One of the great icons of retail fashion has made a major misstep. The Gap has just revealed their new identity design, and the critics are having a hay day. It’s not that The Gap didn’t need to consider an evolution in their logo. However, the execution of the concept is completely disconnected from the strong heritage the brand holds as an asset. Continue reading…
Branding
Branding is a marathon, not a sprint.
As the cliché goes, Rome was not built in a day. In terms of branding, however, it remains quite relevant. As empires go, Rome was a fantastic brand. Its strategy was straight forward. Its message — easy to understand. Its signals — memorable. But, as we know, it didn’t happen overnight. So too is the story of the contemporary brand empire. Continue reading…
On Brand Control…
There is a little rumor floating around these days that says organizations do not control their brands, the brand participants do. I’d like to add some clarity to this statement. It is true that word of mouth can do more for a brand than any million dollar marketing budget alone. However, you are not completely at the mercy of the masses. Continue reading…
A question about the Target brand…
When we talked about branding in school, one of the major brand examples was Target. They drug themselves out of near obsolescence and established a renewed presence in the marketplace by positioning themselves as a discount shopping store that still put an emphasis on style. Their advertising was innovative and memorable and their brand signals stuck. But a lot has changed in the landscape of discount department stores. Continue reading…
Brand Terminology — Messengers, Recipients, and Participants
The marketing world has all kinds of jargon to describe the roles played in the process of delivering a message to the marketplace. Targets, users, consumers… it all sounds very clinical and can tend to dehumanize the people involved. Perhaps keeping focus on the humanity of the people we work with and the importance of their role every step of the way can help us to craft experiences that are both engaging and valuable. Continue reading…