Logos - the ethos behind the brand...

Further to my previous blog "The ups and downs of logo design...", let's move on to the ethos behind the branding, and whether or not that ethos is right, relevant or truthful. Probably one of the best known in recent years, for apparently getting it wrong, is that of BP.

BP's logo and branding ethos...

In 2000, the multinational energy conglomerate introduced its new Helios logo, deliberately designed as a dramatic break with tradition.

BP's Helios logo

BP's website makes the following statements:

"Even after a decade, it is still unlike any other energy identity, and symbolises a number of things – not least the greatest source of energy … the sun itself."

"The colours of the 'Helios' - named after the Greek god of the sun – suggest heat, light and nature. It is also a pattern of interlocking shapes: like BP, a single entity created by many different parts working as one. This was particularly relevant, as the new brand was launched after a series of mergers and acquisitions. It united all the heritage companies and employees that now make up BP and its global brand."

Another part of the website also states that the brand stood for the company’s aspirations: "better people, better products, big picture, beyond petroleum."

Is it believable? Is it truthful?

Unfortunately for BP - as dramatically highlighted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - public perception of the company was not the same as that portrayed by its brand or brand ethos. CEO Tony Hayward appeared anything but the "better people" proclaimed as part of the branding. The "big picture" was more that of a company not caring about the environment or people. As for "beyond petroleum" - according to Greenpeace - BP exaggerated its green credentials, investing only  $1.5 billion in alternative energy sources, compared with $20 billion in fossil fuels.

As a result, a plethora of alternative "logos", mainly due to a campaign by Greenpeace, were created based around the Helios symbol. To be fair, it is also important to note, that although BP has been responsible for a number of other environmental incidents - it is certainly not the only energy company responsible for such seemingly irresponsible actions. Naming and shaming is not the purpose of this blog.

Just a few of the "alternative" BP logos

Lessons to be learned...

Simply put, the ethos behind a company's brand, may not necessarily be the way that brand is ultimately perceived. If a company creates a brand to promote its "ethos", that ethos should be followed, and not used as a smokescreen for covert practices. This is a real danger, especially now with environmental credentials so often being an important aspect of corporate responsibility. Claiming to be one thing, through brand identity, yet appearing to practice the complete opposite, is neither good for business nor for public relations. 

Reputations can take years in the making, yet be destroyed in a flash!

Gerald Ratner's infamous 1991 Institute of Directors "Total crap!" dinner speech, is a case in point! As a result of widespread media coverage of the speech, disgruntled customers shunned the group's jewellery stores, and the value of the highly successful Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, nearly causing it to collapse. Gerald Ratner resigned in November 1992, and the Ratner name disappeared from the high streets. The group's successful "sell it loud, sell it cheap" ethos behind retailing inexpensive "bling" was one thing - telling customers the products were "total crap" was something completely different!

Ratners before the infamous "Total crap!" speech

Successful brand ethos...

There is, without a shadow of doubt, a brand that has proven to be incredibly successful over recent years, especially with its "Think different" campaigns. That brand is of course Apple. Apple has maintained its brand ethos and created an undeniably strong global brand culture, from iMac to iPod to iTunes to iPhone to iPad. That ethos employs "simplicity" as the keynote, to provide people with products that allow them to do great things - simply. Simplicity is what drives Apple, doing great things through simplicity is what drives Apple's brand culture.

The "simplicity" of the Apple brand

Apple isn't the only company to have adopted such an approach, in the past other companies such as Olivetti and Braun also employed a similar ethos. Like Apple, not just applying that ethos to products, but also to branding, graphics, retail outlets, point of sale and architecture.

Olivetti's simple logo

Olivetti Valentine 1969, designed by Ettore Sottsass

Braun logo first designed in 1934

Braun SK5 first produced in 1958

That's about it for now, there'll be yet another installment about the ethos behind the brand in my next blog.


www.zkidoo.co.uk

The ups and downs of logo design...

What is a logo?

