Results tagged “branding”

I've been using Pinterest for nearly a year now. Pinterest makes bookmarking inspiration easy. For those of you who do not know about this social media website, let me explain.

In short, Pinterest is a social media website that allows web users to 'pin' a web page featuring a recipe you'd like to try, a craft idea, a pretty dress or shoes that would complement your wardrobe, a hairstyle you like, or anything else that you find on any website while you browse the web. The 'pin' is stored as an image with a reference to that web page. These pins can be organised into various boards and revisited at a later time. Instead of a text-only bookmark description of the page, the items 'pinned' are stored with an image, and these are displayed in a grid layout on the page. That way, they can see all of their pins and remember that nice dress or the delicious-looking chocolate tart recipe that they wanted to try.

Similar to the same demographics as Etsy and Pinterest, this page lives up to the brand.

http://pinterest.com/realsimple/

STA Travel (Rating: 4/5)

This Pinterest page features many travel boards and travel products, but I don't see what the 'cupcakes' board has to do with travel.

http://pinterest.com/statravelus/

Susan Gunelius has also posted a few companies that seem to be using Pinterest really well. These include the beauty company Birchbox (http://pinterest.com/birchbox/), WholeFoods (http://pinterest.com/wholefoods/), Scholastic (http://pinterest.com/scholastic/), Better Homes and Gardens (http://pinterest.com/bhg/), and Michael's Stores (http://pinterest.com/michaelsstores/). Obviously, all of the above companies are more popular with women shoppers.

1) Jainchill, Johanna. Travel companies see potential in scrapbooking site Pinterest. http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Online-Travel/Travel-companies-see-potential-in-scrapbooking-site-Pinterest/ [10 April 2012].

2) Gunelius, Susan. 5 Brands Using Pinterest Brilliantly. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/02/best-pinterest-brands/ [13 February 2012].

Cadbury have launched Union Jack chocolate bars; these were launched before the Diamond Jubilee. In addition, they have also launched chocolate Olympic mascots and chocolate gold medals. Cadbury have also set up an exhibition in Hyde Park and in other areas of the UK to sell their product.

In addition, Coca Cola have been doing a lot of marketing around the Olympics and have hosted several concerts and events, including the torch relay events. Coca Cola have launched special edition torch relay bottles for those who attended the torch relay, and these were handed out for free around the country. In addition to the torch relay bottles, Selfridges are currently selling special edition gold bottles of Coca Cola to celebrate the Olympics. (These gold bottles can only be found at Selfridges.)

I absolutely love the Union Jack icon and have it on t-shirts, my purse, and even on the roof of my Mini Cooper car. That's why I was so excited when I discovered these Union Jack eye shadows from make-up company Rimmel in the shop at the beginning of the year. I read about these in one of my magazines at the end of 2011, so I am glad to see them in the shops. These Union Jack eye shadows were inspired by Kate Moss.

My favourite palette is the one the red/pink cross, but this really is not practical. I do own some red eye shadow, but I rarely use it. Instead, I have purchased the silver/black/grey palette (great for achieving the 'smokey eye' effect) and the blue palette (to match my eyes).

(Image is from: http://thingsllove.blogspot.com/2011/12/swatches-rimmel-glameyes-hd-green-park.html)

Recently, I have been giving a lot of thought about branding and its importance, particularly in today's world with the use of social media to build direct relationships with customers. The trend in the past few years is for companies is to establish a social media presence, and social media has come a long way in a short time to meet these needs. As a result of this need or desire to establish these relationships with customers and promote "word of mouth" marketing, companies are establishing instantaneous and closer relationships with consumers or brand champions (those who actively engage with the brand). 

Today, many companies have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and other social networking websites. Since consumers can view this information instantaneously, these interactions and representations of the company's brand must be carefully thought through. After all, we would not want to compromise the brand and its integrity. In her article about the use of Instagram, Jessica McLaughlin (1) states that companies must decide which social media websites best align to their business needs and ensure that they devote enough time to this social media website. In this example, companies that use the photographic social media website Instagram must keep imagery fresh and find creative ways to showcase their brand imagery and values without recycling images.

In short, companies should not jump on the social media bandwagon without giving thought into how the particular social media website will help them. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than an 'empty' or 'ghost town' social media page or community that is rarely updated or that is updated with irrelevant content. This is harmful to the brand.

Now that I have discussed the social media impact on a brand, I will discuss the basics of branding and learning to identify mistakes. After all, the company you are working for has probably spent money on a new brand or branding materials, wether this is on business cards, brochures, logo, or a website. I don't need to state how important brand is; that is a lengthy topic of discussion that is beyond the scope of this article.

