Since HBO's launch of www.jointherealm.com, a site that allows fans of the popular show Game of Thrones to create their own house sigil, hundreds of thousands of fans have generated their own coat of arms and shared them across social media channels, stirring up excitement for Season 3, which premiered last night. Check out what we created as well as some of our favorite brand and celebrity sigils below and be sure to Join the Realm and create your own family arms at www.jointherealm.com. What are some of your favorites that you've seen this week? What does your house sigil look like? Share it with us in the comments.

                Dirt Devil                                                          Hartz Pets

              Bryce Harper                                                         The Boston Bruins

Check out the house sigil of Brian Hernandez,          Another great write-up about Join the Realm, 

writer at Mashable, who also covered the story         featured on FruitlessPursuits.com includes several

of www.jointherealm.com on Mashable.                    house sigils made for Marvel and Hunger Games.       

and of course...here at Definition 6 we made a few sigils of our own.

Fans of the wildly popular HBO show Game of Thrones are anxiously awaiting the premiere of Season 3 on March 31^st, 2013 at 9PM in the United States. The show has become a worldwide phenomenon and in many ways re-defined what is possible for a television show.

As the fans know, core to the story are the different family Houses like the Starks, the Lannisters, and the Targaryens. Each House is represented by their coat of arms or Sigils that also bear their House Words like the infamous “Winter is Coming” words of the Stark family in the North.

At Definition 6 we are extremely excited to help launch Join the Realm, an experience that allows fans to create their own House Sigil and then download, share, and post it in a variety of formats for the leading social networks and other purposes.

Join the Realm, which can be used in 24 different languages, gives fans an interactive sigil editor to name your House, enter your House Words, and choose from a variety of backgrounds, patterns, borders, colors, and icons. It can then be downloaded immediately or saved while generating versions of it that include Facebook cover photos and profile pictures, Twitter backgrounds, Wallpapers, and Instagram versions. These can also easily be shared out to your social networks directly from the site. And if you don’t feel like taking the time to create one yourself you can always just use the automatic “Do It For Me” Sigil generator.

One very cool aspect of the experience is that HBO wanted it to be available on leading smartphone and tablet platforms as well as desktop browsers. So the interactive editor had to be designed and built in HTML5 and Canvas, allowing the full site to be used on an iPad and an optimized mobile web site version available to iPhone and Android users. This does mean older desktop browsers and older smartphone browsers aren’t supported, but in the Game of Thrones some browsers win and others must unfortunately die.

We hope you have fun creating and sharing your Sigils. We had a lot fun making the experience and working with our friends at HBO on this. It may be Spring now in the northern hemisphere, but Winter is still coming…

“It's the family name that lives on. That's all that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honor, but family.”

- Tywin Lannister

Tonight we are excited to attend the 2013 Atlanta Marketer of the Year (AMY) Awards, put on by the American Marketing Association (AMA). We have a big group from Definition 6 set to attend the event. The evening's events will start off with a cocktail hour sponsored by Synaptic Digital.

The AMY awards honor the brands that have created innovative marketing strategies and unforgettable campaigns during the past year. Agencies and brands have been nominated in categories such as visual branding, integrated marketing, email, web & interactive, search, and general advertising. A full list of the finalists are on the AMY awards’ website. 

Our client, Herschend Family Entertainment, will also be in attendance at the Fox Theatre tonight. The Herschend property website Dollywood.com has been nominated for an award in the category "Web & Interactive Marketing - Lead Generation/Ecommerce." We hope to see you at the awards ceremony tonight, but if you can't attend, be sure to follow the action on Twitter @Definition6. The hashtag for the event is #AMYS13.

The wait is almost over – Downton Abbey’s Season 3 premieres in January 2013. To generate buzz for this, we worked with PBS on Masterpiece’s Downton Abbey to create a 5 minute recap video of seasons 1 and 2, which launched on their website earlier this week.

The goal was to create a shareable video that would tap into the existing fan base of really loyal fans, but also engage and entice new fans from a wider demographic to get a glimpse into the dramatic storyline.