A logo is a graphic representation of a product, company or organisation. A logo can be made up of symbols, letters and graphics. A logo does not have to be a literal interpretation of what it represents. McDonald's sells fast foods, but there is no representation of food in its logo. Shell is an international oil and petrochemical company, but there is no representation of oil in its logo. A good logo is simple and memorable.

Iconic golden arches

Simple but instantly recognisable

A logo also needs to work in a variety of different sizes, and on different media. What may look good on paper, may not work at all on a smartphone screen! Whilst colour is important, a logo also needs to work in black and white. If elements of the logo work in colour, but merge into a single solid in black and white, then the design has failed. Logos should first be designed in black and white, then colour added later.

Works fine in black and white

Works fine in colour and different sizes

How to get it wrong!

A common mistake in our ever changing technological world, is the use of clip-art, or on-line logo generators to create a logo. OK so its easy and cheap! And that's what everyone else who used the same method thought! A logo needs to stand out from the competition, not just be the same as all the rest. Such methods do not make a product or organisation look professional - it does the complete opposite - effectively saying "I'm cheap!"

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. Cheap logos can end up being very expensive, more expensive than if the seemingly costlier professionally designed option had been chosen.

Confidence inspiring? Run for the door!!!

 

Don't follow trends!

A logo often needs to be around for a long time, therefore following current design trends could date the logo very quickly. What looks great now, may look dated in just a few years - or be lost and confused in a crowd of similar logos.

The danger of following trends

Logos evolve...

Logos can evolve over time, reflecting both progression and stability. Sometimes, however, logos are completely changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Fiat changed from its traditional logo to the "scrabble tile" version in 1982. Although that logo continued in use until 1999, the company has since reverted to an updated version of its earlier shield logo.

As part of that change came a simple statement on their website, "Sometimes, to move forward you need to take a step backwards." This reflects the company's return to its original mission - "to build cars with attractive styling and exciting engines, cars that are accessible and improve the quality of everyday life." The website also features previous Fiat logos, but not the 1982 logo!

Fiat logo evolution - as illustrated on the Fiat website

The 1982 "scrabble tile" logo

 

Cost considerations...

If you represent a company or organisation looking for a new logo design, which way should you go? As is always the case, budget is a prime consideration. That budget needs to take into account the way the new logo is to be implemented. The cost of a new logo is not just in the design itself. You and your designer (that is if you decide to employ one as opposed to the "cheap" option!), must also consider where the logo is going to be used.

Think about where your logo is to be used

Business stationery is a starting point, but what about building signs, vehicle liveries, work wear and uniforms etc. All of these involve costs when implementing a new logo design, and the budget must take all of this into consideration. You may consider replacing the logo only as and when items run out or need replacing. Is this a good idea? For quite some time, you are likely to have a mismatched and often confused company identity. What impact will this have on your staff and customers?

Getting the logo design right is the most important consideration for your company. Implementing it efficiently and with impact is the next. Getting the design wrong, for a variety of reasons, could be disastrous, not only in costs, but in customer confidence and in staff morale.

Do you need a new logo?

If you already have a recognised logo, do you really need a completely new one? The logo could be sympathetically updated - something unlikely to be possible using an on-line logo generator. Such generators would probably not have anything similar to your current logo. So your choice here would be to employ a professional logo designer who understands your requirements, and is sympathetic to the fact that you already have an established logo. Beware of designers who suggest change for the sake of change. Some designers are apt to being a little self-indulgent!

Starbucks evolving logo (AP Photo)

Is the time right for change?

Finally, what can happen when change is implemented without proper research and consideration. In 2010, high street retailer Gap was forced to scrap its expensive new logo, after an online backlash from consumers. The president of Gap admitted that the "outpouring of comments" showed the company "did not go about this in the right way".

An example of when it may not be right to change a logo...

www.zkidoo.co.uk

British bus liveries 1990s onwards - part 1

Way back in the early 1990s, and not so long after deregulation of the national bus services, I became involved in the design of a bus livery. So I thought I'd have a look at the way they've evolved since then...

My involvement...

