Branding



Have you ever wondered “How did that company come up with that logo?” If you’re anything like me, you think about this every time you see a new brand. Today while visiting some of my favorite news outlets, I came across this article. The article shows the different logos tried by some of the world’s most identifiable brands. I was so intrigued by this that I decided to write about the importance of branding.

I am not a expert on branding, I haven’t branded my own business, actually the only thing I have ever branded was myself (not literally). But I did find this video from some people who have dealt with the challenge of develop a Brand in a crowded market.

“Branding is the market practice of creating a name or symbol that identifies and differentiates one product from another.” This definition comes directly from the video above, and I don’t think I could have defined it better. Branding is an art, yes an ART. I say that because, when you decide to create a brand, you need to do research, you need to do trial and error and then you need to put your own twist on it to make it all yours. Research is the most important part of the branding strategy, in order to create a brand that will appeal to consumers; you must first define who your target audience is. Once you know who your target is, you have to DIG DEEP! You need to find out what attracts your prospective consumer, while also being unique. Most of the time, your market is probably pretty crowded so you need to emphasize what makes you different, this is why you hear Burger King emphasizing that their burgers are flame broiled or Wendy’s saying that they use iceberg lettuce and have square patties. These a unique selling points that are a part of their Brand.

Trial and error is important also. One of my mentors once told me “creating greatness is a messy process.” What that means is that you cannot create anything great without making mistakes. You need to be prepared to fail, clean up your mess and start over again in order to get it just right. That’s the same with branding. As the article above shows, these brands didn’t get it right the first time. Some of the first logos are totally different than the current ones, some are pretty similar. At the end of the day though each company found the right balance and I’m sure if you put any of those brand logos in front of anyone over the age of 12 they would be able to identify the company it belongs to.

So when do you know when your branding is a success, when the sight of your logo sends the whole message, no words needed. The logo brings an emotional connection, it also offers the consumer insurance on product quality, and most of all when the logo drives the consumer buying decision, that’s right Loyalty from the consumer

Joke of the day:

 (So the joke of the day is just going to be pictures of branding gone wrong)

(I wouldnt let my kids go there)

(You see what I see)

(I dont think I feel comfortable at this DDS's office)

(Yea this is wrong on so many levels)

Post Super Bowl commercial evaluations

As a student here at Michigan State University whose major is Advertising, I watched the super bowl for the football of course, but I also waited patiently to see the long awaited commercials. We all know who the primary players are when it comes to big money ads;  Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Doritos and of course the two big winners from last years super bowl Chrysler with its eminem ad and Volkswagon Darth vador commercial. 

As the commercials ran yesterday, I must say I was pleasantly disappointed with alot of the commercials I witnessed on Sunday. Before I get into my views on these ads, I must ask was anyone surprised to see that Ford Motor didn't advertise during the big game. I couldn't believe my eyes because with the automobile market making a comeback, its crazy to see that one of  major players in this market didn't have a presence, especially since all of its competitors went pretty big with their ads.

Now back to all the companies that did advertise during the super bowl. I think that Chrysler let me and all of the city of Detroit down. When I say this I don't want to imply that their commercial was not good, because it was. It did exactly what they wanted it to do, they used a popular person, Clint Eastwood, to appeal to not only youth but the older demographic. This was smart because the other spokes people they have used in the past; Suh, and Eminem, had primarily a youth culture appeal. They created  a great emotional connection with its consumer. But what they didn't calculate was the backlash they would get once true Detroiters realized Clint isn't of Michigan.  My personal opinion is that they used a two minute spot right before half time to bore me with the same campaign they have been running all year. The  super bowl is where you are supposed to debut and wow the consumer and they did not do that.

General Electric made a strong showing in the super bowl. I thought that may have been really a persuasion tactic. If you have been paying attention GE has been having some trouble lately with its tax situation, so they used this platform to try to win back over consumer perception for the company, and I think they did well especially with collaborating with Budweiser on one of their ads.

I want to also recognize Daanon and John Stamos for a very funny commercial and also M & M for providing us with fall to our knees humor during the super bowl. They used humor to create brand recognition. I believe with comedic commercials like that, people will recall these brands when making a purchase decisions.

Now my overall winner for the night  goes Chevy and their Silverado commercial. If you didn't see it then click  below.

As a Ford man myself, and also being named Dave, it was hard to accept this commercial. But I will say Chevy took it all the way home, they not only showed off their new hardware -- award for being "most dependable truck on the road-- but they also took a jab at the largest player in the pick up truck market, Ford. This commercial was not only funny, but it also informed its primary target about the durability of their trucks. I love the fact that when the trucks came together at the end they included an older silverado just to subliminally show that they have always made durable and dependable trucks.  Chevy knows that they won't be winning over any Ford truck users with this ad (because consumers in this market are very brand loyal) but they did give their fans something to brag about, give each other high fives to and smile about. Hats off to you Chevy you did a good job.

Sorry I've been gone so long

Sorry that I have been gone so long. People have told me that they read my blog more than I thought, so I figured I would come back and make another appearance. Just as before I want to talk about a subject that I encountered in my life lately. This subject is judgement.

Now if you are a friend of mines, you know I recently accepted Freemasonary as my profession. Now this is something that I am proud of and I will not let anyone make me feel like I shouldn't be. Since this has happened in my life, I have began to realize how much negative people will say. I've been told by others that "its not too late to save your soul" or " you sold your soul to devil" and even " being a mason means you must worship Satan." At first it was getting to me, because being a man of god I never wanted people to perceive me this way. But then I started to look at those who criticized me. Not to name call but I  realized they are ignorant. When I say ignorant, im referring to the fact that they don't know what they are talking about and they don't even practice their religion correctly. I truly believe in the statement "Americans fear what they don't understand." Being the christian man that I am, I went directly to my Bible (King James is the version I prefer). I have versus that help guide my life. The one that I flipped open to on this day was Luke 6: 37. this verse states "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven."  Now this verse touched home because, it opened my eyes to realize who am I or who are you to judge a person. We are nothing but sinners ourselves, and my bible says there is only one judge when its all said and done.  I also came across another verse that I felt applied and of course I marked it to comeback to for cases like this. The verse is Matthew 7:1-2, it states "Judge not, that you be not judged. For the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." Again this verse just refers to the fact that as sinners it is not our place to judge our fellow brother.

Well I know  that was a random rant, but I just want everyone to know that to place judgement on each other is not healthy for yourself. The more you judge others the more you condemned yours soul. So you can be a declared card carry christian, but you are still the same sinning empty vessel that I am. In the end we are all waiting to be judge by the all seeing lord and savior.

*** As always we will end this with a joke***

Judgement

(3)

A man died and went to The Judgment. St. Peter met him at the Gates of Heaven and said, "Before you meet with God, I thought I should tell you -- we've looked at your life, and your really didn't do anything particularly good or bad. We're not at all sure what to do with you. Can you tell us anything you did that can help us make a decision?"

The newly arrived soul thought for a moment and replied, "Yeah, once I was driving along and came upon a woman who was being harassed by a group of bikers. So I pulled over, got out my tire iron, and went up to the leader of the bikers. He was a big, muscular, hairy guy with tattoos all over his body and a ring pierced through his nose. Well, I tore the nose ring out of his nose, and told him he and his gang had better stop bothering the woman or they would have to deal with me!"

"I'm impressed," St. Peter responded, "When did this happen?"

"About two minutes ago," came the reply.