This web-only video presented the interesting challenge of compressing more than 19 hours of programming into 5 minutes. The team at Definition 6 screened all the episodes, created character outlines, segmented storylines and wrote the voiceover script to incorporate with the sound bites from the footage. Culling the episodes down to the bare essentials was not easy with a show as rich in story and character as Downton Abbey. It helped that the voiceover is written in a casual American style that plays well in contrast to the show clips, allowing more of the show’s character and personality to come through. The viewer is drawn in by the rapid narrative and quick cut highlights. 

What do you think? Check it out for yourself or visit PBS to learn more.

Credits:

Doug Dimon – Creative Director, Definition 6

Lisa Miller – Executive Producer, Definition 6 

Kristy Jefferson – Producer, Definition 6

Mark Rapasky – Edit, Definition 6 

Brett Graves – Sound Mixer

Dan O’Sullivan – Talent / VO

Sloan Carroll – PBS

Since my last article on Ideation came out, there has been an interesting study done by the University of Illinois at Chicago regarding the effect of alcohol on creative problem solving. The study worked with the proposition that alcohol affects the brain by diminishing the working memory capacity (WMC) and that WMC — the ability to remember one thing while you’re working on something else; is more useful for analytical problem solving or problem solvers. 

This study proposes that diminishing our WMC actually leads to creative breakthroughs. So how would diminishing your ability to concentrate or focusing your attention increase creative problem solving results? There are two theories at play here; the first is that the use of alcohol opens up the brain to accessing remote ideas or neurological pathways in the brain, and the second theory is that the use of the alcohol inhibits the linear reasoning process that keeps you on a singular track of thinking. Of course the researchers caution that the alcohol had to be used in moderation, just shy of what most states consider intoxication, (0.80 blood alcohol level). So it worked with just a moderate amount of liquid goodness, while getting a major buzz on it reduced both concentration and working memory tasks.

Another interesting side note from the study was that there were other things that tend to assist creativity; working in groups with varying levels of skill, working in groups of three versus groups of two, changing one’s routine, sleeping, and one we cannot control: aging… Damned, at least there is one good thing about getting old.

Apart from the history of artist’s using mind-altering substances for creative inspiration, I really am personally hesitant to recommend alcohol to enhance creativity so let's just say it should be a personal decision, not to be lightly taken. This is because so many famous creative talents self-medicate to basically “turn off” their minds. Pearl Buck once said: "The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive." And sensitivity is not necessarily an asset in our modern society.

To recap the most effective ways to be creative and ideate

-       Brainstorming seems to be generally a poor method when used in any process that is linear and in a rigid timeframe or formulaic

-       Presenting the problem in a creative way tends to get creative responses

-       The use of three individuals tends to trump just two

-       Conflict should not be avoided in an idea presentation or formulation

-       If ideation is critical to an organization, then anything that can take office politics out of the sessions will help with the results

You have to be a critic. Someone is going to have to make the call on the decision or direction of the ideation and decide on which ideas are moved forward, which are tabled. The lack of leadership is probably the greatest idea killer of them all. Many great ideas do not move forward because they lack a champion or critical thinker. When I think of a business with such an individual as an example, I would have to say Steve Jobs’ role at Apple. I am certain that Jobs didn’t always make the right choice among the ideas that were developed and brought to him, but once he chose an idea to develop, he became the first and last evangelist of his company’s products from creative ideas. Innovation was key to his decision-making criteria and he was also a champion critic.

Prior to any ideation session, list the requirements of the solution. Many ideas might sound good, and based on the individual’s presentation / persuasive personality, those ideas may have energy and seem like viable options. However, to lead-  to use critical thinking when dealing with new and unique ideas - keep the objective or goal at the forefront of your decision, and it can help break any deadlock to decide on which idea to pursue. If you have two great solutions or ideas, pick one and table the other for a future campaign, but most importantly, make a decisive call. I find the most frustrating aspect of ideation is the lack of decisiveness or trying to use a “Frankenstein” solution of cobbled ideas. As a leader, you need to be make tough calls to bring breakthrough ideas to life..

Great ideas don’t come pre-packaged together and there is no secret formula for creativity, but following my guidelines can give you and your team a better chance at the next BIG idea.

So, like every other self-respecting modern-day MadMan (and woman), I’ve become totally hooked on AMC’s new show, “The Pitch.”   Because who doesn’t like to look at themselves in the mirror while simultaneously being filled with pride and revolted in disgust and self-loathing?

