GM still singing the blue

In an update to my post from yesterday GM has decided to thankfully stay with the blue background for its logo. Smart decision i'd say.

Here's the post from Marketing News.

All in all Mr. Henderson seems to be making sense, my only problem came with this line

The new company will focus on three top priorities, customers, cars and culture, Henderson said

Okay.......either that is the dumbest statement ever or that just goes to show you why this company is in such trouble. They didn't even know that "Cars" or "Customers" should have been a top priority!!!!! It took a trip to bankruptcy to make this obvious????

GM to turn tides from Blue to Green?

Let me start by saying this isn't confirmed, nor does it sound like its anywhere near officially occuring for GM, but according to Marketing News a source has told them that GM is considering switching the blue background of their logo to green.

Firstly, I think this is a bad idea because I don't see GM being able to back up this change, which would in essence symbolize the movement to a greener, more efficient car company. There is a scene in the hilarious tv sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when Dennis attempts to become an environmentalist by showing up at a dump in a cashmere sweater and Range Rover to help people recycle products that have been thrown away. He is immediately called out by the environmentalists as a part-time enviro and ridiculed.

That is how I see that GM experiment working. Everyone would see right through the plan and they would be further ridiculed for trying to talk the talk without walking the walk.

Now, that being said, if GM were to switch their logo to green and then immediately back it up by putting the Volt and other seemingly green cars on the market then I think they would stand a better chance of pulling it off.

Check out It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia if you haven't already, definately better than another GM blog post from yours truly.

Hope floats

Reading through the various FastCompany postings and came across Barack Obama doing some more marketing work. Check out the new logo that will be floating around the U.S. and stamped on anything that is part of their stimulus package.

As strong as marketing is, apparently the new logo leant no help to the financial markets which dipped lower again today. Damn those financial people and their numbers! Come on! They've got a new logo, what more do you want?

Logos, logos, everywhere

The position I work in has allowed me to be a part of the branding process for both a new product and a revamped company name. The process is long, can be costly and is also extemely important. There are a number of steps in the process but the part I find most interesting is the logo development. This is the face of your brand, it speaks to your customers even when no words are exchanged. The colours, the font, the images they all add up to create a living thing with a theme, an attitude, and a personality. Its incredibly important to determine the message that you want your brand to exude because one wrong italic, one shade to dark can turn your spa into some kind of devil worshipping social club (or so it might seem in the eyes of the consumer).

As a marketer I am constantly assessing these logos as I pass billboards, see flyers, browse websites, etc. and I have noticed that colour is a huge trigger for me. But there are only so many colour options out there for a brand and sometimes a logo I see triggers another brand in my mind instead of the new one. For example here is the new Pepsi logo

Now everytime I used to look at the old pepsi logo I thought nothing but pepsi, but now everytime I see this new logo I can't think of anything other than this logo which you might recognize:

The majority of my mind triggering to oldspice clearly has something to do with the use of the blue white and red colours, or maybe I just like Old Spice. That is probably also a good sign for Old Spice as they have such a strong brand image that when I see a beverage product's logo all I think about is deodorant......or maybe i'm just weird.

Do you have any logos/brands that trigger other such logos in your mind?

Lightning strikes

It seems that Milk is trying to capitalize on the concept of energy renewal and replenishment these days. Probably a smart idea since there is a get in shape craze going on and around that comes a need for post exercise nourishment. Good tactic.

Unfortunately, it looks like their creative company has dropped the ball on this one. Take a look at this new campaign's identity




Hmmm lets see, this reminds me of something......

Oh yeah, an energy replenisher that has been around for a long long time and has marketed itself as that much....



Whoopsie....

I'm guessing that Gatorade is not going to adhere to the age old adage of not crying over spilled milk. Anyone else sense a lawsuit coming?

Other than this rather monumental mistake I do quite like milk's tactic of branching out and trying to grab a piece of the work out market. They do a great job with the website.