Blogging and branding

A couple of months ago I heard Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea, speak at the FUSE Design Conference in New York. At the time, I wrote a post questioning how his company could carry on its mission after Coca-Cola purchased a 40% stake in the company. There seemed a huge conflict.

This morning I came across Goldman's blog and a couple of points come to mind. First, it's great to see that Goldman is extremely conscious of what the partnership means to his company and its mission. Secondly, he uses his blog to communicate this to his audience. Finally, it just reiterates to me that every entrepreneur and business leader needs to blog and communicate directly with his/her audience.

People who have been blogging for years are thinking that this story is about as newsworthy as reporting that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Sorry, but there are still many entrepreneurs who haven't embraced the technology that's out there. Is blogging and social networking a trend or a fad? To a certain extent in this current version, I think it is. However, I do think that we'll continue to improve upon it. Think of it more as a milestone in how we communicate rather than something that is just the flavor of the month.

If you've ever heard Goldman speak, it's obvious that he is extremely passionate about Honest Tea and all that it stands for. A leader's passion is the first piece to a well-received brand. Fortunately, today, we have all the tools to available to us to communicate directly to our audience.

Brand survey

I saw this over at Brand New and took this survey developed by the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Here are my results:



I wonder why they felt it was necessary to provide a little description under each company as opposed to simply a link to the website and wikipedia. It would seem that that editorializing could sway the responses.

For example:

Whole Foods: Considered by many to be a socially responsible business.

Walmart: Has been criticized for its labor practices.

A brand is based what the consumer and public feels based on their overall experiences. Fun survey, nonetheless.

Creating experiences for your clients

Great branding isn't limited to the presentation of your products and services, the design of your communication pieces or even the culture within the walls of your company. Branding also isn't just about selling, selling, selling.

This past weekend one of our clients, Financial Architects, Inc., held a Dream Cruise open house for their friends and clients. SOZO | Pivotal helped them name the event, Rev Into Yesterday and created an event logo and associated promotional materials. From the looks of it, I'm sure the event was a great success if not only for the fact that the president of Financial Architects, Ken Grace, has a passion for classic cars—specifically his light blue '67 GTO.

He also happens to share that passion with a number of his clients. (You can check out some of his clients and their cars featured on their website). This is just one way that Ken and the other advisors at his firm build long-term relationships with their clients. There weren't flyers being handed out or presentations to be heard about how Financial Architects is the firm to work with for your long-term financial stability. No, this event was to celebrate classic cars and an opportunity for some socializing at the Woodward Dream Cruise. All fun, less marketing and PR.

In the end, it was a very positive Financial Architects "experience" for all who attended. It should really get you thinking...what can you do that is in line with your passion but also an excellent way to network and show a little appreciation to your clients?

No Mercy: University of Detroit Titans unveils new look

The U of D Titans have unveiled a new logo and appear to have dropped the "Mercy;" at least from their athletics department. Here's the press release.

In addition to the logo above, U of D also has the following logo treatments.

Blending in

I've used the analogy before of a logo being like a magazine cover. It's the first thing people see and how it stands on the magazine rack can oftentimes determine its success.

Today I read that Rolling Stone magazine is downsizing the dimensions of its magazine to a more standard, rack-friendly size of 8 x 11.

I can't believe this is a good idea. The over-sized version that we are so familiar with, paired with great cover photography, really stood out. However, this New York Times article talks about the re-design—an initiative with the goal of increasing single-copy sales.

I guess I must be the exception, because I notice the over-sized publications like Rolling Stone and ESPN first. Everything else is just part of the crowd competing for my attention.

It appears they've done their research, but time will tell if it works. Another interesting point in all of this: in recent years magazines and newspapers have been down-sizing their publications in order to reduce costs. It's not about a cheaper product for Rolling Stone. The new format will use nicer paper stock and be perfect bound rather than saddle-stitched.

When sponsorships go bad

I'm heading out to the PGA Championship tomorrow and wanted to get some answers on where to park. Check out this "Important Reminder" in a list of bulleted items that I find very amusing:

Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. Spectators may bring their own bottled water. You must remove the label on the outside of the bottle, if it is not Aquafina water.

