Branding stories

We all know that when a brand changes it's logo, this is not the reaction they get (unless you're a marketing/graphic design/com person or some kind of lunatic).

(Pic curtesy of the fun tumblr "Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising".) 

However, when the brand is famous, or well-loved or both, the change doesn't go unseen.

Recently, two big brands took a leap and changed -or modified, in one of the cases- their logo : Gap and Starbuck.

For it's 40th birthday, Starbuck went the simplification way, by getting ride of the ring with it name in it, keeping only the two tailed mermaid and going back to its roots by returning to a monochromatic design.

 

The move toward a simpler design is far from being an unprecedented trend for a brand, and there are many example of the process. The evolution was also brought by the current strategy of Starbuck: the brand has been diversifying for years now and doesn't want it's logo to single-out the coffee-selling part of the business.

However, I personally find the choice to drop the name from the logo a clumsy move, as it weakens the brand recognition. Sure, it is not a problem in some places, were there is a Starbuck at every corner and everyone knows what the green mermaid on a cup stands for, but for countries where the brand isn't as well recognized like France, this new logo could prove damaging.

Others arguments against the logo as the symbol of the brand extension strategy are made over there at bnet by Geoffrey James, and those make sense as well. By cutting away the "coffee" to expand it's brand signification, the core activity becomes muddled and the global signification of the brand is only weakened and made unfocused.

Way more controversial than Starbuck's more sober logo is Gap's rebranding.

On october last year, the brand stirred one of those flamestorm the internet is famous for when it unveiled this new logo.

Unarguably uninspired (it would be difficult to do more bland than some Helvetica with a blue square), the new logo excited rather vigorous protests online. A discontented internet user with a knack for programming created a  "Crap Logo" generator, dozens and dozens (and dozens) of cybernauts posted their own suggestion of rebranding.

The one good point on Gap's side is that they were very reactive, communicating through their Facebook page.

But the uproar was such that after a few feeble attempts at pretending the new logo was the start of a crowd sourcing project, the company finally backtracked, and "after much thought, decided to go back to (it's) iconic blue box logo”.

Well, at least the Doctor would approve. You can't go wrong with a blue box.


So, what do you think? Hidden genius or tragic fail?

Morgan Girls

An other post from my secret stash of past projects, this time a work for a new concept store.
Giving Caesar his due, it was a team effort, with my classmate Roseline Veujoz.

You may be familiar with the brand, Morgan, and for those who are not, they are specialized in women clothes.
After studying the brand DNA, we realised that this was the most important thing to know about the Morgan-Girls : they are confident, captivating and sexy, ready to go after what they want...
In fact, they are not unlike the James Bond girls !
And here was our concept.



Red, steel and black are their colors, and the store was to emphasize this aspect, as well as their clean certainty and their cutting-edge seductiveness, using shapes like the spiral or the iris, the confort of a world where they have the power.







What was meant to be a one-shot store concept is strong enough to morph into a co-branding venture, or even a full scale advertising campaign concept.

The times they are a-changin'

As you may have noticed the Advertising Eye underwent a few changes in subtitle and icon.
The reason is simple : I have moved from the UK (I won't lie, I already miss London) to Thailand. Bangkok to be more precise.
So the overdressed icon is gone in exchange for a less color-sensitive (red is not exactly the rage these days in Thailand) and more climate appropriate one.

I am in Bangkok for a bit less than two months now, doing an internship as an AD in the branding agency Creative In-House.

And being in Bangkok, it is difficult too ignore the more or less visible damages of the recent crisis.
The city went back to normal looking really fast. The street have literally been scrubbed by an army of volunteers the week-end after the end of the Red's Shirts occupation, Lumpini park is back to normal, all damaged plants have been replaced, but some traces remain, the more obvious being the burned dent in Central World, one of Bangkok biggest and most famous shopping center (well, it was still visible when I arrived last week, now it's hidden behind a big fence).
But the effects are not only material. Without even talking about longer term effects on political considerations, the fallout of the crisis in this normally peaceful country are still felt. It was a hard blow on the Thai economy, (in fact the first agency I was meant to do my internship with moved to Cambogia for the rest of the year, "just in case") and most of the big hotels in Bangkok are still almost empty. Even in the more Thai oriented-districts and on streets usually packed on friday night, half the club remain closed…

The thing is, Thailand usually very positive image as taken a serious blow (well, it still can't be worst than the one BP is going through).
In the "Nation" newspaper of last week, Branding professional Brenda Bence wonders if the country can recover from it.
Now I'm not an expert, but I do think it can, at the condition that nothing similar happens again. Tourism-wise, all positive associations with Thailand are still there, as well as the physical proofs, from the smiles to the heavenly beaches through all the cultural history, temples and various national parks. People forget easily (or don't pay attention to the news), and if everything stay calm the farangs should be back soon.
Regarding the foreign investors my guess is that it will probably be more difficult, but far from impossible: the country still have all the facilities and the trained manforce that were part of it's success. Thailand still has good long days ahead of being a shinny destination.