What is brand? In short, a brand should correctly convey the company and its message to customers in a positive light. The treatment should be consistent and revisited regularly, in line with the goals of the business. There are many examples where companies fail to grasp this concept or ignore the brand guidelines once their brand has been developed and the initial work has been completed; this can be immediately or a few months after the initial release. However, once the style guide and logos have been delivered and the money paid up, there is much more work to be completed. In my opinion, once this work has been done, the fun work in the brand execution is just beginning.

Let's face it. Creating a brand is a time-consuming and expensive task, and following through with the branding correctly and continuing to roll it out consistently, while keeping the brand fresh, is a challenge. It's also a task that should not be taken lightly. The branding exercise does not stop once the new brand has been created. A new brand is not going to miraculously work its way into the subconscious of potential customers and increase sales overnight. Correctly utilising the brand will, and there's much more to the brand than a "pretty logo". The brand should encompass an ideal and uniqueness of the company or product/service.

I've been locating articles and resources to back up my beliefs, and there's a lot of research out there to support this. I have taken the time to list some of these common branding mistakes and have identified some areas where designers and employees should be cautious to avoid common branding mistakes, which reflect poorly on the company.

In conclusion, companies should ensure that their brand translates correctly to the audience, and branding activities must be ongoing and consistent. Companies must avoid using the branding in negative ways and work on ensuring only the best for their brand. Branding must be worked on continuously and developed, and companies should engage in the methods to help their brand instead of harm it. After all, a lot of effort has gone into building a brand.

Have you ever worked for a company that is making one of the mistakes above, or have I missed something from this list? Please let me know your thoughts.

1) McLaughlin, Jessica. Five Instagram Marketing Mistakes. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/05/instagram-marketing-mistakes/ [22 May, 2012].

2) Precision Intermedia. Top Ten Branding Mistakes. http://www.precisionintermedia.com/branding_mistakes.html [13 June, 2012].

3) The Evolution of Fail Pets: Strategic Whimsy and Brand Awareness in Error Messages. http://uxmag.com/articles/the-evolution-of-fail-pets [02 November, 2011].

4) Gutscher, Mary Lou. Oops, your brand is showing. http://www.profitableprospecting.ca/2011/11/oops-your-brand-is-showing/ [15 June, 2012].

6) Campbell, Anita. Is your brand helping or hurting your small business? http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/05/brand-helping-small-business.html [17 May, 2012].

7) Vermeiretim. Beyond employer branding people are the brand. http://vermeiretim.com/2012/06/13/beyond-employer-branding-people-are-the-brand/ [13 June, 2012].

Last year, much of the world became obsessed with all things British in the run-up to the Royal Wedding. Flags, bunting, cutlery, trinkets, and cake decorations were all up for grabs. This year is another popular year for Great Britain as the country hosts the Olympics and celebrates the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 

Various companies have been re-branding British products with the "Great Britain" theme to mark the Diamond Jubilee, and the challenge for many designers is to avoid kitsch while ensuring it does not get confused with the Olympics or break any rules by using the Queen's image (1). The trick to creating the product design is to use imagery or colour to convey the celebration without the expense to brand or using any imagery associated with the Queen. For example, Marmite's bottle contains a representation of the flag and a crown, but the crown was drawn by the company and could not be confused for the Queen's (1).

The following graphic is being used widely to represent the Diamond Jubilee.

Although some companies have used the British themes, others (such as Kellog's) have played to the vintage image of their products when the Queen ascended to the throne. Kellog's have launched vintage packaging of some of their products.

I have included some of the product designs below, but for more inspiration, you can pop into your local branch of Marks and Spencer or John Lewis / Waitrose, where they have stocked themed products for a couple of months. John Lewis / Waitrose consistently use British themes in their products, and they are marketing some their products with a sketch. British flags and vintage typography feature significantly across many different types of product.

(All images are the property of the brands represented.) From top left:

Lyle's Golden Syrup use a crown image with the gold and green branding.

Marmite use a British flag in the background of their product with the crown and celebratory text.

Just Puds use a British flag in the background, but the colours are product-specific.

Heinz have placed celebratory text on their product and use simple colours and graphics. 

Cadbury is one of my favourites that I have seen in the shops because it stands out. The company use their striking royal purple colour and combine this with a vintage typeface, crown, and Jubilee message.

Weetabix have designed a 'Fuel Britannia' theme with flag bunting.

Prestat have launched various themes of their product, including the one pictured here with the chariot and horses. A few of their chocolate bars also contain the British flag, and I will be uploading these in another post.

A few more products from British companies are below.

(All images are the property of the brands represented.) From top left:

Adnams have launched their ale with attractive, shelf-stopping branding.

