01.13
1. It’s different.
You’d think this kind of knee-jerk reaction would be limited to amateurs, but even Laura Ries writes, “when it comes to branding, the best kind of change is usually no change at all.” Really? Companies change, market conditions change, competition changes, consumers and their preferences change. The world changes. But logos shouldn’t?
2. They got rid of “Starbucks.”
CoreBrand contends that “dropping the Starbucks name from their logo will only serve to confuse consumers who are not as familiar with the company” (posted on Branding Strategy Insider). Seriously? Starbucks has 16,000 stores. Nike, Apple, McDonald’s and others have dropped their names, and seem to be ok.
Besides, this will aid the company’s global expansion efforts by focusing on a universal design rather than a language-specific name. “Starbucks,” or a localized name like “星巴克,” can still be printed nearby, like on the opposite side of the cup.
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01.07
I spent some time yesterday reading through comments on Starbucks’ blog post announcing the new logo. It seems like the feedback there is mostly negative, but many are clearly knee-jerk reactions from people whose thought process seems to be “it’s different, so I hate it!” Nonetheless, I thought it’d be interesting to see what words were showing up most in those 100+ posts, partly as an alternative way of quickly gauging group’s sentiment. Here’s the result (courtesy of Wordle):
Of course, “Starbucks” and “logo” were the clear winners, so I removed those, along with common English words and names of posters. Note that “like” shows up a lot, but it’s often in phrases such as “looks like…” or “don’t like.” Some of the more interesting words that show up are “sorry,” “Nike,” “Swoosh,” “iconic,” and “mistake.”
For a more interesting debate about the new mark, check out LogoDesignLove.
10.27
Last week I was honored to be asked to present to a group of French business students called Le Club des étudiants français de Shanghai. I was asked to discuss “branding,” but keep it high-level and light rather than getting too didactic or detailed. When one of the club’s founders invited me to speak, he thought it would be fun if I introduced myself in French, which I can’t even pronounce correctly much less speak. At first I declined, citing the stereotype that Americans are monolingual. And then I realized that would be an interesting way to kick off a conversation about brands. Here’s basically what the presentation (above) covers:
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10.19
As a brand strategist, I’m sometimes asked to name a few favorite brands. While companies like Apple and Starbucks seem to show up in every branding presentation and book (not to mention my own blog posts), the truth is that my interest in these brands is more detached and academic than emotional or personal. I am professionally impressed by how often these marketing machines seem to be “right.” But perhaps it’s precisely because I’m so keenly aware of their marketing activities that Apple and Starbucks rarely have the power to move me—to connect with me beyond a clinical curiosity.
One brand that has made me sit up and take notice is REI, the American chain of outdoor and adventure sports equipment retail stores. To my knowledge, the company does not yet do business in China, and my affinity for the brand may partly be a case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” But REI, seemingly without a massive marketing budget or a paradigm-shifting retail strategy, has built a powerful brand through at least three basics of brand strategy:
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09.13
The Chinese name for Tylenol is “泰诺,” pronounced “TàiNuò.” I am told by my naming colleagues that the trend in Chinese naming (for Western products and companies that already have brand names) is toward phonetic, rather than semantic, similarity. Given some of the names I’ve heard that claim to achieve phonetic resemblance, “TàiNuò” sounds remarkably similar to me—a bit like someone trying to say “Tylenol” after getting some teeth knocked out (at which point a painkiller would be welcome, I’m sure).
Of course, the holy grail of Chinese (re)naming is
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06.02
Integrating Chinese and non-Chinese names in logo design
[Originally published on BrandSource: Labbrand's Blog of Branding Insights. Please visit that site to comment.]
Many brands operating in China—both foreign and domestic—choose to use two names to represent themselves to Chinese customers: one composed of Chinese characters and another that is alphabet-based, such as an English name. Coca-Cola, for example, does business in China with its American name as well as “可口可乐.” Of course, some brands opt to use just one name in either English or Chinese, but brands with both face the unique visual identity challenge of having separate logos for each or incorporating the two names into one, simple logo design.
The Options
After developing Chinese and alphabet-based names—both significant undertakings in their own right—companies operating in China must choose whether to create a “blended” logo—one that includes both names—and then make additional decisions about how and when to use their logo or logos. These decisions can be depicted as a decision tree.
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