Three episodes in and there are numerous things I have found fascinating about the show.  One is how un-fascinating the show is to non-industry people (“Wow…all these people sound boring and I have no idea what they are talking about… kind of like you” – My girlfriend).  I’ve been impressed with how well the producers capture a few specific moments, like the excitement around getting the initial brief, the struggle of moving from ideation to execution, the battle between creativity and strategy, and the anticipation of the team walking into the board room for their moment of judgment.  

What I’ve been amazed by so far is in the three episodes I’ve seen (I missed the “Mister Sparky one”), the wrong agency has won.  Sure, I know this is my opinion and I don’t have the whole story, but based on the tweets of my peers, I don’t think I’m alone here.  With the parts of the brief that were seen on air, the agencies that lost absolutely had the best ideas and they delivered the strongest results against the brief.  So where’s the disconnect?  Am I (and all of these other agencies) that far out of touch with what our clients really need?  Why do so many agency people think the wrong agencies were awarded the business? 

The answer is presentation.  The agencies with the strongest presentation won.  This creates a couple of problems…the first of which is that clients need to be able to see through some of the “dog and pony” show (or as we like to say at Definition 6, “the cotton candy and frozen margaritas”) to understand the idea and select the agencies that understand the objectives and the brand the best.  I have been confident of the outcome at the end of the presentations, saying to myself, “The winner is obvious…there is no way they can select the other agency,” only to find myself shocked by the moment of truth.  Maybe that’s just good editing, but each time the client has said basically the same thing…”The other group really took it farther and thought it through more.”  That’s really not a true statement.  In each case, the other agency simply did more free work and more spec creative.  I would actually say the losing agency thought through the idea more carefully and found more insight and opportunity for the brands.  Unfortunately, the time spent developing that insight left less time for the creative executions.  That requires more imagination from the client to see the vision.

However, let’s be clear that the reverse is also true – presentation IS important.  Conveying an idea or concept that can be digested and understood easily is critical to winning the business.  These agencies have done a great job finding insight in the audiences of these brands, but they have failed in gaining insight into their own target audience…the brands themselves.  These brands need to not only hear the idea, but see it, feel it, and touch it.  A lot is decided in that two hour presentation.  Brands need to know that the idea is more than just an idea, and the agency has the ability to execute that idea and make it come to life.  To a brand, the ability to execute can be just as important as the idea itself, because the best idea in the world, if poorly executed, still won’t work.

Create that balance between good ideas based on strategy and insight and good execution across a multitude of platforms and tactics…that is what brands want to see and what agencies need to deliver.  Now, go make life pop…and don’t be a zAMbie.

In my previous post, I outlined a few key observations that were made by the panel on which I recently participated. In our discussion, we also spent some time musing on the future possibilities.

The IAB recently announced new digital display ad units (they diligently avoid calling them “banners”). The Rising Stars Display Ad Units are more than simply a bunch of new sizes; they represent a new paradigm in display ads that allow brands to create a complex brand experience for the consumer without requiring them to live the page they are viewing. While the six new formats differ from each other in ways that make them more appropriate for use by certain brands, messaging, or publications, they all provide a larger canvas and much greater opportunity for multimedia and interactive executions.

Are they awesome? Well, yeah. These new formats open up a world of creative possibilities. The depth of content and experience they provide makes me salivate. Some of the implementations I see are really brilliant.

Will they succeed? Dunno. They will clearly be more expensive from a media buy and production perspective. We already established in my previous post that “banners” suffer from the problem of getting clients to invest enough in their production. And how will the consumers respond? If, and this is a big if, we can fill these new units with great content, they may actually give users a reason to enjoy ads again. Wouldn’t it be great if these “rising stars” got the star treatment currently bestowed on Super Bowl ads? It could happen. But it might not. It will take brands with an understanding that this is a fantastic new form of paid media and agencies that are courageous enough to push for their (proper) use.

It’s all about sharing.

People share everything… videos, articles, photos… why not ads? Actually, they already do via Pinterest and YouTube, but imagine if users could share banners right from the page they live on? There’s precedent (sort of).