Marks and Spencer have invested much time into product designs for their products, particularly the products with more of a British theme. Their product designs feature the flag and bunting as well as sketched characters. More images can be found on the links below, which includes the official Marks and Spencers website (2 and 3). I will also be adding more photos in an upcoming post.

In addition to the photograph above, the following products have also been designed for Marks and Spencers:

(All images are the property of the brands represented.)

Although the branding is making a large impact on food products, jewellery, transportation, fashion labels, dishes/plates/mugs, coins, stamps, cards, and media are also producing designs based on all-things-British for the Jubilee. Although not a product, even the street artist Banksy has been busy (see Banksy Diamond Jubilee Street Art). Included below are a television network and London Underground.

(All images are the property of the brands represented.)

Director Steve Small has developed an attractively-sketched ident to play before and after programmes on ITV1 relating to the Diamond Jubilee (4).

A few London Underground trains on the Jubilee line have been branded with the Jubilee pattern, and more of these will be ruled out on the Jubilee line for the Jubilee weekend (5).

Below is an image from the London department store, Harrods.

Have you seen any product designs for the Diamond Jubilee that really stood out to you that I have not included in this list? Please drop me a message.

1) Banks, Tom. Creating Limited-Edition Projects for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. http://www.designweek.co.uk/analysis/news-analysis/creating-limited-edition-projects-for-the-queens-diamond-jubilee/3034467.article [26 April, 2012].

2) H is for Home. M&S Packaging. http://hisforhomeblog.com/tag/queens-diamond-jubilee [27 April, 2012].

3) Marks and Spencer. M&S Jubilee Food. http://social.marksandspencer.com/food-drink/ms-jubilee-food/ [11 May, 2012].

4) Burgoyne, Patrick. ITV1 in charming Royal Jubilee design shock. http://creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/may/itv1-royal-season-ident [16 May, 2012].

5) London24. London Underground celebrates Diamond Jubilee by Decorating Jubilee line trains. http://www.london24.com/news/london_underground_celebrates_diamond_jubilee_by_decorating_jubilee_line_trains_1_1378594 [15 May, 2012].

I loved the thought that went into the brownies. As it was near to Valentine's Day, the brownies were lightly dusted with a letter on them, spelling out the word "LOVE X" when placed side-by-side. The South Kensington shop is very small, and it is quite popular because of the prime location and the large windows featuring the snacks. There are a few tables outside for those who want to brave the weather; I am sure it's lovely in the summer.

My favourite advertisements this year were those by Chevy, Samsung, and the Coca Cola Polar Bears. The Volkswagen, Doritos, and Acura slots were a disappointment. I've listed my least favourite commercials at the end of this article. Directly below are a few of the commercials that were average or good.

The winners have been announced, and the results are below. I am happy that three of my favourite entries made it into the winner list. Some of the categories would have been difficult to judge as there were many wonderful entries.

 

The popular search engine, Google, is known for creating specialised logos for popular holidays or events to showcase them on the special day. The simple and clean website features its logo as one of the primary elements, along with the search field, so when the logo changes, it is noticed and appreciated. Over time, the logo has evolved and gained in popularity and dubbed "Google Doodle", and the logos themselves have become more complex and, at times, interactive. Google is the most popular search engine in most countries of the world, so word is quickly spread when a new "Google Doodle" is displayed. Some of the doodles are displayed globally, and others are displayed within the particular country.

Years ago, before Google (can anyone else remember the pre-Google days?) was launched, other search engines had developed varying (mainly seasonal) themes for their websites. I remember that Yahoo! created a Halloween version of its website with animated ghosts, and they made changes to their logo and the colours of their website during the Christmas season. It is no doubt that Google's founders were probably first inspired by these.

Google's first "Google Doodle" was launched in August of 1998 with its "Burning Man Festival" logo, which was created to let users know that the founders were going to the festival. The next logo was made to celebrate Thanksgiving (United States) in November of that year, before introducing its BETA logo. Since then, it has produced hundreds of other variations of its logo for events and holidays worldwide. The first several years of the "Google Doodle" were minimal illustrations, and these evolved with some reuse in illustrations. The doodles for the first few years were focused around public holidays, apart from the BETA verison of the logo.

The year 2000 was a major year for the "Google Doodle". Dennis Hwang was asked to create one for Bastille Day, which was popular; as a result, he was asked to head up the "Google Doodle" department, which now includes four doodlers (1). By looking at the evolution of these doodles, one can see that the quality improved in the year 2000, and illustrations were used to enhance the logo; the primary colours of Google (primary yellow, blue, red, and green) were kept consistent in most doodles. (In 1999, several of the doodles used colours popularly associated with the holiday.) Christmas of 2000 was also the first year in which several variations of the logo were created to celebrate the holiday, and these logos showed illustrations of a family of polar bears. (Since then, there have been a Dilbert comic series, Olympics series, and seasonal series, to name a few.)

