Falling into the Gap
A few weeks ago, my former employer, Gap, changed their logo from the iconic blue box with white writing, to a somewhat more modern, but awkward looking sans serif font with a floating blue box. Everyone had something to say about it, from Time magazine to the Huffington Post. Shortly after the logo release, the company’s Facebook page received a barrage of mostly negative comments from users. Thousands of pieces of electronic hate mail filled Facebook and Twitter. As a result, the company decided to pull the logo and ask Gap customers for suggestions.
+ read more
False Analogy
By most accounts, this has not been a good week for Justin Bieber’s brand. The former YouTube sensation and current teen heart throb quickly became the butt of several internet jokes when he allegedly compared himself to Kurt Cobain, the angst-ridden ’90s alternative rock icon.
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out the similarities between Bieber and Cobain are few, if any. But it does raise a good point about branding and authenticity.
+ read more
Making Your Paid Ads More Effective
There’s been plently written about how important it is to reach your constituents online and how to choose which channels to go through. But a recent report put out the the GroupM Search, a search engine marketing firm, examines how online channels can influence each other. The report, The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of Consideration and Consumptions specifically examines how paid advertisements, social media and search behavior are all interconnected and what types of exposure make consumers more likely to search.
+ read more
What’s that they say about death and taxes?
I swear when I first saw the news I thought it was a hoax. Then when I saw this post on The Onion, I KNEW it couldn’t be true. But sure enough…it is true.
By now, you’ve probably also heard the story about Trina Thompson, a graduate of New York’s Monroe College who is suing the school for $72,000 because she was not able to find a job after graduating.
+ read more
Who is your brand?
At its infancy, social media (as it relates to marketing) was simply a tool to help companies publish content online and perhaps solicit feedback from constituents. Now, as the medium has been evolving, marketers will have to start adjusting their content to fit the demands of social media.
+ read more
Brand Aid: Is traditional marketing damaged beyond repair?
A study conducted recently by Jupiter Research shows that many senior marketers believe that traditional branding is broken. According to MarketingVox, the survey finds that 62% of marketers feel that traditional advertising is no longer effective in attracting new customers. This means that advertisers are under increased scrutiny in a down economy to prove a return on investment for their efforts.
+ read more
Skittles Exposed
In some of my past posts, I’ve written about schools that haven’t been afraid to turn part of their marketing and branding over to their students and why institutions should embrace this as a chance for honest and open communications with their constituents. Earlier this week, one brand took that notion to the extreme. The new skittles.com website links you directly to their Facebook fan page (which has over half a million members to date).
+ read more
One picture speaks a thousand words
Some interesting new stats for those of you marketing to students across multiple generations.
A survey of Americans over the age of 40 finds that adults may prefer single-image advertisements over ads with collages or multiple images, according to marketing firm Creating Results. Ads with a single image beat out those with multiple images 66% of the time.
Why do photos matter so much?
+ read more
The Branding Best
A few weeks ago, I wrote briefly about the benefits to colleges and universities that differentiate and create a great brand for themselves.
This past week, University Business took that concept many orders of magnitude further, in its story: 50 Best Branding Ideas: How colleges and universities are successfully creating and communicating their brands.
At the outset of the article, Barbara O’Malley, chief communications officer at The University of Akron (Ohio) is quoted as saying: “When the strategy is clear and the creative and communication consistent and supportive of the strategy, branding is powerful and can benefit a university greatly.”
The article goes on to highlight some fantastic success stories from campuses of all shapes and sizes. I was particularly pleased to see the University of Connecticut referenced in the article for its “Always Part of U” campaign, which has been well received by members of the UConn community, as well as by University Business.
+ read more
Survey Says…
A couple of weeks ago, we posted a story about a graduate marketers survey that found 55% of those polled said online marketing resulted in the majority of their leads. Last week, we posted a survey of our own looking to see what you consider to be your top marketing and recruitment challenges for 2009 (it was a follow up to this survey on marketing and branding challenges that we learned about from Andrew Careaga).
+ read more