Earth to Sherman Williams:  It’s not 1982 anymore.

In a time when American’s concern for the environment and world conflict is greater than ever, Sherman Williams continues to display an outdated, outrageous logo that seems to say, “Sherman Williams: Covering the earth, one toxic paint can at a time.” Or for you folks who like to read between the lines, “Sherman Williams: With endless blood, we will conquer the earth”.

According to Sherman Williams, it’s “one of the most recognized logos in the world”.   Even if that was true (and it’s not), being recognized is not necessarily good for your brand. It’s obvious that it’s not politically correct (or even common sense) to drip toxic paint over a globe, so I’ll skip the commentary on this part.

Perhaps a more interesting topic is the cryptic “SWP” acronym pictured on the pouring can. For the smart ones in the room, you probably knew right away that it stands for Sherman Williams Paint (I had to look it up).  I was thinking more along the lines of: Super World Power or Scarlet Wicked Poison.

Ironically, they credit much of their success to former CEO, Jack Breen.  Breen ran the company for 20 years from 1979-1999.  In 1982 he decided to bring back the infamous logo after it had gone away for several years.  Below is a funny little snippet from their very own corporate history timeline.  Hey, when you’ve got a good thing going…stick with it.

UPDATE:
Wait, they are environmentally friendly after all.  They recently posted their first Corporate Social Responsibility or “CSR” report (because you have to give it an acronym in business).  In the title shown below, you gotta love the juxtaposition of the fresh green grass and soft pastel title, with a blood-red dripping earth.  Now I’m really confused.

I’ve heard of many people pulling their hair out because they don’t know where to focus their energies: paid searches or social media? But why do you have to pick just one? They both have different benefits that can strengthen your campaign.

Paid searches are mostly for driving leads, conversions, and sales. Unless the person that clicks on your ad takes the time to search through your site to see what you’re about, you probably won’t be doing much brand-building with your pay-per-click campaigns.

Social media, on the other hand, is where a lot of the brand-building can take place. It’s a great supplement to any campaign for nearly any brand that can promote discussion and interaction as a primary goal, and ideally, generate sales as a secondary goal. However, social media has a bit more to it than people let on.

The more interaction a potential customer has with your brand through social media, the more likely they are to make more specific searches that are related to your brand. In turn, your paid search positions come up more consistently, and this high click-through rate helps your page gain ground on the organic searches. A win-win, if you ask me.  Also, social media helps you generate keywords that are more effective for your paid searches, because you can dig out words and phrases that are used heavily by your followers/fans anyway.

In conclusion, don’t focus all of your attention at one point of marketing. Here’s a video that shows you some fun facts about social media. You know, just for the fun of learning:

Did You Know: Social Media – Watch more Funny Videos

Pfizer, “the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company”, recently released a refreshed brand identity.  For most people the logo update will go unnoticed, but the overall brand identity (colors, fonts and design style) have been upgraded dramatically.  According to Siegel+Gale, the agency behind the design strategy, the new logo “signals positive change and forward momentum and asks people to take a fresh look at Pfizer because it is not the same company it was in 1991″ (the last time the logo was refreshed).

The most noticeable difference in the new logo is the oval shape, which was tilted to create a more dynamic arrangement.  Subtle changes to every character in the font have resulted in a more rounded, friendlier and soothing feel, with the biggest changes coming to the “z” and the “e”.

The new color palette is bold and fluorescent and contains a lot of visual energy.

Pfizer’s new identity also carries a strong circular theme, as evidenced in their new home page pictured above.  Overall, this is the right move for a global brand that has produced two of the most popular drugs in the world: Lipitor and Viagra.  The change positions them as a more progressive and lively brand that is helping to change lives for the better.  I applaud them on this strategic step and believe it’s a boost to their brand resonance.

Hertz cast their shadow away and recently revealed a new brand identity.  While the old blocky letters were bold and unequivocal, thankfully, the sunshine yellow is still shining strong.  The new letters are a nice modern variation, with a rounder, friendlier feel.   I think it’s a good move to bring them out of the 80′s, but not radical enough to lose all the brand equity they have racked up over the years.

We’ll see if the public responds positively.  They definitely have room for improvement.  According to goodlogo.com, they rank 5.5 out of 10 based on 8000+ votes.

From a branding standpoint, they’ve done a stellar job of retaining the yellow and black color palette.  50+ years to be precise…

1949 Hertz ad

Hertz ad from the 60's

Now 8 years after that fateful day, limited progress has been made on the completion of a memorial and museum at ground zero.  Courtesy of Brand New, the image above shows a recent decision to shorten the lengthy name to simply “9/11 Memorial”.  From a branding standpoint, this makes it much easier for the public to “remember” its name.  The new logo solution is bold and simple, leaving the simple element of the blue towers as an impactful reminder of what actually happened.  Check out the official 9/11 Memorial site for tons of information on what’s coming.  We salute our fallen heroes.

According to the 2008 report from www.brandz.com, Google’s brand name (not company assets) is worth $86 billion dollars. Uh, yeah, that’s a “b” not an “m”. This report has some interesting facts about brand value. For example: Publicly traded brands from BrandZ’s top 100 brands outperformed the rest of the stockmarket (S&P 500) by 22%. Wow. That’s solid financial proof that branding plays a major role in a company’s success.

How do graphic designers create the most famous logos in the world.

this site has a funny take on that idea.

Matt always jokes that “Dressbarn” tops the list of the worst brand names. I couldn’t agree more. I finally had to see for myself what they are all about. On their company history page they claim they are “extremely sensitive and focused on the needs and desires of women in the 21st century”. Hmm, I didn’t realize the look, smell, and ultimate purpose of a barn was so close to the heart of women in the 21st century. I’ve never been in their store, but I wonder if they have signs like “Cowpie Corner” and “Piggie’s Picks”.

To their credit, whatever they are doing must appeal to some women. They have been in business since the 60′s and are traded on the NASDAQ.