In the past three years, Google has been experimenting more with highly interactive logos, such as the PacMan game, the Jules Verne submarine, the Les Paul Guitar, and, more recently, one with muppets that animate and follow the mouse. The drawings have also become less crude, and in the past year or two, the logo is worked into the illustration. (Sometimes it takes imagination to see it.)

The below images illustrate this evolution, though many more and a complete history can be viewed on Google's website (linked at the bottom of this article).

1) November 1998: Thanksgiving (US)

2) March, 1999: St. Patrick's Day

3) October 2001: Halloween (US)

4) October 2002: Picasso's birthday (Global)

5) September 2003: Google's 5th Birthday (Global)

6) April 2005: Leonardo Da Vinci's Birthday (Global)

7) January 2006: Braille's Birthday (Global)

8) January 2008: Lego Brick anniversary (Global)

9) May 2009: Big Ben's 150 years (UK)

10) February 2010: Winter Olympics

11) May 2010: PacMan 30th anniversary

12) April 2011: Earth Day

13) September 2011: Jim Henson Muppets

Although many companies ensure that their logo and branding adheres to strict guidelines (changing the consistency of the branding could disassociate the product or service with the company and cause the consumer confusion), Google gets away changing its logo and claims that this is a part of its corporate culture. According to Google, changing the logo is a part of the company's culture and branding, and it "illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself" (2). Google have even patented the idea of these slight changes to branding (3). However, I am not sure that this patent would certainly hold up in any argument because other brands have been doing this for years, before the search engine existed. For example, Absolut Vodka have various implementations of their logo. Yahoo! and Excite.com (pre-Google search engines) used varying themes and slight changes to their logo during the holidays.

Google has kept a history of all of its doodles on its website, and these can be viewed here: http://www.google.co.uk/logos/

http://www.tabasco.com

http://www.nandos.co.uk/

Chameleon Chili Sauce: designed by Markmir (logopond.com)

seoul food: designed by Simo Merghich (logopond.com)

Chili Sason: designed by jeronimovh (logopond.com)

chiliconcolor: designed by BluesCue (logopond.com)

Julio's: designed by Steve Douglas

Homespun Chili: designed by Brandclay.com

The jalepeno plant: designed by www.thejalapenoplant.com

Red Chili: designed by redchili.de

Shirt Pepper: designed by serdaraslan.nl

I am assuming that Gap wanted to update and modernise its brand, but the font type 'cheapens' the brand in my opinion. The font looks too much like any of the common sans-serif fonts; is it Helvetica? The faded blue square also cheapens the logo; in whole, I think that the logo looks designed by someone who is just learning how to create branding. According to Mark Chouke, Marketing Week editor, the logo looks as if it was designed for an IT firm (1).

Perhaps this is just a publicity stunt, as hundreds of others on the web have suggested. I cannot imagine that the company would go through the process of purchasing, brainstorming, and approving this logo. Branding takes months and many minds and money to complete, and it is something that companies do not take lightly. 

(1) Maysa, Rawi. Gap scrap new logo after Facebook backlash. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1320055/Gap-scrap-new-logo-Facebook-backlash.html?ito=feeds-newsxml [13 October 2010].

I have always been interested in the role that colour plays in psychology and marketing. Obviously, different cultures perceive different colours in a different way. 

The following articles look at colour branding trends for websites and logos - blue and red are the most used colours on the web, and this has been the trend for awhile (1). I think that blue has always been a popular colour in branding because it is a colour that most people respond to; typically it is also a favourite colour of many worldwide. Blue is a colour accepted by other males and females as the most favourite colour worldwide (2).

Using the correct colours or colour combinations in branding is important, and companies spend a lot of money on their image. Blue is one colour that has wide appeal, so I believe that many companies, particularly start-up companies, use this colour. The colour is also widely-used across different types of companies. The colour is a calming and stable colour, but blue can also be used to signify importance and power. Twitter, Facebook, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Paypal, Expedia, CNN, Wal-mart, NHS, and Microsoft are all examples of websites (and corporations) that use blue as a predominate colour.

Red is popular as well, and popular brands that use this colour include BBC, CNN, YouTube, Yahoo!, Adobe, Coca Cola, Canon, and About.com.

Although blue and red are the most popular colours for brands, other brands are spending more money on selecting other colours and getting the shade of colour trademarked, such as T-mobile has done with the colour magenta; if all brands did this, colours would be a limited resource (3).

(2) Anatomy in Colors in Web Design: Blue and the Cool Look, Aidan Huang. January 22, 2010. [http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/01/22/anatomy-of-colors-in-web-design-blue-and-the-cool-look/].