New charity logo: Parabottle

Design should always make a difference, but never more so than on our work with a new charity: Parabottle. Parabottle aims to air-drop tens of thousands of emergency survival pods into isolated international disaster areas within 24 hours of a natural or manmade crisis. It's been developed to fill that gap, before more substantial aid can be delivered.



Parabottle was launched last week, at an event in Exeter, as they begin their fundraising efforts to enable the development and testing of the prototype. Their message has been neatly captured in this fantastic one-minute film, created by Em Cooper and commissioned by Kor Communications.



You can find out more about Parabottle on their website (developed by Optix Solutions) and you can read some recent press coverage here.

We got involved in the project at the beginning of 2010, when were asked to develop a logo by Nick Sprague, an Exeter-based entrepreneur and founder of Parabottle. The logo needs to communicate the message of 'airborne aid' as easily as possible, to overcome any cultural and language barriers. Nick says:

“The first 24 hours after a disaster are crucial to the survival and wellbeing of those affected by any disaster, with the threat of dehydration and disease ever present. Parabottle has been designed to provide basic emergency survival commodities before aid agencies arrive to provide more comprehensive relief.”

If you would like to support Parabottle you can make donations here, through Just Giving.

All change! New logo for Eurostar

Following on from last weeks post about when to change your logo, a perfectly timed case study from Eurostar!



Yesterday Eurostar announced that they will be launching a new logo (above, right) on April 5th. (You can read the article from Marketing Week here). The thing that's interesting is not how they have changed the logo, but why. In my last post I talked about Proactive change - and this is a great example.

Changes in European law have created opportunities for Eurostar to offer new services. Through partnerships with other rail operators they can offer new destinations, and begin to compete with short-haul airlines. There are new business opportunities to be exploited. So to reflect these changes - and other developments in their service - they have decide to develop their brand.

The image that the old logo was communicating was no longer relevant to the business - it was time to change.

Change is always a risk, but it is also a great opportunity.

Your brand: Time for a change?

I came across an article on the Time magazine site that looked at the changing logos of some established (mainly US) brands. It's demonstrating how they're trying to adopt a 'gentler' image. I'm not sure about that particular argument, but it's interesting to see them side by side and see the process of transition.



It got me thinking about logos (and brands) and changing them. It's a question I often get asked at networking events: 'When should I change my logo?' The best thing about this question is that there is a very simple answer. There's only one situation when it's appropriate to change your logo or your brand: When your business experiences some kind of 'change'.

I put 'change' into one of two categories: Proactive or Reactive

Proactive change is driven from within the business. It's often triggered by an opening in a new market or sector, and a desire to exploit that opportunity. It's usually part of a wider business plan. It can be the result of a merger or acquisition. But it's all about taking control of a situation and influencing it in your favour. (The recent change to the Starbucks logo is an example of this).

Reactive change is driven by external influences, and is not part of a long-term business plan. It can be triggered by new competitors moving into the marketplace, or changes in technology that lead to changes in behaviour (either by the business or by its customers). It's a response to a changing situation that the business can't control or influence.

Whether the need for change is proactive or reactive, the reason for change is the same. The image that the brand is communicating is no longer relevant, either to the business (typically proactive change) or the target audience (typically reactive change).

So the question you ask yourself shouldn't be 'Is it time for a change?', but 'What's changed?'. When you can answer that, then you can take the next step.

If you do want to take the next step, you might be interested in our free seminar: Unlock the value of your brand.

New year, new look for Starbucks

Last week Starbucks unveiled their 'new' updated logo (below, right). It's a bold move, and not a very popular one in some quarters (but is any development of any existing, global brand?). But if you look at why they've done it, rather than what they've done, there's an interesting lesson in the value of brand.


They released a short video (a minute and a half), where Howard Schultz, the founder, explains the reason behind the change. There are two really interesting points he raises:
• Starbucks has changed in the last 24 years
• The new logo gives them 'the flexibility to think beyond coffee'.
Take a look...



Change
As a business, if you experience some kind of 'change', then you should take a look at your brand. Whether that change is good (business growth) or bad (the impact of competitors), your business needs to respond. You need to show your audience that you are responding to the 'change', and importantly, what that means to them.

Flexibility
Your brand is a strategic business tool. It exists for one purpose only, to help your business succeed. Starbucks know the values that people associate with their product (coffee, and the experience related to drinking it), and recognise that there's an opportunity to extend the range of products they offer, under the Starbucks brand. So they have developed the logo to give them the flexibility to apply it to non-coffee related products. Which gives them the opportunity to increase their revenue.