The brilliant Axion Banner Concerts campaign gave users the ability to embed the ads on fan’s pages… something that added over 43,000 impressions to the nearly 7 million impressions gotten through paid media.  Now imagine if anyone could have shared that content from anywhere they saw it… that’s real amplification.

Of course, there are all kinds of issues to work out with this model, but it does open up a lot of interesting possibilities. What if sharing the ad actually drove people back to the hosting page, thereby raising that pages views. Now the publishers win as well and we have the beginnings of an entirely new brand/publisher partnership model. And if we approach banners in the same we approach other sharable media, we will clearly pay more attention to the creative and content.

Or do we chuck the whole idea?

Is the basic idea of digital display media broken? Maybe banners underperform because as a format they are fundamentally flawed, unable to work as traditional display media and too expensive to produce as fully interactive media. If that’s the case (and I’m not convinced it is), what do we do about it. Tim suggested we do nothing and just let them die. The other panelists took exception with that as it essentially dooms the publishers, and none of us wanted to strip the content from the internet. But what we all did agree with was that just because we have been doing something one way, there is no reason to continue to do it that way. Industries have been devastated by choosing to ignore or fight against the fast changes that happen in the digital landscape. So maybe banners will continue to change, but the idea of digital display advertising will (and should) continue to be an integral part to the web experience.

Coming up in Part 3: What to do today to improve your banners.

In my last article regarding ideation, I suggested that conflict, not harmony, made for better team ideation results. But before strapping up your armor to participate in a heated ideation session, there are some critical points of preparation that are needed and the first one is an ideation brief or briefing that will help kick start the team into their critical thinking.

Sun Tzu ended “The Art of War” with a chapter on intelligence and counter-intelligence, but when one is looking for a new idea that is where to start. Prepare your team with a brief of the situation including the core elements needed to create a solution to the client’s problem. There are numerous versions of briefs around the web that can provide direction to help you create an effective one. A good brief is critical to the success of the project. By defining a client’s needs clearly, the team can avoid distraction and deliver real results. Equally important is answering the why, when and how: why are they being asked to solve it, how will the ideas be used and when will the ideas be implemented. An example might be “how would you get young adults or late teens to consume more hot coffee via social media in 2012?” The team might be derailed if they argue the benefits or detriments of coffee as an appropriate beverage for teens or get too carried away by weighing factors like caffeine versus antioxidants that are relevant, but don’t address the solution. To do a good brief, you have to give the team enough understanding of objective, directing them on the task and allowing enough ambiguity for exploration. The result should be solutions based upon their collective thinking related to the customers, the culture, where the product would be consumed or purchased, economic considerations, the product itself, new uses for the product, past accepted uses and practices, past successful or failed campaigns for getting more people to drink coffee via social media and how all these factors influence each other. If you have prior research, personas or previous campaigns, the briefing is the time to make sure everyone has access to the material.

Sun Tzu’s ideas require time to implement. Creative ideas require time as well. In fact, studies have shown that our best thinking is done when we are relaxed and not directly focused on the problem and that requires time, hours, even days. So once your team is briefed, turn them loose and give them a minimum of a day to come up with their solutions. Attempting to hammer out a solution by keeping the team together is the least effective technique I know to get genuinely new solutions. When teams tackle problems together it is very easy to get into a virtual loop and follow it, just as people who are lost tend to walk in circles. With regard to relaxation, I have seen brainstorming consultants fill a room with little toys in an attempt to relax their corporate teams but the reality is they are still confined and tasked with a deadline in a room where any sense of fun or play is merely contrived. Dismiss the team and actually give them the hours to do it their own way. It is not mere coincidence that companies like Google and Nike have everything from table tennis to warm showers on their corporate campuses. So instead of focusing really hard on the problem, engaging in another activity or merely relaxing can be more productive then being together until ideas are forced.

Relaxation is the real key to productive ideation. The simple act of walking can trigger ideation. Einstein once said: “The legs are the wheels of creativity” and “Creativity is the residue of time wasted.” He knew how important relaxation was to his thinking. So for your next brainstorming session, have your team go do something relaxing or engaging that is not directly focused on the task. Encourage everyone on your team to keep notes of ideas that might be forming if they can, when they can, but without rules. I recommend the use of moleskin style notebooks or even notes on the smartphone to keep track of ideas. Work in a style that is individualistic to you and you cannot go wrong.

