BBC News Magazine
Gap says it learnt from its mistake, on the right
Gap clothing company has ditched its new logo after only one week, due to an online backlash. So what are the perils of changing a company emblem?
Cheapy, tacky, ordinary.
Some of the adjectives used by Gap customers to describe its now-axed logo. After less than one week, it has been consigned to the graveyard inhabited by rejected arrows, squiggles and inadvertently offensive corporate emblems.
The clean font, with a small blue square overlapping the "P", prompted such an outcry that the US clothing firm initially enlisted the help of the public in rethinking the design.
But within days it announced, early on Tuesday morning, it was returning to the solid blue box and "GAP" written in a capitalised serif font, a look introduced 20 years ago.
British customers won't have noticed because the change had yet to be implemented in the UK.
But Gap isn't the first company to learn that messing with one's visual identity is a risky business. So what did it do wrong, and what other logo makeovers have come under fire?
Gap, 2010
For a few days, it was goodbye to the 20-year-old solid blue square and the capital letters, hello to Helvetica and a small blue patch.
Continue reading the main story
Other troubled logos
New logos like London 2012 and Cornwall Council, which was later ditched, can cause as many problems as revamped ones
'Don King' logo plan is scrapped
Gap scraps new logo after outcry
Last week, unveiling the new design, Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, said it was more contemporary and current, honouring the "heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward".
But after a slew of criticism, much of it on Facebook, the company promised to take on board customers' own suggested logos as it reconsidered the emblem.
Days later, the purveyor of preppy fashions folded, admitting its mistakes in not consulting its customers first, and reverted to the original.
Gap is trying to change its stripes without changing the product offering, says marketing expert Craig Smith.
"Where marketers often go wrong is they think they have identified an opportunity for the brand to evolve and become something else, become more modern, and they think they can shortcut this by changing the visual identity, and carry the customers with them.
"It's a fundamental error because customers may not be ready to go with you. The product positioning has to change first, then the logo should be the last thing."
More Helvetica
My personal feelings are that the typeface is fine, says award-winning logo designer Jon Pink of J Pink Design.
"The letter forms in lowercase have an attractive quality to them and the simplicity is refreshing. I think if that was really a complaint, there would be similar complaints regarding other famous logos which utilise Helvetica in their logos, like American Apparel, [US homewares retailers] Crate&Barrel, Jeep, Panasonic, British Gas and 3M.
"However the addition of the blue square seems to be hated on a united front - it just looks cheap, tacky and very dull. So whilst including some connection of the original logo makes perfect sense in business terms, this illustrates perfectly that logic and reason can play second fiddle to gut instinct."
BP, 2000
BP went from shield to flower in 2000...
In 2000, BP unveiled a new greener logo, replacing the shield with a green, white and yellow flower-shaped one. At the same time, it adopted the slogan Beyond Petroleum.
The move cost £4.5m ($7m) in brand research, with tens of millions more dollars to be spent supporting the change.
Environmentalists accused the firm of spending more on the logo than on renewable energy.
But it was 10 years later when the dangers of adopting a "green" emblem were clear, says Mr Smith.
...but the logo was subverted during protests in 2010
"They've only learnt the error of their ways with the Deepwater Horizon crisis, because you can't pretend that a fossil fuel company is in any sense an eco-friendly brand.
"You immediately lay a trap for yourself. Since the crisis, lots of people online have been corrupting the logo."
The lesson there is that you can't pretend to be something that you're not, he adds.
Tropicana, 2009
Last year, fruit juice firm Tropicana dropped its famous orange and straw illustration from its cartons in the US, in favour of a glass of orange juice, a move that sparked countless complaints and criticism from customers. The brand's owner, PepsiCo, relented and went back to the orange.
The glass of juice on Tropicana cartons was short-lived
"The 2009 redesign was meant to contemporise our graphics and, as a result of that, we learned just how passionate consumers are about our brand," says Tropicana's Gina Judge, in an upbeat assessment of the miscalculation.
