A Brand is a Very Emotional Thing

Posted by Robert Weitz on November 17, 2011 8:15 AM

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Logos are a very important part of building a living brand. They are too easy to do for beginners, and too difficult for masters! They are completely misunderstood by most people, and they have the power to drive countries to war, inspire immense humanity or great irony. Put the wrong 2 symbols together and one might become so offended that they take physical action to remedy the situation!

So much emotion and storytelling can be packed into a logo that just by seeing it, we are willing to trust our lives, fortunes or happiness when they are present. Some logo symbols like the red cross are so powerful that they allow a vehicle to enter a hot war zone and not be blown to pieces. What is it about these singular symbols that evoke such emotion, and commands such attention, that it will sometimes weigh more than a life or a country’s well-being?

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First let’s talk about form, and then let’s talk about how the owner of the symbol sees it, and how the user sees the same symbol. If they align you have success, if they don’t you have symbols that are meaningless, convey the wrong things, or out and out lie! Having designed many, many corporate and personal logo identities, I have seen the thought process people try to go through and all of the potentially bad moves and silly assumptions. So here are some of my observations:

  1. The back-story means little or nothing to the consumer/user.
  2. The most important thing is that the logo is clear, easy to understand, and looks good in every media it will appear in/on.
  3. Forget about the owner’s favorite colors, fonts, animals, or that he/she likes turnip shapes. What is important is that the brand and logo identity touches and connects with the intended audience.

There are back-stories to the symbols we anoint to stand for our ideas, but they are either post-rationalizations or often opaque to the everyday follower or customer. The weakest logo designs try to tell the story directly, while the most powerful stand for great stories.

They allow us to condense our understanding of  a story into a tiny compressed form. That’s why these symbols and logos are so powerful. Symbols and logo identities that try to explicitly tell a story can work, but the story is rarely evident or interesting to the user. The symbol is an efficient, compact way of storing the feeling people have about you in general. So, when companies like Toyota have reputation failures, the symbol that stood for safety and reliability becomes sadly ironic, and all that story works against them.

I’ll leave you with a sobering thought: If we mix any of the above logos and symbols in an insensitive way, we could evoke emotions that would drive people to kill and destroy, or at least sue or prosecute. Conversely, the right combination of symbols or logos could result in peace and reconciliation, or great commercial success. In future postings, I will go into some of my ideas about the power, mystery, humanity and usefulness of logo identities and how they work, don’t work, or act silly and spoil everything!

 

Tags: brand, Branding, logos
Filed under: Branding | Comments Off

Rube Goldberg Tells a Story

Posted by Robert Weitz on August 30, 2011 11:54 AM

Do you want to impress people with your view of the world? Do you want to tell them that you are bold or inventive? Then do something creative and smart!

Here are 4 lovely examples of storytelling that is a “set-up.” In other words, a mechanism is set up to—once set in motion—tell a moving story of cause and effect that has all the elements of a drama or animated sequence. After you watch each one, ask yourself: What feeling do I have about the filmmakers, and what story are they telling? The mother of all of these, The Way Things Go by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss, inspired many followers. Its story is more meaningful than ever.

Similar in narrative and physical setup (so much so that Fischli and Weiss threatened Honda with legal action), “The Power of Dreams” by the agency Wieden+Kennedy is an expensive, brilliantly-executed ad that has a singular message: “Isn’t it nice when things just work,” which is intoned by radio celebrity Garrison Keillor. This is done in 2 takes and took months to figure out and execute. It was very expensive and is still driving traffic and brand exposure…it worked!

Next is something different but still echoes the joyful, technologically crazy, wildly expressive creation of Fischli and Weiss, and picks up on the brilliant production values of the Honda ad. The Sony Bravia ad “Balls” by Fallon UK is a meticulously executed set-up meant to thrill and fill our hearts with an irrepressible childlike joy. It compels us to dwell on the fact that the Bravia is brighter, more exciting, and a step above everyone else.

The final spot is so perfect. It is not for a major brand, it was probably made with the understanding that the Honda and the Sony commercial continues to be passed around without an end in sight. It will probably outlive the Bravia brand, and will amuse and spread Sony and Honda’s message for who knows how long? I would imagine that a lot of sweat equity went into this since the brand makes wood products.