In my last part of this blog series on creativity I will address the presentation of ideas and the techniques to using criticism and conflict to sharpen the final output of brainstorming or ideation.

Photo via

I was recently in LA to attend Digiday Agency: Retooling for the Future. In addition to hanging out at the swanky London Hotel, I spoke on panel titled “The Banner is Dead, Long Live the Banner”. Moderated by Sean X, Founder, SXC Marketing, it was lively discussion featuring myself, Oliver Duncan, Creative Director, Digitaria, Tim Leake, Global Partnership Director, Hyper Island, and Jaime Robinson, Creative Director, Pereira & O’Dell. Between the five of us, we completely solved the problems of underperforming banners.

You’re welcome.

Okay, I made that bit up. But we did manage to make some good observations, followed by some prescient ideas and wrapped it all up with a few tidy recommendations. In case you weren’t able to attend, or watch on the web, the following is a brief overview of the discussion from my viewpoint (let the other guys write their own blogs).

Observations

The banner is not dead, but it is neglected.

Banners are the red-headed stepchildren of the media world, often treated as an afterthought (“recycle my commercial into a banner”) or worse, simply regarded as a low cost alternative to other marketing options.  Because banner media is relatively inexpensive, the traditional “media to production” spend ratio does not really work. Instead of lowering the production budget because the media spend is lower (compared to television for example), take advantage of that media savings and put more money into creative and production. As brands shift their media spend to more and more digital units, encourage them to get the most out of their money.

“Click Through” is not the only (or even often the best) measurement of success.

Early on, the digital marketing industry offered the Holy Grail… easily trackable advertisements. Gone were the days of not knowing if someone was watching your commercial or reading your print ad… with banners you will know every time your ad resonates with the consumer by measure click-through. The problem… it doesn’t really work that way. Yes, you know if a user clicks through or interacts with your ad, but even if they don’t, that does not mean your ad hasn’t made an impression (at least as much of an impression as other non-direct response display media). By hanging our hats on that metric, we set ourselves up for failure. Poor click through means poor performance means lower value means lower investment means worse content means lower click through… and so on and so on.

Banners are not print… or television.

As a panel, I don’t think we agreed on whether banners are closer to print or video (well, I didn’t agree). But we did agree that while you can treat them like either of those, they will be most successful when you play to their strengths… reach, interactivity, focus, and context (from a content and viewer perspective). Whether you start from the simple static version and build up, or conceive of a full viewing/interactive experience then pare it down for all executions, it’s most important that you consider the characteristics of banners and how to use them to your advantage.

Coming up in Part 2: Future Musings.

Doug Dimon attended Digiday in Los Angeles last week and spoke on "The Banner is Dead, Long Live the Banner " panel where he was joined by fellow creatives: Sean X, Oliver Duncan, Tim Leake, and Jaime Robinson.

It's no secret that banner advertising has been around for over a decade, but in the last few years it has fallen into a gray area within the advertising landscape. It may be time for agencies to reapproach banner advertising with a new outlook.  Watch as the panel discusses how the banner must evolve to be relevant for audiences and marketers:

The above photo taken from www.wired.com


Thank you, Mr. Jobs.

For being a revolutionary. An innovator. A visionary. It is no understatement that many consider you a genius. You are our generation’s Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, A.G. Bell. You made it possible for us to carry a library of music on something smaller than the size of most wallets. You positioned your company at the forefront of the information technology industry – you didn’t just foresee trends, you set them. At your keynote speech at the Macworld Conference and Expo in 2007, you summed it up this way: “There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very, very beginning. And we always will.”

You changed the way that people look at design and technology together. You are the template that clients hold up when we ask what they want in a new website. “We want Apple,” they say. What they really want is not just your style, but your ability to bring to light the brilliance of simplicity. Other companies are not keeping up with the Joneses, but trying to keep pace with you.


It is not just the way you looked at technology that changed the world, but the way you looked at the world. You encouraged people to push themselves harder, to think differently, to consider the impossible, possible. You gave a voice to those that pushed the boundaries and questioned everything.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square hole. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

 
We thank you for your contributions, for sharing your gifts, for changing the world.