"A group of very loyal Tropicana fans told us they loved our straw in orange imagery, so we brought that icon back to the packaging."
The new look made the brand look ordinary, says Mr Smith. "For a loved, long-standing household brand there is no such thing as a successful logo overhaul - the only triumph is subtlety.
"For each of the six decades that Tropicana has been a fridge and family staple, its visual identity should have been refreshed. If you unveil a revolutionary redesign, expect your customers to revolt."
In contrast, says Mr Smith, a brand like Heinz has managed to change its logo many times over the years but in such a subtle way that no-one really notices.
BT, 1991
British Telecom's piper was introduced in 1991 and lasted 12 years, but at the time he was widely ridiculed, both for the £50m price tag and the way he looked like he was knocking back a yard of ale. He was preceded by, and later followed by, more conceptual designs.
The piper soon became a fixture on British streets
"I think BT were trying to visually embody a human, almost personal element through the piper image," says Mr Pink.
"He is listening and communicating at the same time which would bode well with BT at the time. There is no doubt that depicting a human figure would also help the company achieve a more personal image, perhaps with more focus on customer service than it had before, but the style and pose were its failing points."
The colouring, replacing a purple and yellow "T", was trying to reinforce the British element, he says.
"Once a business has established its brand positioning amongst the general public, it is often the logo that is seen to embody that branding and therefore acts as the visual connection between consumer and business much like we connect a person's face with his personality.
"In fact that is a good analogy to logos and brands - if we think of a brand being someone's personality and the logo being someone's face it makes it easier to see why as humans we like familiarity and how breaking that connection can cause confusion and puzzlement."
Conservative party, 2006
When David Cameron ditched his party's hand-held blue torch for a scribbled tree, former party chairman Lord Tebbit described it as "a bunch of broccoli".
From torch to tree
Others said it looked like Mr Cameron's child had drawn it, says Mr Pink, and the softer colour palette was far removed from the very staunch red, white and blue of the old logo.
"I actually feel that criticism was unfair and that this is one of the more thought-out logo revamps of the last decade. Such a sharp change in direction helped David Cameron to distance himself from Lady Thatcher, but also helped the party appear more relaxed and environmentally conscious.
"The oak tree is also a symbol of strength and stability - both of which are great values to portray for a political party.
"Logos are like anything else that has been created- they are very subjective, so drastic changes will always split opinions, but this is one instance where I feel the naysayers have been proven wrong and the designers right."
Below is a selection of your comments
What a weak response from Gap. The old logo is tired, dated and desperately in need of a refresh. The new logo looked fresh and innovative. The public invariably take time to warm to new visual identities and businesses need to stand up and defend the need for change. Alas, not so in this case.
Graham Newsom, Chessington, England
People don't want drastic changes in anything - that's the lesson. Be it relationships, politics, price variations or weather - it brings a knee jerk reaction. And with social media putting raw power in the hands of users, brands need to plan their moves very well.
Rajasekar Raju, Chennai, India
Think the original GAP logo has become a worldwide icon so the right decison has been made. Who can forget the idiocy of the ethnic tail designs on BA planes fiasco. I'm no lover of the Union Jack, but that encapsulated BA across the world for many I'm sure and was unsurprised to see it return.
Gruithainn, Dundee
When I saw the new Gap logo I honestly thought it was for a completely different company, not the clothing firm. Changing a logo is fine, but you need to consider brand awareness, the strength of your brand and what market you are in. When walking around a city centre, shopping precinct or supermarket we all recognise logos, that's what a brand is. Unless GAP are really struggling I don't understand the need to change.
Rob Holmes,
"The new logo looked fresh and innovative", Graham Newson. Really? Does a bland, overused font (evidence aplenty within this article - American Apparel, Crate&Barrel, Jeep, Panasonic, British Gas, 3M...) with an unimaginative and uninteresting small faded blue square really qualify as "innovative" in any way at all? It looked like something out of Microsoft clipart, circa 1995. Terrible. Old logo much better, iconic and a huge improvement. What do we say? "If it ain't broke..."
