Mouthpiece

Here’s my vote for the best new company name and look in Victoria.

Tartan alum Christine Gleed and Trisha Lees have joined forces to launch their own PR/Media relations/Issues management company, Mouthpiece.

Mouthpiece was rolled out in late 2011 with a corporate ID and website courtesy of the fantastically talented Neil Tran.

Christine and Trisha have already bagged a bunch of new clients and you should expect to hear plenty more from this duo as the year picks up steam.

After all, they didn’t name themselves Churchmouse!

Use words to nail a perfect idea

In my professional bios, I always state that I am still in hot pursuit of the perfect idea. I define perfection as simplicity, beauty and absolute executional relevance to the product.

Have I ever come close? Perhaps on two occasions, both print ads. Coincidentally, they shared a theme of being type-only ads where the words tell the visual story.

I was influenced in this regard by the legendary New York graphic designer Bob Gill, who loved type-only design and applied the concept of reductum ad infinitum with relish. He removed everything from his designs except what was essential to telling the story. His United Nations lunch series invitation inspires me still.

Bob is 80 now and his website still crackles with energy and simplicity.

I came across these word-as-image examples and recognized in them not only the excellent logo of a fellow T-CAAN agency, Vancouver’s Elevator Strategy, but a number of executions which nail my definition of the perfect idea. Most of them would make memorable animated logos.

I loved Voyeur the best. Which was your favourite?

Does Victoria deserve a better logo?

Victoria turns 150 next year and the city has just soft-launched their celebration plans, including this anniversary logo.

The logo was reportedly designed in-house. I’m sorry to say it shows.

With respect to the person responsible for the design, and who knows what the brief was or the scrutiny, I can’t help feeling the event deserves better.

I’m not convinced the cartoony squirt of water, flower/sun and star says anything about Victoria at all.

Just doesn’t look like Victoria guys. More like a California water park.

I wish you had asked us to do it. This logo is going to be everywhere next year and will go down in history. The 150^th deserves a killer logo!

Don’t waste your money marketing your business like this.

Take a hard look at this incredible photo. What do you see?

Did you say the Pepsi logo? If you work for Pepsi, it’s the first thing you saw.

The fact is, your logo is not a particularly effective marketing tool.

Seems pretty straightforward right? A logo is at the top or bottom of your communications pieces. It doesn’t say much beyond we are.

You can invest tons of energy into having your logo mean something – and successful companies do just that.  But even a well-known logo like Pepsi, with all the money and investment that have gone into filling out what it stands for, still only says we are.  It doesn’t make you thirsty.

Businesses love their logos though. Just seeing it out there on a hockey rink board or community event banner or baseball cap, gives them a thrill. (I have witnessed it on many occasions, so please trust me on this one.)

Not so much of a thrill for your customers though. Quite honestly they don’t give a rat’s about your logo.

How do I know this?

Why I’m a consumer! And so are you. Do you pay attention to logos? Of course you don’t.

“But a logo is brand awareness,” I have heard it argued.

Nonsense. It’s only logo awareness and very poor awareness at that because it’s fighting for attention with 25 other bushy-tailed logos and a hockey brawl!  Or whatever other real-life scenario is going on around the swooshes and ellipses and sans serif fonts.

If you want my advice, stop spending your money on marketing your logo. Market an audience benefit instead.

Much better idea. No business ever got rich selling we are.

The Advertising Week 2011 logo: what the hell?

The 8^th annual conference in New York looks set to kick some hot little potatoes around, with session titles like “Where Are All The Black People?”, and “Doubt” from TAXI founder Paul Lavoie (who’s billed himself somewhat wishfully as “the world’s greatest shit-disturber”).

There are CEO’s from Google, Droga5, Coca Cola and you name it lined up as speakers for the mega 5-day event.

But one still has to ask the question:

What the hell is with the logo?

I’d be shocked too if someone sliced the top of my head off. Especially to reveal that there was nothing inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking on the bright side of it, at least there was no lightbulb popping out. Or a question mark!

Actually, there is no bright side.