Appropriately, the tune is “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by J.S. Bach because with such a convincing story told, everyone of us should be desiring a Touch Wood smartphone! Clients, fans and lovers are rarely seduced by a list of benefits, but light some candles, pour some wine, put on some music, and then wait and see what happens.

Tags: David Weiss, Peter Fischli, Rube Goldberg
Filed under: Ultra Imaginative | Comments Off

Not Brand Dilution – Brand Confusion

Posted by Robert Weitz on August 21, 2011 7:17 PM

I resisted the temptation to jump on this news story just because I did not want “The Situation” and crew anywhere near The Brand Wash. Unfortunately, 2 great blundering behemoths of macho brands have collided, leaving in place some interesting fragments of clarity and truth.

What happened? Certainly not dilution. The concept of dilution comes from trademark law. This is grabbed from Wikipedia and from my experience is a good general definition:

“Trademark dilution is a trademark law concept giving the owner of a famous trademark standing to forbid others from using that mark in a way that would lessen its uniqueness. In most cases, trademark dilution involves an unauthorized use of another’s trademark on products that do not compete with, and have little connection with, those of the trademark owner. For example, a famous trademark used by one company to refer to hair care products might be diluted if another company began using a similar mark to refer to breakfast cereals or spark plugs.”

It is usually a conflict between 2 marks, and the confusion that might occur when 1 mark is in some way so close to another in look, feel or other attributes that the consumer is unsure as to whom they are dealing with.

The word from Abercrombie & Fitch is that, “We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image…We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast.”

Here’s my fly-on-the wall of the branding department conjecture: The problem is that Abercrombie & Fitch is, like the GAP and a number of other global brands, refocusing their brand message/image to speak to emerging global markets, as they should be. And “The Situation” does not represent Abercrombie & Fitch’s new brand image. So how do you stop them? You could engage in legal bullying, but these kids thrive on a good fight, have a substantial following and a lot of PR muscle. Or, you could get a bunch of good publicity for your shift in message and use the diss to bolster your brand. No more confusion and a lot of free press! Quite a play and well done.

Tags: Abercrombie & Fitch, brand dilution, The Situation, trademark
Filed under: Branding | 1 Comment »

Fahrenheit Studio Launches New Site

Posted by Robert Weitz on August 18, 2011 3:49 PM

In 1996, one year after Dylan Tran & I started Fahrenheit Studio, we designed our first website for Inscape for a game called Ravage. At the time, most websites had blue type, no pictures, and certainly no animation! Ravage, on the other hand, used 3D imagery, had some well-placed animation, and felt more like an environment than a spreadsheet.

Many, many websites and brands later, we are still leading the way with the 4th generation launch of our own website at Fahrenheit.com.

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Each generation from 1996-2004 seemed to grow in format size, richness, animation, and sound. But this time, something has changed. It has neither gotten larger or smaller—it can now be any size you want it to be. Thanks to HTML5 and responsive design, it’s one site that adapts to any device. Got an iPhone, iPad, desktop, laptop, or large screen TV? It all fits.

Please check out the new Fahrenheit.com website and let us know what you think.

Tags: Branding, design, fahrenheit studio, html5, responsive web design
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Tagging – Two Cultures Scribble Their Hopes + Wishes

Posted by Robert Weitz on August 9, 2011 1:06 PM

I popped downtown to take one more look at MOCA’s “Art In The Streets” show before it closed. It seemed that every artist, tagger, curioista and his sister decided to catch a final last minute look at the exquisitely scrawled installations by the master taggers turned sophisticated artists of the early 80′s.

Scrawling on walls, hanging scribbles and banners in the landscape goes back to the beginning of recorded history. In fact, the first scribble marked the beginning of recorded history! We do it carefully, we do it wistfully, we do it in anger (“Eat the rich” and “Down with Gaddafi”), and we express our hopes and aspirations.

So, I was delighted to bump into another expression of our instinct to scribble—Tanabata, also known as the “star festival,” was being celebrated in Little Tokyo (LA), and I had to walk through the main plaza to get to MOCA.