Alex, Cardiff
If you have a warm feeling associated with a brand then the same goes for its logo. It should only change if the brand is not getting as much attention as it used to get. I still won't buy Pepsi since they changed from the white label to the blue! Blue just makes me think it's Pepsi Max!
Brenda, Armagh
The old Gap logo looks its age, but unfortunately not old enough to take on a retro feel. I do feel that this is controversy that would have passed over very quickly without any perceptible damage to the brand. Gap seems to have been hijacked in its plans less by its customers than by a social media mob.
Peter Blair, London
Please tell me I'm not the only person who greatly pities the people in the "outcry" about the Gap logo change. It really is sad that there are people with nothing more important in their lives to direct their energies towards.
Dave, York
Perhaps a change of logo or corporate name (remember Consignia!) may be more to do with revitalising the careers of 'tired' executives or the need of incoming CEOs to make their mark. Often such changes are so bizarre that it seems incomprehensible that they had been sanctioned by experienced senior managers. And the multi-million pound mistake doesn't appear to automatically crash the career of the boss who championed it. I note that virtually all the major car manufacturers resist the temptation to play around with their logos, whether business be booming or otherwise.
Trevor, Beverley. East Yorkshire
The GAP square is iconic, no question. Perhaps a more subtle approach should have been used - softening the serifs for example but overall keeping the essence of the original. Similarly to how Virgin have done. The same classic 'scrawl' logo but subtley brought forward into the 21st century, a great example of how it should have been done!
Mark Wilde, Derby
This is awesome. If you looked at logos like AT&T, their new logo reflected a certain amount of flexibility and youthfulness. The new GAP logo, for a denim brand, which matures over time, actually looks spanking new, like newly polished tiles, hence the connect is lost. Another logo which is on the fence, is the new PWC logo.
By Tom Geoghegan, BBC
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
US Tops Nation Brands Index 2010
A new edition of the popular Nation Brands Index has just been released today. According to the Nation Brands Index 2010’s earliest known details, the United States continues to have the world’s most valuable country brand, a place it obtained in in 2009 after Obama’s election. There are minor changes in this year’s edition of the Nation Brands Index, but are noteworthy nonetheless. For instance, the BRIC countries continue to advance, and at a faster pace than before, their nation brand images, while the PIGS, predictably, have lost some charm because of the economic uncertainties they have been going through.
Results from the 2010 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, which measures the global image of 50 countries, shows the United States holding the top spot for the second year in a row as the country with the best overall brand. Among the top 10 nations, Southern Europe has seen several changes, all of them for worse. Spain is no longer part of the top 10, Italy has been overtaken by Canada, and France has lost its standing to an emerging Germany. Greece is not among the selection of only 50 nations being ranked at the Index, but one can safely assume that it has lost a number of positions, especially on the business and governance dimensions.
“After last year, which saw the United States make such a significant leap in its standing to the top nation spurred by the election of President Obama, the reputation landscape of the countries comprising the top 20 have remained relatively stable,” says Simon Anholt, the Nation Brands Index founder and an independent advisor to over a dozen national governments around the world. “However, the uncertain global economic climate, combined with financial bailouts, natural disasters and civil unrests have created some interesting shifts, especially among southern European nations.”
The Nation Brands Index 2010 overall results (in brackets countries occupying that spot on the Nation Brands Index 2009) are as follows:
1. United States [In 2009: United States]
2. Germany [In 2009: France]
3. France [In 2009: Germany]
4. United Kingdom [In 2009: United Kingdom]
5. Japan [In 2009: Japan]
6. Canada [In 2009: Italy]
7. Italy [In 2009: Canada]
8. Switzerland [In 2009: Switzerland]
9. Australia [In 2009: Australia]
10. Sweden [In 2009: Spain, Sweden (tie)]
The 2010 Nation Brands Index survey was conducted from July 7, 2010 to August 4, 2010 in 20 major developed and developing countries that play important and diverse roles in international relations, trade, and the flow of business, cultural, and tourism activities. The survey results are based on respondents’ ratings of 50 nations on questions in six categories: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. The Nation Brands Index 2010 overall ranking is based on the average of these six scores.