Recently I spoke at SXSW Interactive regarding presentations for right versus left brained audiences. I was asked about the ideal client and I brought up a past experience that I only recently discovered again. As anyone working in creative communicatons realizes, few logos and identity projects ever survive to maturity, just as most businesses fail in their first few years.

My ideal client at the time was Selima Salaun of Selima Optiques. I first met Selima in 1986 at the Alain Mikli Optique on 5th Avenue. I was a fan of Mikli eyeglass frame designs and owned several pairs of them. Selima was a creative spirit and a skilled designer and hat maker in Paris before opening the New York location for Mikli. We became friends as we were both fans of opera.

A few years passed and I received a call from Selima, who told me she was working on opening her own designer line of eyewear and had located a store space in Soho for her location. She had been thinking about her business name and the importance of the eye in her business, so she was calling to see if I could design a visual icon that would include both aspects for her new business: Selima Optique. I was living in Roswell at the time, so we would review over the phone and through digital files I sent. In the end, the right design came about from using a hand-drawn technique. It was distinctly different from other brands in that space at the time. Selima accepted the final comp and files, paid me and I lost touch with her over time.



Over 15 years passed, and then I rediscovered that Selima Optique was not only still in business but had expanded to Barney's, J.Crew and the Selima Optique brand was both trendy and global. Not being a celebrity or fashion follower, I never had an idea that she was doing custom designed shades for Bono, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson and others. But I cannot think of a more deserving person for this success.

So what makes a great creative client relationship? The client with a passion for their brand or vision goes a long way towards good work. And they must also really have the authority or ownership of the work. I have been involved in too many failure stories where the chief marketing officer took it upon themselves without much involvement from the ultimate owner or visionary (typically a chief executive officer). The result, no matter the level of the work, was not well received and died a quick death.

Another other most importance factor in success with brand work is having the courage to trust in the team you have engaged to build the work. Success comes to those that dare go the opposite direction of the competition. It requires a lot of bravery and trust and that is not common in general, let alone in building a significant brand.  The western corporate world is littered with “curving stroke logos” that frankly all owe their inspiration to the Nike mark. The original swoosh was created by a single designer working directly with a right-brained visionary.
 

This coming Tuesday (March 15th) will be a busy one for Definition 6.  Not only do we have World Consumer Rights Day and Andrew Jackson's birthday to celebrate (he'd be 244 if he were still alive), but Definition 6's own ECD, John Harne will be speaking at South by Southwest in Austin.  Additionally, TEDxAtlanta, of which Definition 6 continues to proudly support, will be holding its fifth event.

John's Core Conversation is Right Brain to Left: Art of Persuasive Presentations...
Why so many creative professionals in the interactive design and agency business struggle to sell their concepts, executions and creative work to the business decision makers. What are the potential issues of communicating concepts containing emotion and aesthetic content to analytical thinkers.  How some creative professionals are able to sell just about anything to their clients.

And if you go looking for John in the crowd, this is what he looks like:



TEDxAtlanta's focus this time around will be on Creativity...
Some ideas are too big to capture in language but glitter in our understanding of the world. Creativity is just such an idea.  TEDxAtlanta will explore creativity: not just the beauty, humor and ingenuity, but what's behind it.  We'll experience the wonder but also ask the questions.  Can creativity be measured?  Where does creativity live in our brains?  How can we grow more of it?

Talks will be from:
Sally Hogshead
Elizabeth Turk
Armin Vit
Victoria Rowell
Bonnie Cramond
Margaret Baldwin
Linton Hopkins
Michael Ouweleen
Viktor Venson

And musical performances will include:
Idan Raichel
India.Arie

For the John Harne Experience at Southby, be at the Marriott Courtyard (Brazos 2/3) located at 300 East 4th Street at 5:00PM.

TEDxAtlanta is at capacity... but you can watch the event streaming live by going to tedxatlanta.com. The show starts at noon and goes to about 6:00PM.
 

The other day, Definition 6's Executive Creative Director, John Harne was asked to respond to JCPenney's new logo.



