Janine ran across this great blog post from the folks at Function Webdesign. It highlights what they believe to be the top 50 re-designs of major brand logos or icons like the AT&T example above.
Their selections point to a number of stunning examples that fundamentally change the face of a brand such as these:
But then there are also some others that are very subtle but show how a small change can make a big difference…
So I decided to add #51 to their list - selecting a logo redesign we did last year for one of our very own customers - USAN - and very much reflective of this latter grouping. Subtle changes to the logo font and colors combined with a much improved tagline add up to a simple yet powerful redesign…
To see how this was incorporated across the rest of their corporate branding check out the case study on our site or visit http://www.usan.com
How Smart Grassroots Marketing Revitalized a Fraternity
College fraternities are typically associated with mass inebriation and creative hazing, not smart branding and marketing. But the brothers at the Psi Triton chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa are changing all that and demonstrating once again why I believe the next generation of business leaders will be more serious and savvy marketers…
When I graduated from Hobart College in 1990 Phi Sig was entering decline, and within a few years the fraternity was gone, succumbing to a more aggressive “anti-greek” mentality sweeping the campuses and administrations of many colleges…
Then about four years ago, a new generation of students at Hobart, along with some key alumni, made the effort to restart Psi Triton. Led by former house President Julian LoPresti and current president Andy Fosbrook they decided to re-create Phi Sig as a different kind of fraternity. They astutely recognized the campus community’s general distaste for intra-fraternity rivalry and irresponsible antics, and determined that they needed to separate themselves from the clique-driven reputation of fraternities at Hobart (Kappa Sigma = Football Players, Sigma Phi = “deadheads”, etc…).
And so they developed and applied a smart set of marketing and branding principals as the foundation of a new fraternity. First they developed a tag line and theme that could be reused in varied ways to build an identity. The line they created was, get this:
“We Are The Change”
It may sound cliched now, but keep in mind - they came up with this message fully 2 years before the Obama campaign kicked off! And the brothers now fondly joke now that Obama ripped off the change slogan from them!
The tag line was applied to T-shirts and posters that were distributed around campus and handed out at events. It has evolved several times since but the core theme of “change” has remained and no doubt benefited from the Obama phenomenon (lucky timing helps turn good marketing into great marketing).
The second thing they did was to dedicated themselves to a set of events and causes atypical of most fraternities. From conceiving and sponsoring the Turkey Trot race (one of the most successful fundraisers ever conducted on the Hobart campus) to their attempts to bring back the legendary Folk Festival on campus this spring, the goal has been to associate the Phi Sigma Kappa brand with every positive, noteworthy event or cause on campus or in the community.
In each case they created posters and t-shirts to promote the events and even arranged for local businesses to “sponsor” the production costs in return for logo placement. And in a politically smart move they even chose the personal charity of the College President’s wife as beneficiary of the Turkey Trot race. She now bakes and delivers a plate of cookies each weekend to the house. Talk about building brand loyalty!
And to demonstrate the depth of their commitment to the community, they have even extended their marketing and branding expertise beyond just their own house, in an attempt to revitalize the image of fraternities overall. In their first year of eligibility, Phi Sigs ran and were elected to senior positions on the Hobart Inter Fraternity Council including the VP position and a newly established “IFC Marketing” position with a healthy budget that will be used to promote the positive aspects of “Greek life” on campus. These guys aren’t just building a “company” brand, their promoting an entire “industry” brand.
Beyond the personal gratification of seeing my former fraternity revived and demonstrating real leadership, I think its a great example of back-to-basics marketing and brand advocacy, and I’m captivated by the organic manner in which it evolved among this young generation.
Back in 1996 the savvy folks American Savings Education Council (AESC) created Choosetosave.org in an attempt to educate consumers on the importance of raising personal savings and the problems with overextending credit.
They picked up a great domain name, built a website with lots of free tools, and even developed a whole super hero-themed story-line - “Savings Man” protecting consumers from the evils of “Credit Card Man” and “Sub-Prime-mate”. Great idea, great execution, but it wasn’t enough.
In a recent profile on PBS NewsHour, the founder was asked why, and he indicted that for every dime they spent on this program, far more powerful forces were arrayed against them, spending literally millions to convince Americans to take out another credit card, buy a bigger house, etc..
And so it goes: sometimes great marketing simply isn’t enough. You need to know what competition you are up against, and either have the budget to combat it effectively or find a better way to get your message out. Personally, I think they could have done better with a hard core viral campaign - the videos are finally now on YouTube.
Of course, sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. And SavingsMan’s time may have just arrived: in Q4 2008 America’s savings rate hit almost hit 3%.
Heard a great story on NPR this morning that really demonstrates the success you can have when you change the way you are communicating.
An astronaut at NASA working on a project to help senior managers identify what inhibits “innovation” at the space agency decided that instead of doing the typical powerpoint preso he would present it as a video which can be seen here on YouTube. He shot it on a borrowed video camera and edited the piece right at home on his computer.
The story-line follows a young engineer as she tries to pitch a better way to design a spacecraft and all the bureaucracy she encounters along the way. In the end, she takes a job with Google and they think the idea is so great they say they can probably “sell it to NASA”!!!!
The result of this piece? A lot of embarrassment and raised eyebrows at the agency. In the words of one senior NASA administrator: “This is really funny. And not funny it all….“
Well, at least it got their attention. Fair to say if this had been a powerpoint preso no one would have paid any attention to it. Kind of like the engineer’s idea…
Talk about innovative long-form advertising! This probably cost JC Penny $250K to produce and they will get millions of dollars of free advertising and viral expose as a result. Hollywood may be struggling, advertising may be down, the economy may be sinking, but as long as their is broadband and some damn good creativity out there, at least we’ll have this kind of stuff to look forward to…