“While top ranked nations remain to be developed countries and the BRIC countries continue to rank in the 20s, Brazil and China, boasting both economic power and increasing geopolitical clout, are the two countries that have shown some of the greatest NBISM score gains between 2009 and 2010,” adds Xiaoyan Zhao, senior vice president and director of the Nation Brands Index 2010 study at GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. “The steady gains of developing economies suggest that the reputation gaps between the West and the East will continue to narrow”. For example, although Japan still holds the top position on the Exports dimension, China – the recently crowned second largest exporter in the world – has moved from 21st in the Nation Brands Index 2008 to 14th in 2010 on this dimension.
Mr. Anholt points out the importance of understanding not only the overall reputation standing of nations, but also individual attributes: “While the United States ranks No. 1 on the overall Nation Brands Index 2010, it ranks much lower on a few individual questions such as “behaves responsibly in world peace and security” (21st) and “behaves responsibly in protecting the environment” (26th).
Another example would be Australia which, while keeping its 9th position on overall rankings, has however been undermined in its ‘welcoming’ image by recent episodes of xenophobia, especially with Indians. “The good news is that Australia’s overall image hasn’t changed at all. It is still the ninth-most admired country in the world,” Mr Anholt explains to The Australian. “But when you look more closely, there is a very clear contamination effect from the situation with Indian students,” he said. Two years ago, Indians considered Australia one of the most welcoming countries on the planet. Now it ranks 46 out of 50. “The success of multiculturalism – the great Australian social experiment – wasn’t part of our reputation before, and was therefore unable to protect us from damage when something like this happened,” Mr Anholt said. “People know just a few things about Australia – and it’s an enviable reputation to have – but it is just not very broad”. “China, for example, ranked Australia first in 2008 for a warm welcome. That dropped to third in 2009 and ninth in 2010. What that means for Chinese tourism and investment is problematical.” Additionally, the perception of Australia as a welcoming destination has also been adversely affected in South Korea, Brazil, Japan and Italy – most likely a flow-on effect from the Indian situation.
Results from the 2010 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, which measures the global image of 50 countries, shows the United States holding the top spot for the second year in a row as the country with the best overall brand. Among the top 10 nations, Southern Europe has seen several changes, all of them for worse. Spain is no longer part of the top 10, Italy has been overtaken by Canada, and France has lost its standing to an emerging Germany. Greece is not among the selection of only 50 nations being ranked at the Index, but one can safely assume that it has lost a number of positions, especially on the business and governance dimensions.
“After last year, which saw the United States make such a significant leap in its standing to the top nation spurred by the election of President Obama, the reputation landscape of the countries comprising the top 20 have remained relatively stable,” says Simon Anholt, the Nation Brands Index founder and an independent advisor to over a dozen national governments around the world. “However, the uncertain global economic climate, combined with financial bailouts, natural disasters and civil unrests have created some interesting shifts, especially among southern European nations.”
The Nation Brands Index 2010 overall results (in brackets countries occupying that spot on the Nation Brands Index 2009) are as follows:
1. United States [In 2009: United States]
2. Germany [In 2009: France]
3. France [In 2009: Germany]
4. United Kingdom [In 2009: United Kingdom]
5. Japan [In 2009: Japan]
6. Canada [In 2009: Italy]
7. Italy [In 2009: Canada]
8. Switzerland [In 2009: Switzerland]
9. Australia [In 2009: Australia]
10. Sweden [In 2009: Spain, Sweden (tie)]
The 2010 Nation Brands Index survey was conducted from July 7, 2010 to August 4, 2010 in 20 major developed and developing countries that play important and diverse roles in international relations, trade, and the flow of business, cultural, and tourism activities. The survey results are based on respondents’ ratings of 50 nations on questions in six categories: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. The Nation Brands Index 2010 overall ranking is based on the average of these six scores.