So take a look at your business and ask yourself:
• Have your experienced change over the last few years?
• Has your brand responded to that change?
• What are the values your customers associate with your product or service?
• Are there other products or services you could apply those values to?

If you would like to have a chat about the answers to these questions, call us on 01392 248107 or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk

Looking at logos - The Advent Quiz

We've been having a lot of fun with our Advent Quiz this month. Each working day, from 1st to 22 December, we take a logo, chop a slice out of it, then ask people to guess what the logo is, by tweeting a link to our blog. Simple. And popular. It gets quite competitive - in a very friendly way.



We just do it for fun. It's Christmas. Everyone likes a quiz (Don't they?). But there is a useful lesson to be learned (and several people have mentioned it this year). You can see from the examples I've included in this post that we do take a fairly abstract slice of some of these logos. But it usually takes under a minute for someone to read the tweet, check our blog, and reply. And often we get two or three replies that quickly.

Now one lesson we can take form that is that some people are far too easily distracted from their work! But it also goes to show how easily people can recognise an image (or part of it) if they are familiar with it. We run a similar exercise in our brand seminars, and get a similar response. A logo is a powerful recognition tool.



Admittedly, these are big brands, in a big market place, with a big budget. But it works in exactly the same way for small brands, in a small (regional) market place, with a small budget. So ask yourself these questions:
• Do we give people enough opportunities to see our logo?
• When they see it, do people recognise our logo?
• When they recognise it, what do they associate with our logo?

If you're interested in the answers to these questions, you might be interested in one of our free brand seminars: Unlock the value of your brand.

And if you've read this far, and you can tell me who the letter below belongs to, email me the answer at jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk, and I'll send you a (small, edible) prize! Good luck!

Olympic gold? Or a false start?

Wenlock and Mandeville - the mascots for the 2012 Olympics - have been unveiled to the world, and the Press has passed judgement. From a professional perspective it's surely a great honour to create a piece of history, with such a wide audience - but is that the problem? How can you create something that billions of people will like (especially the 50 million in the UK have contributed to the cost with their taxes)?



Well, there are some interesting comparisons to make. Look at Nike, Apple or even The Simpsons. Niche products, mass appeal, global brands. If you have a quality product, you can achieve mass appeal. It is possible... but can you apply those lessons to the Olympics? I don't know.

High profile projects like this, with all the associated internal politics that go with them, aren't generally renowned for great design (just take a look at the logo for the impending World Cup). So why not? Surely they can attract the best talent that the country has to offer? What's the problem?



I think the problem's simple - in one sense - and no different from any other design project. Who is your audience? Who are you trying to engage with? If you're a global event, you've got a global audience, with all the cultural conflicts and confusion that comes with that. You're committing the cardinal sin of any kind of communication strategy: trying to keep everyone happy. It won't work. It never will.

My obvious response would be; don't try and appeal to everyone. Do something different. Focus. Create something unique. But then I remembered the logo for the 2012 Olympics, which tried to achieve just that. They wanted to appeal to youth, so they used a visual language which the target audience could relate to... but they still got slated.




But what does this mean for YOUR business? What can you learn from the Olympics? I think the lesson here is; you can't make everybody happy, so don't try to. Identify the profile of your ideal customer - the one who brings the most money into your business - and focus on making them happy. Take time to understand what they need, then give it to them. Consistently. That's the way to achieve long-term success.

So what do you think? What are the lessons that Wenlock and Mandeville can teach us? What do you need to do to achieve mass appeal? And should you try?

If you've got questions about what your brand can do for your business, we'd be really interested to have a chat. Call us on 01392 248107 or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk

Make Money, Not Waste: Communication strategy

Having a clear objective for a project essential. If you don't know what you want to achieve, how will you know of the project is a success?

Make Money, Not Waste is an annual event - a one-day workshop, aimed at food and drink producers in the South West - to help them take practical steps to becoming more sustainable businesses, and enjoy the benefits that will bring. The event is run by a number of organisations, including the Environment Agency, South West Food & Drink, Taste of the West and Envirowise, and this is the fifth year the event has been run.



We were brought into the project by the South West Design Programme, to develop a communication strategy for the event. The objective for this project was simple: increase attendance. The two previous events had attendance figures in the 30's. They wanted 70+.

So what did we do to achieve this objective? Well, the first thing was to look at the budget and plan a strategy that was affordable. We identified four activities which we felt were key to achieving the project objective.