John wrote:

1.  Don’t change a logo and/or brand if you do not have to
2.  Remember your customers have a relationship with that logo. 
     It may have a place in their hearts and minds
3.  If you have to make a change, make it relevant
     and memorable for the 100 years to come
4.  Be yourself and buck the trends
5.  Repeat rule number one

Though very different, interestingly the rules for tapping into cultural trends follow a similar pattern:

1.  Be timely
2.  Remember, people already have relationships with what you're trying to
     hijack. You're going to have to share space in the hearts and minds
     of people
3.  Don't worry about the future, make it relevant and remarkable for
     the moment.
4.  Be yourself but be willing to change to be in context with the trend
5.  Repeat rule number one

Jimmy Fallon demonstrates this perfectly with his spoof of Charlie Sheen.

Today Coke released the “Happiness Truck”, a new online video that features a Coca-Cola delivery truck delivering doses of happiness in the streets of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. This video marks the first stop for the “Happiness Truck”, created by Coca-Cola and Definition 6.



The award-winning “Happiness Machine” left over 3million viewers with the question, “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?”. Coca-Cola has since launched more than 25 videos around the globe that took inspiration from the original “Happiness Machine”.  Watch the original piece produced by Definition 6 below.  Also, check out Coke’s Where Will Happiness Strike Next Facebook Hub to see happiness strike all over the world. 

Brand Relationship Development  – The Good, The Bad, and The Good Again     

Lately we’ve seen a plethora of logo changes from major national brands. Tropicana, GAP, PUR, Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, Caribou Coffee, Holiday Inn, and the YMCA have all created new logos. Unfortunately these new logos are not always welcomed. Tropicana and GAP’s new logos were so poorly received that the companies have already reverted back to the old designs. So why all the changes?





Think about Apple. Chances are you love them or you hate them, and that’s a whole lot better than just “liking” them. “Like” is a very weak emotion (although Facebook may disagree). A strong brand has passion connected to it. How about Starbucks? Is their coffee really any better than any other coffee shop? Probably not, but after years of Starbucks in the morning their patrons have an emotional attachment to the company that is a part of their daily routines. It makes sense that if something so simple, but so central to the core of the brand changes—like the logo—that there would be a strong reaction.

So why is everyone so quick to scrap the logo they’ve been building equity (and more importantly passion) in for years? Logo changes are typically made to either reinvigorate a tired brand or to appeal to a new set of customers. Starbucks, certainly not a tired brand, redesigned their logo to support a product mix growing beyond just coffee. At the same time the new logo is said to appeal to the Asian market to which Starbucks is trying to engage. While that’s all fine and good, their loyal customers who have been made Starbucks part of their daily routine and have formed that emotional bond are up in arms. Bear in mind that to fully implement a logo change requires millions upon millions of dollars, not just to pay for the design itself, but to pay for all the new signage and website integration, among other things. Is it worth it?

Starbucks’ red headed step child—Seattle’s Best—redesigned their logo after picking up major additions to its distribution channel, but the new simplified logo looks cheap. Did the marketers get too excited when they added Burger King, Subway, and AMC Entertainment to their list of vendors? Why make your brand less differentiated and more like Folgers (with a higher price tag)?

The YMCA’s decision to change the logo they’ve been using since 1967 was the biggest surprise to me. Sure, I’ll concede that it probably is a “tired” brand, but does throwing away a nearly 45 year old logo and replacing it with a logo in which you want customers to buy into “the many colors reflect the vibrancy and diversity of our communities and activities” really help?

The logo changes (and subsequent changes back) by Tropicana and GAP were the biggest disasters. Just four days after GAP’s new logo came out; they reverted back to their traditional “Blue Box” logo. After Tropicana’s sales dropped by 20%, they reverted back too. What does the lack of staying power behind the new logos indicate?

Starbuck’s had a pretty clear goal behind their change—to aid their planned product mix expansion. With that specific goal in mind, we probably won’t see Starbucks revert back their old logo even though their loyalists are (vocally) perturbed. Like most things in business, a logo change needs a specific goal (not just to get more sales) and without that specific goal, it is much easier to give up on a logo change the way GAP and Tropicana did.

Holiday Inn’s new logo makes some sense because they were largely viewed as tired and old before the brand overhaul and the new logo was well executed, but the bottom line remains the same. If you think you can totally change your logo without any backlash, you may have a passion problem, and if you think you can always change it back you have a goals problem. To all the marketers out there changing logos whenever they get bored…get a hobby!