Minutes 3/21/12

Minutes Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Prepared by: Brooke Hamroff

Present: Leah, Remington, Robert, Casey, Jordan, Carmen, Jacqueline

Presentation:

Casey presented the minutes from last class.

Topic:

Suzanne collected our State of the Union Twitter Press Releases.

Discussion:

Suzanne asked us to think about mental images associated with Harley Davidson and Vespa, and explained that different brands have different associations. She then shoed a Styrofoam cup, versus a paper coffee cup with a lid, versus a paper coffee cup with a  lid and a Kaldi’s Logo Sleeve on it. We discussed that we would be willing to pay more for the Kaldi’s coffee since it is branded and we trust it more than the small, cruddy Styrofoam cup.

Topic:

Branding! A logo is the most recognizable part of a brand. Companies as well as causes, movements, commodities, and names can all be branded. Examples: Breast Cancer Ribbon, Got Milk?, Cotton, Coca-Cola. Some of the most well-known products are actually associated with brands rather than their technical names. Examples: Facial tissues are referred to as Kleenex, cotton swabs as Q-Tips, and gelatin as Jell-O. McDonald’s golden arches is the world’s most recognized brand, and they still advertise to maintain that status. Brands have a lot of power over consumers. For example: Circuit City went bankrupt but its brand was bought out for $15 million by Systemax just so they could use the name “Circuit City.”

Topic:

Suzanne explained the Chiquita Banana logo update that happened a few years ago. Chiquita used crowd sourcing – a technique that throws decision making out to its audience; a lot of people now do this on social media – to help design a new logo for the brand. It was very successful and they got some great logo designs, that they actually used them on their bananas for a period of time. This created a lot of buzz around the brand and people sought out Chiquita bananas over other brands.

Discussion:

Suzanne pulled up different logos and we had to guess which brand it was. Examples included: Nike, Olympics, Microsoft, and Gerber. Suzanne also explained that Steve Jobs said his biggest mistake in branding his company was using the apple as its logo. The word apple and the idea of an apple cannot be trademarked because it is part of the public domain, and it is too generic.

Discussion:

We discussed the successful rebranding of Old Spice. Back when Suzanne was growing up, Old Spice was not cool; it was the type of brand you’d find in your uncle’s bathroom. It was for cheap, old men, with older images and an outdated font. In the 1990’s they were planning on getting rid of the whole brand, but instead they decided to keep the scene but change the entire look of the brand. They rejuvenated the brand by updating the logo and lettering and hiring a hilarious actor for the commercials. The commercials were extremely successful, and now Old Spice is a very popular brand; they actually won a primetime Emmy for their commercial spot. We watched a few of the commercials, including “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”

Topic:

Suzanne gave a breakdown of St. Louis and St. Louis County areas and their common associations. Examples: Northside – dangerous, highest crime rate in the country (higher than Tijuana); The Loop – entertainment district; Central West End – lovely, restaurants, etc. Old North (Northside) rebranded itself by creating an appealing website with hopeful images as well as community support. The rebranding campaign was very successful, and now the once dangerous area has an urban progressive community and a more positive reputation.

Topic:

Charlack is a small town in St. Louis with 350 families and about 1400 residents. It has a horrible reputation due to its corrupt legislation. They illegally put up speeding cameras on I-70 and raked in a large amount of revenue from speeding tickets. When they were caught, they lied and said a police officer was there patrolling the area, but really they only put a dummy in the cop car. Later, the head of the police department turned in the mayor for embezzling Charlack’s money. The mayor resigned, and turned in the head police officer as well for embezzling money, which was true. The town has a horrible image, and our assignment for Monday is to rebrand Charlack.

Assignment:

Rebrand Charlack! Our deliverables for Monday: explain why Charlack needs rebranding (a few sentences), create a destination/activity for why people should come to Charlack, create an image that defines Charlack (ex: a logo), and create a slogan for Charlack.