The company in question operated bus services in the North East of England under the name United - derived from the company name United Automobile Services Limited. Three different designs were submitted, copies of which I unfortunately no longer have, and the company selected what can only be described as the most conservative!

Simple straight lines were favoured at the time, as the liveries were still painted on. Later, with the increased use of vinyls and accurate modern cutting techniques, more complex designs and shapes became possible.

As part of the design process, new logos were created, again the most conservative was chosen. Once the design was agreed, that was the end of my involvement. No design guidelines were produced, and no control was provided over the use of either the livery or the logo - the company had free reign over how the whole design was used.

Needless to say the livery was not always implemented as intended, and the results were sometimes pretty awful. More often than not, the side logo was much smaller than the original design intended, and the front trapezoid flash incorrectly extended downwards, with a rectangle, over the grille and bumper.

Once applied to the United fleet, the same design of livery was also rolled out on the buses of two other companies in the group - Tees (Red and Yellow) and TMS (Blue and Cream), using their existing logos.

Later versions of the livery were, more or less, along the lines of the original design. The final, and most correct versions, also carried route information on the front and side flashes.

Original livery alongside the new (incorrect) design

Here the implementation is almost correct, but the side logo is too small.

This edited version shows how it should have been - complete with black skirt.

Tees version of the livery.

TMS version of the livery.

Early (pretty much correct) adaptation of the livery on smaller buses.

Final adaptation of the livery, before being re-badged Arriva.

I wonder if this had some kind of subconscious influence!

Variations on a diagonal side flash...

Badgerline's early forward sloping flash...

...evolved into this later First Badgerline rearward sloping flash.

This looks strangely familiar - but its actually Red Rose buses!

Brighton & Hove early side flash...

Brighton & Hove later livery.

Coventry Bus diagonal flash.

Early Stagecoach livery - note the straight lines...

Later Stagecoach livery - the diagonal flash influence is clearly visible.

Fylde variations.

Exeter's version.

Front trapezoids...

Plymouth's City Bus clearly sporting a contrasting front trapezoid.

Preston Bus with a more contemporary take on the trapezoid.

Wardle Transport with front trapezoid and tapering diagonal side flash.

Another contemporary "trapezoid" from Wiltshire Bus.

There are of course many other variations on these themes, but I think this will do for now. If you have any you'd like to add, please let us know.

And just for interest, here's a thread from Flickr posted around 9 months ago, regarding the United, Tees and TMS liveries - names removed...

Me: Glad you liked the livery! I'm afraid I was responsible for designing it, well at least the original United version. The Tees and TMS liveries then followed the same format using different colours.

1st response: You're a pretty cool person then! Those three liveries really were/are excellent, shame Arriva replaced them...

2nd response: I thought all three liveries were very tidy and suited the buses very well - it also added extra interest for the enthusiast when inter-depot transfers resulted in United-liveried buses carrying Tees fleetnames (and vice versa).

United badged, Tees colours!

The final irony is, being based in the South East of England, I only ever saw one bus sporting the United livery, when vising the North East. All I have, is a collection of images from the internet, to remind me of my very small contribution to British bus liveries. Apparently Britbus has a die-cast model of a Leyland Olympian in United colours - perhaps I ought to get one!

www.zkidoo.co.uk

Guerrilla Marketing...

Guerrilla Marketing is a strategy using low-cost unconventional systems of promotion - relying on time, energy and creativity - rather than huge marketing budgets. Below are just a few examples of such techniques in use.

On-line bookie Paddy Power's Uffington Horse jockey...

How about this one for Folgers coffee in New York...

Or this anti-graffiti campaign from Western Australia...

"Zebra" crossing  for the South African tourist board in Mumbai...

A different take on EXIT signs (AXE aka LYNX deodorant etc.)...

A neat idea from Kiwi fashion boutique Suprette - marketing on the move!

Another one from New Zealand - working eraser and memory stick...

Clever! Wouldn't want to give it a try though!

If you have any favourite examples of Guerrilla Marketing, let us know and we'll post them here. Click on the web link below and use the contact form there.

www.zkidoo.co.uk