“While top ranked nations remain to be developed countries and the BRIC countries continue to rank in the 20s, Brazil and China, boasting both economic power and increasing geopolitical clout, are the two countries that have shown some of the greatest NBISM score gains between 2009 and 2010,” adds Xiaoyan Zhao, senior vice president and director of the Nation Brands Index 2010 study at GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. “The steady gains of developing economies suggest that the reputation gaps between the West and the East will continue to narrow”. For example, although Japan still holds the top position on the Exports dimension, China – the recently crowned second largest exporter in the world – has moved from 21st in the Nation Brands Index 2008 to 14th in 2010 on this dimension.
Mr. Anholt points out the importance of understanding not only the overall reputation standing of nations, but also individual attributes: “While the United States ranks No. 1 on the overall Nation Brands Index 2010, it ranks much lower on a few individual questions such as “behaves responsibly in world peace and security” (21st) and “behaves responsibly in protecting the environment” (26th).
Another example would be Australia which, while keeping its 9th position on overall rankings, has however been undermined in its ‘welcoming’ image by recent episodes of xenophobia, especially with Indians. “The good news is that Australia’s overall image hasn’t changed at all. It is still the ninth-most admired country in the world,” Mr Anholt explains to The Australian. “But when you look more closely, there is a very clear contamination effect from the situation with Indian students,” he said. Two years ago, Indians considered Australia one of the most welcoming countries on the planet. Now it ranks 46 out of 50. “The success of multiculturalism – the great Australian social experiment – wasn’t part of our reputation before, and was therefore unable to protect us from damage when something like this happened,” Mr Anholt said. “People know just a few things about Australia – and it’s an enviable reputation to have – but it is just not very broad”. “China, for example, ranked Australia first in 2008 for a warm welcome. That dropped to third in 2009 and ninth in 2010. What that means for Chinese tourism and investment is problematical.” Additionally, the perception of Australia as a welcoming destination has also been adversely affected in South Korea, Brazil, Japan and Italy – most likely a flow-on effect from the Indian situation.
The Dancing Girl
The "Dancing girl" found in Mohenjo-daro is an artifact that is some 4500 years old. The 10.8 cm long bronze statue of the dancing girl was found in 1926 from a house in Mohenjo-daro. She was British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler's favorite statuette, as he said in this quote from a 1973 television program:
"There is her little Baluchi-style face with pouting lips and insolent look in the eyes. She's about fifteen years old I should think, not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world. There's nothing like her, I think, in the world."
"There is her little Baluchi-style face with pouting lips and insolent look in the eyes. She's about fifteen years old I should think, not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world. There's nothing like her, I think, in the world."
The Old Man and the Sea: an excerpt
“I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars.” Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. . . . Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. . . . There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity. I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers."
Gap scraps new logo after online outcry
US clothes retailer Gap has scrapped a new logo just one week after its introduction following an "outpouring of comments" online.
The original logo, which has used been used for more than 20 years, has a blue box with "GAP" written in white inside.
The new logo on the website had "Gap" written in black against a light background with a small blue square laid over the top of the letter "p".
But critics attacked the rebranding on social networks and online forums.
More than 2,000 comments were posted on the company's Facebook page on the issue, with many demanding the return of the traditional logo.
In a statement released on the Gap website, Mark Hansen, president of Gap Brand North America, said the company's customers always came first.
Why companies watch your every Facebook move
"We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back.
"So we've made the decision to do just that - we will bring it back across all channels."
He added that it was clear the retailer "did not go about this in the right way" and "missed the opportunity to engage with the online community".
"There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way," he said.
The original logo, which has used been used for more than 20 years, has a blue box with "GAP" written in white inside.
The new logo on the website had "Gap" written in black against a light background with a small blue square laid over the top of the letter "p".
But critics attacked the rebranding on social networks and online forums.
More than 2,000 comments were posted on the company's Facebook page on the issue, with many demanding the return of the traditional logo.