Hanging on specific trees were notes expressing people’s wishes: Wishes for jobs, wishes for things, and wishes for health, love and happiness. Some were obviously written by children and they evoked the same impulse to scrawl and scribble that the ancient cave paintings and our lovely street art does!

Tags: Branding, Graffiti, tagging, urbanism
Filed under: Elements of Style | 1 Comment »

Rudi Diesel’s Typhoon HD4 – Slow Mo Mojo

Posted by Robert Weitz on July 30, 2011 8:02 PM

Try an experiment: Pick a road that you drive down often and walk it… slowwwwwwly. I guarantee you will notice detail and nuance that had escaped you at higher speeds. I guess at this point, I should acknowledge that there are certainly sensations and phenomena that we experience at higher speeds that are equally amazing and beautiful.

Check out the video footage captured by Rudi Diesel’s custom high-speed camera, the Typhoon HD4. Like a great telescope or microscope, the Typhoon reveals a world that, while often right in front of our eyes, is unavailable to our unaided senses. A wave becomes a cathedral, a hummingbird’s motion is unbelievably intricate, and a splash in the pool erupts like a massive volcano.

This camera does a lot to reveal a very deep truth. Slow down a bit and you might notice that there is beauty all around you.

Tags: nature, photography, slow motion video, Technology
Filed under: Art + Beauty, Smart Things | Comments Off

Godd Is In The Dettails – Kunming Retailer Trashes Apple Brand

Posted by Robert Weitz on July 21, 2011 10:33 PM

I could not resist the urge to discuss this story in BirdAbroad’s blog. BirdAbroad takes us to an “Apple Store” in Kunming, China, that is a fake!

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The reason I could not resist is that comparing the real Apple brand to the fake Apple brand is a great way to demonstrate the importance of things like quality control, consistency, honesty and legitimacy in the making of a great world-renowned brand. The reason we brand merchandise and services is that we either want to clue people to the quality of our products or, in this case, deceive people about the quality and trustworthiness of fakes! Wanna buy a Rolex cheap? Or is this an authentic Gucci handbag replica?

The problem is that the real Apple, Rolex or Gucci makes a promise and keeps it, while the fake is a lie and cannot live up to the high standard of people who really care about their long-term relationship with customers. The real Apple store cares about quality control, consistency, integrity and honesty because they want to keep you involved with their brand for life, while the fake Apple store wants your money and is willing to fake an entire brand to get it. The reason this is such an interesting job of fakery is that it is like the joke: A con man goes into a store in a remote rural part of the U.S. and tries to pass some $18 bill. The clerk in the store agrees to break his $18 bill, asking him if he wants three $6 or two $9!

While there are so many blatant errors in the counterfeit Apple Store, the glaring examples underline many of the mistakes companies make in the design, execution and oversight of their brands:

  • A brand promise that is impossible to fulfill.
  • Inconsistent graphics, colors and material choices.
  • Poor execution: graphic no-nos abound to the designer. The public will just sense the place is a little crappier and less organized and beautiful.
  • Horrible quality control: Spelling (obviously not a dealbreaker in China), look and feel, peeling paint, wanky staircases are so not Apple!!!
  • Fraud and trademark infringement: While this is obvious, we have witnessed a devil-may-care attitude in marketing that results in brand confusion, search engine ambiguity and lawsuits.

The Apple, Rolex and Gucci brands are what they are because of a fanatical effort that goes into every aspect of their company and the way they present themselves. While Apple, Rolex and Gucci are the real thing, this fake Apple Store is a “paper tiger.” It has stripes and a tail, but you can stick your hand right through it.

Tags: Apple Store, brand, Branding, Fake Apple Store
Filed under: Branding, Elements of Style | Comments Off

Cultcha – Or How We Scrawl

Posted by Robert Weitz on July 20, 2011 3:36 PM

You don’t have to be an art critic to notice that the graphic styles featured in Art in the Streets at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary would probably not be appropriate for banking or air traffic control instructions. It’s an amazing backdrop for a party that featured multiple DJs, light shows, and some robotic dummy taggers to boot.

