Last Wednesday, Twitter abandoned its many recognizable icons and adopted the little blue bird mascot as the “universally recognizable symbol of twitter.” This means there will be no more logo text or the lowercase ‘t’ icon to represent twitter. Instead, the social network will simply be using just the bird as their new trademark.
At the beginning of this year, 110-year-old retailer, JCPenney began making changes to its brand in an effort to restore it’s integrity and transform the way shoppers feel about the experience of retail stores. Their aim is to get rid of the frustration and make shopping “simpler” and it is all part of a brand overhaul planned by Apple exec turned new JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson. Johnson plans to completely revamp JCPenney’s image by 2015 and his plan is to do that by taking big risks. Johnson draws his inspiration from his former boss, the late Steve Jobs. His new marketing strategy will all be about product, place, price, and promotion – the 4 P’s of marketing. But he will also add in presentation and personality to increase curiosity and interest in JCPenney.
No, I am not talking about wearing a freshly pressed suit and a tie, although sometimes that is entirely appropriate. I am referring to looking professional across your social media channels.
I came across this idea on the blog, Brand New, and was instantly compelled to check it out. Basically, it is a map made up of logos. Although this concept is fairly new, I think the idea behind it is amazing and they do such great job of pulling it off. As a designer, I know it is hard to make a collection of different logos look good when they all need to be placed in such a small area. But the company that creates these maps, CityMaps, achieves it beautifully.
In a previous blog post, Finding your voice: Content marketing dos, we mentioned the importance of content marketing, and how it is necessary to constantly publish content so that you are providing value to your clients, and so that search engines display your web content in organic search results. But, you may be wondering, “what should my content say?”
The other day I received an email from my friend. The subject read, “YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!!!” I looked at the subject line, and thought, ‘Really? Why?’ So… I opened the email – even though I was in the middle of something else. Of course I would have opened the email even if there was no subject, because it was from a good friend of mine, but I probably would have left it until I finished with the project I was working on.
If there is one thing you can learn from the recent Coca-Cola fiasco, let it be this- when you set out to do something new, always think about how it will affect ALL of your customers or clients. When Coca-Cola came out with white cans in an effort to raise awareness for the World Wildlife Fund, Coca-Cola customers quickly began complaining that they were confusing the white cans with the silver Diet Coke cans. For some, this was extremely frustrating. Which makes me wonder, did Coca-Cola think this campaign through? I am not sure the company realized what such a drastic change would do to its consumers. The ABC news clip below explains the change from red to white, and how this affected the customer, and why the change made such an impact.
Today was the debut of the Starbucks holiday cup. You may think, “so what, who cares? It is just a cup.” Or, if you’re like me, a little smile crept onto your face, and a small burst of joy hit you when you saw the Holiday cup. I am not sure why, but each year I get excited when I get my coffee in a red cup with a wintery mix of graphics.
William Caxton set up the first printing press in England. Caxton was a merchant by trade, but learned printing later in his life. He is responsible for being the first to print many well-known books, including Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (BBC). He was also, the first to publish an ad in English.
Everyday billions of people use search engines to learn about a specific topic, solve a problem, find service providers, etc. How often have you done a search for a friend or favorite restaurant just because it was easier than opening up your contacts? Well, it turns out that even C-level professionals are doing much of their own search these days.
As a sixth grader in home economics, I was assigned to write a letter to a company about one of their products. The idea behind the assignment was simply to help us understand how to write and format a professional letter. I remember the excitement I felt when I got a response in the mail from the company I wrote to–until I opened it. Only thirteen years old, I was traumatized when I read that the company did not appreciate my letter (which suggested the company produce a diet version of a certain cake product – which of course now exists,) and claimed if I wrote again they would be forced to take some sort of action. I laugh now, but I also wonder if I would resend my letter today, or posed my suggestion on their Facebook wall – would I receive the same response?
“‘Engage your audience.” We have all heard it a million times, and it can be quite frustrating! I get it, really I do. In order to capture an audience we have to get them talking. But please just tell me how!”