In a statement released on the Gap website, Mark Hansen, president of Gap Brand North America, said the company's customers always came first.
Why companies watch your every Facebook move
"We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back.
"So we've made the decision to do just that - we will bring it back across all channels."
He added that it was clear the retailer "did not go about this in the right way" and "missed the opportunity to engage with the online community".
"There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way," he said.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Agencies Showcase Shifts in Thinking at CEO Summit hosted by AdForum in NY
This week's activities in New York underscore two distinct trends now occurring at the core of the advertising business.
Advertising agencies -- whether global networks, creative boutiques, or specialist shops for digital strategy or media solutions -- are indeed changing the way they think about marketing in a recently re-set economic world where our digital age has re-shaped consumer behavior.
Agency Search Consultants now play a greater role in influencing how global marketers allocate their budgets across an expanding mosaic of agency services.
The 9th Annual CEO Summit is taking place this week throughout New York City, organized by AdForum, the online marketing resource company that serves the creative information needs of advertisers and agencies around the globe. Ad leaders from Madison Avenue to Downtown Manhattan and from New York’s far Westside to the up-and-coming streets of Brooklyn are hosting 30+ agency management and search companies from four continents. These consultants represent more than 530 agency searches each year or the equivalent of $9 billion in billings from marketers around the globe looking to find agencies with the right chemistry for their needs.
While all agencies take new business very seriously, they now recognize the importance of communicating how they have adopted new strategies. For example, Miles Young, CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide shared how marketers today "don't want to just see creative work; they want data capability." This was critical to Ogilvy’s recent UPS win, which resulted in the "Logistics" campaign. According to Young, "UPS was as delighted with the live, real time UPS dashboard as they were with the creative work. These statistics were like giving them the Holy Grail."
David Droga, Creative Chairman of Droga 5, the award-winning independent agency, shared how today it was important to be "creatively led, strategically driven, tech-friendly and humanity-obsessed." He added that now it is "about points of excellence, not points of difference. We simply have to make a client’s business better."
Jim Heekin, the CEO of Grey Global Group, shared how the company's new concept of being "famously effective" catapulted the agency to a new level of winning creativity with accounts like E*Trade, Pantene, Cialis and Captain Morgan.
Despite the popularity of TV’s Madmen that glorifies the beginnings of advertising in a simpler -- if not more elegant -- consumer era, today's agencies are unquestionably finding new ways to hone their best skills and drive results for clients. Yet many global marketers are finding that their best insurance in making the right agency decisions in today's complex and specialized world is working with consultants who help them navigate the choices. AdForum's CEO Summit continues through Thursday in an effort to share more visions, discover new strategies and uncover the next future trends.
Advertising agencies -- whether global networks, creative boutiques, or specialist shops for digital strategy or media solutions -- are indeed changing the way they think about marketing in a recently re-set economic world where our digital age has re-shaped consumer behavior.
Agency Search Consultants now play a greater role in influencing how global marketers allocate their budgets across an expanding mosaic of agency services.
The 9th Annual CEO Summit is taking place this week throughout New York City, organized by AdForum, the online marketing resource company that serves the creative information needs of advertisers and agencies around the globe. Ad leaders from Madison Avenue to Downtown Manhattan and from New York’s far Westside to the up-and-coming streets of Brooklyn are hosting 30+ agency management and search companies from four continents. These consultants represent more than 530 agency searches each year or the equivalent of $9 billion in billings from marketers around the globe looking to find agencies with the right chemistry for their needs.
While all agencies take new business very seriously, they now recognize the importance of communicating how they have adopted new strategies. For example, Miles Young, CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide shared how marketers today "don't want to just see creative work; they want data capability." This was critical to Ogilvy’s recent UPS win, which resulted in the "Logistics" campaign. According to Young, "UPS was as delighted with the live, real time UPS dashboard as they were with the creative work. These statistics were like giving them the Holy Grail."