Someday, 30 or 40 years from now, there's going to be a Mad Men-like TV show that will mock the absurdity of sponsorship rules like this. People actually think of these things and make up these rules?

With RBS being the official bank of the PGA Championship, I'm a bit concerned. If I stop by a Bank of America ATM on my way out to Oakland Hills, do you think I'll be able to buy some food or souvenirs with money that's drawn out of a non-sponsoring bank?

Sports sponsorship is such a huge business, it's amazing how many companies get it so wrong.

Branding the uniform, not the player

The saying goes, "you root for the uniform." That's how most sports fans get behind their team in an era of free agency and big contracts. It's usually a geographical association that determines which team you'll support, but sometimes it's a team's brand (think Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Yankees) that brings in a fan base not restricted to state lines.

But still, in an age of rooting for the uniform, marketing people still insist on marketing the players. Which, is a good thing until that player gets traded unexpectedly.

The Detroit Tigers have a great advertising campaign called "Who's Your Tiger?" (I've written about it here before) Great campaign, until you trade away one of your most popular players and cast members in Ivan Rodriguez. I recently had an interesting conversation with my 4-year-old son that went something like this:

ME: Who's your Tiger?
MAX: Pudge (Rodriguez)
ME: But Pudge got traded to the Yankees.
MAX: Oh.
ME: Who's your Yankee?
MAX: Pudge

The lesson is you that, unfortunately, you can't put too much emphasis on individual players. More and more there are fewer "untouchable" players in sports.

Despite the latest craziness with Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, did you ever think you'd see him in another jersey? EA Sports, the creators of the popular Madden Football video game, probably didn't. On the cover of the Madden '09 version that is going to be released later this month is a scrambling Favre in none other than his familiar Packer uni. One thing that can be said about this out-of-date packaging is that it brings attention to the product.

As for the Tigers, you'll be hard-pressed to find Pudge in any promotional videos or advertising. He's hit the cutting room floor. Of course, there are probably still games remaining with tickets that have his photo, but for the most part he's gone and—despite being a future, first-ballot hall-of-famer—will soon be forgotten here.

Business and Design

At SOZO | Pivotal we always stress the importance of combining sound business practicehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifs with solid identity design and brand strategy. It's one reason why online $99 logo companies like aren't our competition. A company like that tends to corner the market that lacks the business savvy needed in recognizing the need for a clear and consistent message that is in sync with the business's objectives.

Pick up any book on branding and there will likely be some mention of Apple and its outstanding design and branding practices—from its products to its packaging, Apple pays extremely close attention to the details and pays an extremely high price for that attention to detail.

This 1993 interview with Steve Jobs is a must-see for anyone contemplating the importance of corporate identity in business. Jobs talks about his working relationship with world-renowned graphic and identity designer, Paul Rand.

The inspiration for this post came from a pretty humorous post at Speak Up.

Sherwin-Williams paints a picture

A couple weeks ago I came across a blog (which, unfortunately, I can't find and can't link to) that was holding a contest to design a new Sherwin-Williams logo.

The idea behind the initiative was that the author felt the current "Cover the Earth" logo wasn't all too environmentally-friendly. I didn't think much of it then, but then I saw a Sherwin Williams delivery truck this morning and it got me thinking.

The big trend is green. Green living, green design, green logos. Green everything. So much green that it's just about lost its meaning. And maybe we're expecting everything to just be green these days.

Is that right? After all, Sherwin Williams has a link to green initiatives on its website, but at the end of the day we still can't dispose of paint in a regular garbage can. On that same page are two instances of the logo with red paint dripping over the Earth.

Until the guy with the blog and the contest pointed out what he felt was a "politically incorrect" logo, I never would have noticed it. Is Sherwin Williams any less environmentally conscious than, say, Behr or Benjamin Moore? I would think not. And does a logo make you environmentally conscious any more than it makes you a better company? No, no, no.

So do I think SW should re-design their logo? No. Not unless their real message is that you should buy red paint and pour it out in the streets in an effort to literally cover the Earth.