30 days in the hole

At my place of business we have completed what many in the communications field might call impossible. We have rebranded, in 30 days. Oh, that is, we have created, accepted and implemented a new logo that represents the new brand. Much of what it stands for already was in place, and more hard work lay ahead in rolling the brand out so that it becomes part of the fabric of our employees’ daily work. But in 30 days we made the bold step. I say “30 days in the hole” because I think I am now emerging from a process that has been pretty consuming. In a process like this you really do “live” the brand: eat, sleep and dream it (well, no, not sleep. There’s been little of that.). But it is rewarding. For the most part our employees already have embraced it. They are coming to me, asking for logos for their reports, their embroidered shirts, their business cards. They want handfuls of our new logo lanyards. They want the new. They want leadership and want to be a part of what we believe will be our success. I want that too. We are coming out of a tough year, and now there is a wave to ride, hopefully to a nice, warm sunny beach. Hang on, though…

Living with logos

A brand is far more than a logo of course, but the logo does hold a lot of stock and people get emotionally attached sometimes. For example, there’s that story of the Seattle Times publisher having the newspaper’s logo tatooed on his leg, and offering to pay for a similar tattoo for any other employee who wanted it. And there’s the story of a Nationwide insurance exec who had the red box logo painted on the floor of his swimming pool. Fortunately for the branding process I’m involved in right now, most employees do not have a strong affection for the existing logo and welcome change. But finding a design that speaks to everyone, is also workable in a graphics sense, and can stand up to media critics and long-term wear and tear is a really tough process. This one is compressed into a month’s time, which I do not recommend. The momentum you gain by moving quickly to put the stake in the ground trades off something else in quality.  Design is something that one must live with. Considering several designs for a logo is best done by letting them sink in over time. You may have to live with it for 15 or 20 years, sometimes even more, so giving it a week or so in consideration is not too much to ask. How will it be used? Will it look good in every situation, hold up to every process it might be submitted to? Does it give the impression you want on first glance? And what does your gut say?  I like the story I heard about one CEO who took the proposed logo designs home, stuffed them under his pillow and literally slept on them before making a decision. There is a lot more to branding than the logo, but the logo should not be taken lightly. And one more thing. While employees are vital and need to be brought into the logo process somehow, it is your graphics and communications experts who should run it through its courses to make sure the logo selection does its job.

branding while dead

Okay, so someone just sent me a link to a NY Times article about Robert Ludlum books still being produced and sold, and the man’s been dead for years. Ludlum’s not just an author now, he’s a brand, and the books keep coming. Bourne again. C’mon! That takes branding too far. I think Grisham does it too, but at least we can pretend that he is the one coming up with the ideas and directing the writers who work for him. His name’s on everything so one might assume he would want some control over the end product. Fiction is an art, and it is unique to the author. At least that is what I believed. After Van Gogh died did anyone continue generating his paintings and selling them as his? (Now that I think about it someone probably did). What about photographers, like Ansel Adams. Did someone imitate his style and continue selling prints as his after he died? What about an artist like Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn? Could someone pretend to be them and still make movies though the original is dead? This is just — annoying!