David Droga, Creative Chairman of Droga 5, the award-winning independent agency, shared how today it was important to be "creatively led, strategically driven, tech-friendly and humanity-obsessed." He added that now it is "about points of excellence, not points of difference. We simply have to make a client’s business better."
Jim Heekin, the CEO of Grey Global Group, shared how the company's new concept of being "famously effective" catapulted the agency to a new level of winning creativity with accounts like E*Trade, Pantene, Cialis and Captain Morgan.
Despite the popularity of TV’s Madmen that glorifies the beginnings of advertising in a simpler -- if not more elegant -- consumer era, today's agencies are unquestionably finding new ways to hone their best skills and drive results for clients. Yet many global marketers are finding that their best insurance in making the right agency decisions in today's complex and specialized world is working with consultants who help them navigate the choices. AdForum's CEO Summit continues through Thursday in an effort to share more visions, discover new strategies and uncover the next future trends.
Always One Step Ahead
As Global Director of Brand & Marketing at Consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, he has been traveling between his native Spain, Deloitte's New York hub and many markets in between as the financial advisory giant introduces the second phase of its global "Green Dot" positioning campaign.
Using the brand platform of "Always One Step Ahead," all advertising creative cleverly incorporates a single green dot to represent images as diverse as a globe, a sun, a door knob, or a bead on an abacus. (Luis Gallardo characterizes the Deloitte "Green Dot" as a hero set against a black background.) The striking, yet simple, visuals illustrate how Deloitte is always one step ahead on issues from corporate sustainability to recruitment to opening up new opportunities.
According to Gallardo, "The campaign is almost a symbolic way of explaining the Deloitte story as the visuals transcend boundaries, cultures, and sectors while avoiding the traps of semantics or language as much as possible. The communications becomes an experience of our excellence and our brand positioning, instead of merely a description of it." The ads have already run in over 50 countries to provide DTT member firms a consistent image and presence in the marketplace.
The "Green Dot" campaign is a global, unified communications concept that Gallardo believes is helping to position Deloitte" as a category of one." A believer in building strong relationships with different stakeholders, Luis Gallardo thinks the campaign will drive the following ideals: The clarity of the campaign will distinguish Deloitte form cluttered messages in the category and underscore how the company is moving ahead.T
he questions posed in “Green Dot” offer an invitation to intelligent debate.The messages are optimistic and associated with progress—which offer a fresh and emotionally-rewarding point of view.The campaign instills confidence: Deloitte can be trusted to lead.The campaign was developed by muirhoward, London. Deloitte also worked with The Partners, London, on brand strategy. -The Internationalist Magazine
Using the brand platform of "Always One Step Ahead," all advertising creative cleverly incorporates a single green dot to represent images as diverse as a globe, a sun, a door knob, or a bead on an abacus. (Luis Gallardo characterizes the Deloitte "Green Dot" as a hero set against a black background.) The striking, yet simple, visuals illustrate how Deloitte is always one step ahead on issues from corporate sustainability to recruitment to opening up new opportunities.
According to Gallardo, "The campaign is almost a symbolic way of explaining the Deloitte story as the visuals transcend boundaries, cultures, and sectors while avoiding the traps of semantics or language as much as possible. The communications becomes an experience of our excellence and our brand positioning, instead of merely a description of it." The ads have already run in over 50 countries to provide DTT member firms a consistent image and presence in the marketplace.
The "Green Dot" campaign is a global, unified communications concept that Gallardo believes is helping to position Deloitte" as a category of one." A believer in building strong relationships with different stakeholders, Luis Gallardo thinks the campaign will drive the following ideals: The clarity of the campaign will distinguish Deloitte form cluttered messages in the category and underscore how the company is moving ahead.T
he questions posed in “Green Dot” offer an invitation to intelligent debate.The messages are optimistic and associated with progress—which offer a fresh and emotionally-rewarding point of view.The campaign instills confidence: Deloitte can be trusted to lead.The campaign was developed by muirhoward, London. Deloitte also worked with The Partners, London, on brand strategy. -The Internationalist Magazine
Saturday, October 9, 2010
'If' by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
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