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No matter what you think about post 1970’s street art, its cultural reach and—in the case of Banksy or Keith Haring—its artistic genius is indisputable. While constantly being weighed against more orthodox and established art, street art is often a huge influence on mainstream art, design, and fashion. So much so that it’s about to become passé or retro!

So don’t forget to wear your hoodie to the show. When you are cruising around, remember that our more stuffy museums are full of works by the Russian Constructivists, Toulouse-Lautrec, Utamaru, among many others that are extremely influenced by the art of the street. It’s in the passion and spontaneous expression of the street artists that we discover the seeds of things to come!

“Art in the Streets” at Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, through August 8, 2011.

Tags: Banksy, Graffiti, Keith Haring, Street Art
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Carmageddon – Conjuring Hell Works

Posted by Robert Weitz on July 17, 2011 4:37 PM

On July 15, 2011, Los Angeles avoided a nightmare of urban congestion, scaring the hell out of the local residents by resurrecting a classic brand that, among other things, conjures an image of the city in a state of automotive hell. The Carmageddon brand seems to have originated with a video game.

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“Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent vehicular combat video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi. It was inspired by the 1975 cult classic movie Death Race 2000.” – Wikipedia

Of course, many of us have never heard of this gruesome, post-apocalyptic crash fantasia, but the name itself is ominous and spot on. Any one of us can easily imagine traffic meltdowns on a biblical scale given a minor cataclysm or stoppage anywhere along L.A.’s vast freeway system. Certainly I can imagine utter chaos if, in fact, there were no rules or regulations governing our roads and highways.

By conjuring up an image of absolute hell, the foreboding name Carmageddon may have been enough to inspire Los Angelenos to stay home, or if they couldn’t handle not driving, get out of town. The result was that Los Angeles was a heavenly place to be – light traffic, less noise, less pollution and the weather was so mellow that most of us forgot about hell or traffic and just chilled!

Tags: Branding, Carmageddon, Los Angeles
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Re-branding, Re-naming, and Re-thinking the Whole Thing!

Posted by Robert Weitz on July 12, 2011 4:05 PM

Let’s begin with the image of a barefoot cobbler. Our last re-brand/re-think/refresh was over 7 years ago! In cyber years, 7 years equals: 2 years of heroism, publication and intense traffic, 2 years of “wow nice site!” and 3 years of excuses!

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Well, after a couple years of overdrive where we put all of our extra energy trying to help our clients deal with the realities of the financial downturn, we have finally turned our attention to our own needs. We designed a new website (to be launched soon) that looks great on any device or browser, and we have to the joy of everyone around FS, renamed and refocused our blog!

Our old name PROUN 21, while exciting to me, is hard to pronounce, spell, and when we explain what it means, people remain even more perplexed, lost and uninterested.

Here is a perfect case of a name chosen by a company head (me), that is close to his (my) heart, but says nothing to my readers!!! PROUN 21 is what I call a brand pooper, or a brand choice that was a total failure from the get-go.

So all the why the self-flagellation?

I am a brand-maker. I see companies do this all the time, and it is my job to explain that when it comes to names, logos or language of any kind, the most important thing is that it’s easy to remember and it’s meaningful to your specific audience or market—not what is meaningful to the CEO.

That doesn’t mean that the two don’t align, and in fact, some CEOs are so enlightened and in tune with their customers that they know exactly what they want and how they want it. (See Apple, Google, Amazon and Zappos)

But visionary leaders of the world be warned: There are a handful of companies that have leaders that truly understand their customers. The rest of us had better listen when our fellow workers, partners, and friends can’t pronounce or figure out the name we chose for our pet projects! I, for one, have seen the error of my ways and am ready to accept humble pie and rename this blog to The Brand Wash!!!

Is it easy to remember? Yes. Meaningful? Absolutely!

Defining or discussing brand is like discussing the idea of family. There is an idea of something we call family, but that concept is something that is very different, depending on many factors.

The Brand Wash will be a place where we point out, discuss or chortle about things that relate to brands and branding with some art, architecture, and design ideas randomly thrown in to the mix as we notice them and find them interesting or provocative.

Tags: Branding
Filed under: Branding | 4 Comments »

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