Logo Trends
Here is an interesting look at current trends in logos. For fun, you can also test your logo knowledge with the four versions of the Retail Alphabet Game.
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Appeal of Off-beat Product Names
In a recent paper, marketing professors from Wharton and Boston College looked at the positive response consumers have to imaginative names, even if they are not particularly descriptive. Very interesting!
via [Seth's Blog]
Place My Product, Please
CBS Chairman Les Moonves recently discussed how he sees a significant increase in television product placements on the horizon. He references selling rights to everything from the brand of car driven that to the brand of orange juice characters drink. Interestingly, it wasn't long ago that product brand names were being obscured because shows didn't have the rights to use them. We all remember seeing cereal boxes and soda cans with tape over the names or some other alteration to the packaging. Now, those very same brands are paying to have their product names shown.
I actually think it makes perfect sense, as long as viewers are treated with respect. Let's face it, television ads are becoming less and less effective and more and more people will be skipping ads through their DVR's in coming years. If I were a television advertiser, I would much rather have my product used by a popular TV character than lost amidst a sea of 30-second spots. The trick is, it has to be natural.
For instance, I recall an episode of Alias where the good-guys were chasing the bad-guys and the good-guys said something like, "There they go...in the F-150." It was so blatant and silly that my wife and I both laughed out loud because that's not what someone in that situation would say. They would say, "There they go, in that blue truck." I also recall an episode of The West Wing that had three or four blatant product placements, only two of which I even remember now. One was where one character told the other to "Google" someone to get more information on them and another character was called "Mr. Moto" (a la Motorola's recent ad campaign) for not being willing to part with his cell phone (or pager) for a few minutes (or something like that???). While that may be how people really speak, it was just a little too in-your-face.
Viewers are smart and the subtleties of using real products in a show makes that show more realistic. But, if those products are thrown in people's faces, they will resent it and the result will likely be the opposite of what advertisers want. So, to promote a brand of mobile phone service, don't have a character say, "Call me on my Verizon Wireless phone." Instead, have the phone simply ring with the ringtone we are used to hearing from that provider's ads and their phones on the street. People will get it. In other cases, naturally show the screen of a website someone is using, or the logo of the car they are driving, or the packaging of the beverage they are consuming.
I believe there is huge potential for the effective use of product placements to be lucrative for both the advertisers and the television industry. They just need to be subtle, natural and in context so as not to abuse the very viewers advertisers are trying to persuade.
From W to XYZ
Calling it 'Project XYZ,' Forbes reports that Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to launch "a new line of lower-priced hotels based on its upscale W Hotel chain..." Luxist likens the "cheaper but still cool" idea to brands such as Target, Mini Cooper and JetBlue.
For anyone who has stayed at a W Hotel, you know they have mastered the art of creating a unique experience and carrying it throughout a guest's entire stay. From the look and feel of the hotel to the materials used in the guestrooms to the little touches offered by the staff, W's have it down. Seth Godin describes this well as it relates to a recent stay of his (where the W Hotel in San Francisco was the bright spot in an otherwise tedious trip).
What will be interesting to watch is how Starwood carries the W vibe to a lower-priced extension of the brand. I look forward to staying in one and sure hope they call it XYZ.
Answers.com
Many of you may already know about this, but I just recently discovered Answers.com by clicking the "definition" link in the upper right of Google's results page. This is a beautifully simple site that provides what they call "snapshots" of information on over a million words, topics, etc. One one page, they deliver results from dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries, atlases and many other types of reference sources. In many cases, they provides just the info you need without having to click through dozens of search engine pages. You can also download free browser and desktop plug-ins allowing for what they call "1-Click Answers" where pressing Alt+click on any word will initiate an Answers.com query.
My company is currently going through some internal marketing activities and I have found this site very helpful for quickly and broadly drilling down into into words and phrases as I think through potential marketing language. They are definitely on to something.
Hey Kids, Here Comes the Pitch (IV)
Dan Jaffe of the Association of National Advertisers believes research is showing that advertising may not be the primary culprit in the increasing childhood obesity problem.
For those interested in advertising, Dan Jaffe's blog seems like a great one to keep up with. Very interesting.
via [Adrants]
