Brand Power-Elect

Yesterday I was on lunch at Wegman’s and People magazine sucked me in. “Anything is Possible” read the headline. And there was Obama’s big, smiling face. The pages went on to tell the victorious candidate’s empowering story. That headline rang in my ears.

Regardless of political affiliations, there’s no denying Obama’s campaign was a homerun. From a brander’s standpoint, it was like watching a well-oiled machine, the launch of a super-powered, new-age, high-end consumer brand strategy.

While both candidates leveraged technology, Obama took it to the nth degree: regular, personalized eblast updates – waiting in my inbox. Downloadable video messages from the candidate himself. Viral YouTube clips. Online donation mechanisms – just one click, and you’re a part of it all. An interactive website with a merchandise gift shop so you can live the brand on the streets everyday. And if that wasn’t enough, how about a half-hour, primetime informercial? It was a pretty impressive spread.

The face, the message, the logo and a ripe, tuned-in audience…a brander’s delight. It was simple. It was consistent. It was current. It was likable. Obama’s team was able to build a virtually unknown brand from the bottom up and feed it to millions and millions of hungry consumers. It’s a great testament to the power of a well-managed brand strategy. I mean, if making politics “cool” is possible, then anything IS possible.

The true test will now be whether the brand can deliver on its promise. With more political hype and hope for change running through USA veins than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, the cards are stacked against our president-elect.

Working in the branding business, I’ve learned fast that if you overpromise, you run the risk of underdelivering. Politicians are no exception. In fact, it would seem the opposite. With the world watching, waiting to point fingers, waiting to nay-say, it will be very interesting to watch the most important brand campaign I’ve ever seen unfold.

- Heather (see my page here)

Yes, you can have too much frosting on your cake.

Communicating through package design is more challenging than ever. Clients are more astute, customers are smarter and more selective, so our job of designing is more important than ever. Branding plays a clear role of cutting through the visual clutter of packaging but it only plays a part. Good design, clear design that creates positive eye tracking is tricky to get right.

One of the challenges we face every day is impact. It seems there is a drive to make everything on a package bigger, brighter, louder, with drop shadows, bevels, and metallic ink. We have a term for it here at Forward: "European flair". Don't get me wrong. There are times when a small drop shadow, or a gradient can really make a difference in a design. Take something good and make it great. But there are other times when everything in a design is large, shiny and in your face. When everything in a design is sizzle, it's tough to taste the steak. Your eye tracking is less predictable and the communications can suffer.

Here's another way of looking at it. You are in a small room with five other people. Each one of the five needs to say something important that could make you buy a product. If they all yell at once you have a loud noise that will get noticed, but will it say anything? You might walk away with some understanding, but not the whole story. This is an overdone package. Yes it's exciting, but later you might need a Tylenol. Instead, the five people need to take turns, each giving you their information. If each part of a package design has it's own part to play, message to communicate, you will help consumers read your package more quickly, understand more completely and buy it.

- Dillon (see my page here)

Get Smart About Color

How well do we know our colors? Here's a test to check:

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

I sent this around the studio, and was pleased to find that our designers know them very well. In fact they all beat my score of 15 quite handily.

What's more intriguing, however, is that there is an objective solution to something we all consider a very subjective phenomena – our perception of color, and our preference for certain colors in certain situations. This is an identity element that can, and must, be actively managed.

When developing a logo, a piece of collateral, or a package design, we have the opportunity to really get precise with color. Color is a strategic tool that can be used to create impact, manage eye tracking, and shape feelings and impressions. Color also lives in context. We need to consider not only the color palette we're recommending, but how those colors will interact with one another, and with other nearby colors (in other pieces, in the competitive set, within a larger piece, etc.).

Personal feelings must be set aside when assessing color recommendations and options. As a client, you should never say you do not "like" a certain color. That's irrelevant, and honestly quite foolish. Instead, consider what a particular color is doing in the appropriate context, and assess whether it is the best color for the job. Be smart about color, and make it work for you.

- Rob (see my page here)


P.S. Once you determine your eyes are going, you can visit here and check your ears!

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

Brand Mapping

A client turned me on to an interesting site the other day.

http://www.brandtags.net/

You get to submit the word(s) that first spring to mind when you see the logos of well-known brands, and then you can see a "cloud view" that weights the various words that everyone has submitted. I think it would be an excellent tool for clients to see how their brands are perceived, as it gets to the root of associations – those super-short first-instinct thoughts that we want clients to try to influence and manage with their brand communications.

One word of caution. The audience that is participating in this effort is likely composed of branders, tekkies, and designers – not a true cross-section of the target market for most of these brands. So while the information can be useful, it is by no means the be-all end-all.

On a related note, Ad Age is featuring an article by Noah Brier, the creator of the BrandTags site. You can read it here.

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=130812

I found his story very interesting as it relates to getting such a site noticed (particularly the influence of other popular blogs), as well as the effort required to keep it running. Object lessons for marketers of all stripes.

- Rob (see my page here)