEx Office deliver a new brand experience? We'll see, but now is the time.