RSSThe New Wal-Mart Logo
Barbara analyzes the new Wal-Mart logo with Brian Collins, Chairman and Creative Director of COLLINS, a brand innovation and design company based in New York.
In a wide-ranging interview, Collins explores the issues at the heart of the extreme redesign (by Lippincott). It not only softens the colors, the font, and the case, but also changes the spelling of the store name itself, removing the star between the Wal and the Mart so it’s now all one word, lower case, followed by a yellow flower like “spark of energy”.
“Every brand has to balance the familiar with the surprising,” says Collins. He describes the new identity as “friendlier, more accessible, and broader.” According to Collins, the new logo is also more polite. “Think of an email message,” he says, “All caps comes across as rude, like you’re yelling.”
Collins maintains that the new logo is “a real jump into the future.” The old logo was “designed in an era before kinetic movement,” he points out, “Nowadays, so many platforms that the logo lives on have motion.” He asserts that the corporate identity of the future therefore has to be “dynamic and interesting across all platforms.”
Listen now and see if you agree.
Gossip Girls’ Racy Ads and Advertisers Going Green
Today, Barbara and David Baldwin discuss some smokin’ hot promotional ads aimed at teenage girls on the CW (OMFG!) and also whether advertisers are doing the right thing by going green.
Hillary and Me
In this issue, Barbara talks with Nielsen’s Andy Hartnett about the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Specifically, Barbara skewers the now infamous “3:00 AM” TV spot which buoyed Hillary to victory in the Ohio primary election. Additionally, Barbara and Andy look at Starbucks, their new website, the $86M judgment against them, and challenges from Dunkin’ Donuts.
The Future of Advertising
In her inaugural podcast, Barbara chats with David Baldwin, former Executive Creative Director at McKinney. Barbara and David chat about the state of the advertising business, and David offers some optimistic insight into the future of the advertising industry, as it continues to be transformed by digital media.