1: Develop an identity
Although the event has been running for five years, there has been no consistency to the communication of it. We felt that a distinct, memorable identity was key to raising the profile of the event - not just for this year, but future events too. We wanted to lay a stable foundation for long-term success of the event. The first element of the identity to be created was the name for this years event: Practical solutions for practical problems. The Make Money, Not Waste series has been built upon a reputation for top quality advice, from experts in their field, so we wanted the name to reflect the value of the event to delegates. With the name in place, we created a logo that is practical and flexible. It's easy to apply to print and digital material, and flexible enough that it can be updated annually, to maintain recognition, and capture the date and title of each event.

2: Create a web presence
As a joint event there was no unique online destination for event information. There was also no opportunity to book online either. With a limited budget - and time - it wasn't possible to create something bespoke, so we turned to Eventbrite, and solved both of our challenges in one move. The Eventbrite site gave us an online destination to direct enquiries to, and the opportunity to take online bookings. It was easy to set up the site and we were able to add the identity to it as well, so Make Money, Not Waste could really take ownership of the space.


3: Combined online and offline campaign
To spread our net as wide as possible we wanted to use as many communication channels as we could, within our budget. So to get everything started we sent out an A5 flyer (above), to work in tandem with the emails that would follow. We created a simple, bold message, to prompt - and then remind - people to act. This was reinforced by the online campaign...

4: Direct mail campaign
We identified raising the profile of the event as key to increasing attendance, so we developed a direct mail campaign, to target the contacts and members that each of the event partners had. There were two elements to this: online and offline. The online campaign consisted of three staged mailings, sent via email; one before Christmas and two in the New Year. The aim of this was for each mailing to nudge (busy) recipients closer to making a commitment, and booking.


And the result?
There were 82 bookings for the event, hitting the target, and doubling the attendance of the two previous events. Of those bookings, 75% were made via the Eventbrite site.

So with a firm visual foundation in place, we hope Make Money, Not Waste can build on the strategy we created and implemented and continue to grow next year!


If you'd like to talk about creating a communication strategy, and the potential benefit to your organisation, call 01392 248107 or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk

Advent Quiz: It's all over!

After 14 days it's all over! Our Advent Quiz has finished for 2009. Thanks to everyone who took part, especially to all of our winners.

So we would like to wish you all...



And if you're wondering about that last 's' - it's Kellogg's.

Advent Quiz: Day 14

Welcome to Day 14, the final day of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Gap

Advent Quiz: Day 13

Welcome to Day 13 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
IBM

Advent Quiz: Day 12

Welcome to Day 12 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Tesco

Logo for RHS Rosemoor: Fresh ideas on a plate

Our work with the RHS at Rosemoor over the past 12 months has been really interesting. They approached us with two objectives:
• Raise the profile of the restaurant
• Communicate what makes it different
The journey's not finished yet, but some of the work has been completed, so we wanted to show it to you...





With clearly defined objectives, we could define our strategy. We began the project by talking to the staff at Rosemoor, not just in the kitchen, but gardening and retail staff too. This gave us a really valuable insight into the current perception of the restaurant. There was quite a bit of customer research that had been carried out previously, so we were able to combine all of the information available, to begin planning our creative approach.

Creating an identity
The first step in the creative process was to look at how we could raise the profile of the restaurant. The answer to that one was fairly straight forward: we needed to give it a personality. To do that we needed to create an identity to communicate the brand. For most businesses or organisations the first element of an identity that people are exposed to is the name. We wanted to use the name as an opportunity to introduce the values at the heart of the restaurant; to make a make a clear connection between fresh produce and the food prepared in the kitchen.

It was then a question of how we reflected that in the logo itself, so we played with the 'knife' and fork idea, to see what we could do. As that idea was completed Rosemoor asked if we could create a Christmas version of the logo, for the festive season.





The next step
Creating the logo is only the first step in the process. The next stage is even more exciting, and will be unveiled in the new year. So if you want to find out more, stay tuned...

Advent Quiz: Day 11

Welcome to Day 11 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Sainsbury's

Advent Quiz: Day 10

Welcome to Day 10 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to the previous letter
Intel

Advent Quiz: Day 9

Welcome to Day 9 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Mars

Advent Quiz: Day 8

Welcome to Day 8 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
A toughie apparently - Honda

Advent Quiz: Day 7

Welcome to Day 7 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Canon

Advent Quiz: Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Ebay

Advent Quiz: Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to the previous letter
Ford

Advent Quiz: Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz. Tell us the company that this logo belongs to, by identifying this letter, and you can win a (small, low value, edible) prize.



Just send a Direct Message to @AlderandAlder on Twitter, or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk - first reply with the right answer wins... Come on, what are you waiting for!

This is important: Don't tweet the answer in the open - so everyone can see it - because you will be disqualified: We won't be able to include any entries received after that in the 'grand prize'. You can find out more about the Alder and Alder Advent Quiz here.


The answer to yesterday's letter
Starbucks