Get a Mac: Stop Switching to Mac!

I went to the CNN website this morning to see how the Large Hadron Collider's first test went (If you missed hearing the controversy, there was a good chance that this crazy particle accelerator in Switzerland, which was attempting to create the conditions just prior to the big bang, was going to open up a black hole that would suck up the earth, killing us all, when it fired up for the first time while we slept last night here in the US...needless to say, this didn't happen. But still!) when I saw one of the most clever online advertisements I've ever seen, and I wasn't the least bit surprised that it was an ad by our friends at Apple, called Stop Switching to Mac! (their exclamation point, not mine)

The Mac-PC campaign, called the "Get a Mac" campaign, has been brilliant since the beginning in 2006. While I am a notorious DVR user (I know, I know, I'm a traitor to my industry, but really, I don't have time to watch things live anymore), I will always stop fast-forwarding through commercials when I see a new Mac-PC commercial zipping by. The Mac and PC characters are perfectly cast, the writing is hilarious and, as a Mac user myself, the messages are SO TRUE! Not to mention the use of white space (every designer's dream) and the recognizable music (come on, you know you can hum along with it in your head).

The interactive Get a Mac ad I saw this morning on the CNN page used the banner at the top of the page, along with a wide skyscraper ad down the right side of the page. At the top was "Mac" talking to "PC" on the side, who had written an article entitled "Stop Switching to Mac!" Hilarity ensues.

Here is a YouTube of the live action from Stop Switching to Mac! (give it a few seconds and they will turn the sound on):


Who needs static online advertising when you can so cleverly use live action in a non-obtrusive way? The Stop Switching to Mac! ad doesn't "bug" you (one of my pet peeves) until you turn the sound on, and you even have the option to replay the ad when it's over, which of course I did...several times. Isn't that exactly what you want your customers to do? In a saturated media environment, Apple's Get a Mac ads are some of the few that actually break through the clutter and make me take notice. And while I'm already a customer, I feel like I still learn new things about one of my favorite brands every time I watch their ads, which as a customer, I appreciate.

Well done, Apple. If you've missed a couple of the Get a Mac ads, you can watch all of them here on the Apple website.

What is a brand?

The word "brand" gets thrown around a lot these days. (I know I use it all the time.) But what is a brand?

A brand in a marketing sense is essentially everything that has to do with a company or product. It's not only the visual logo and identity as the term is often used, but it's also how people feel about a product, and all of their experiences with that product, both positive and negative. Companies try to influence brand perception with advertising and marketing...I should know, it's my job...but a brand isn't something physical you can hold in your hand. It's an intangible, ephemeral concept that can determine the success or failure of a company. To put it simply, it's quite a powerful little word influenced by more factors than you can count on your fingers and toes.

I read today in the Brand New blog that the Department of Psychology at Harvard University is currently running a "mind study" that examines how people perceive the 'mental' capacities of corporations. Here's how Harvard explains it:

Every day we buy products from a variety of corporations. Each of them employs marketers to see into your mind - the mind of their consumer. Here is your opportunity to turn the tables and evaluate their minds. Of course, corporations do not have minds in the normal sense, but they do possess certain abilities. We are interested in how people perceive the mental capacities of corporations.

It's essentially an exercise to see how you perceive the brands of the 13 companies they're testing. First you meet the companies, ranging from companies most people like (Google, Whole Foods) to companies most people are ambivalent about (Playtex, TWA) to companies most people despise (Phillip Morris, Enron). Next you're given a series of tests to take — the first one I took was "Harm" and others include Worth, Punishment, Morality, Guilt and Desire — that take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. You're given a series of match-ups of two of the companies on the list...so in my first quiz, I was asked, "If you were forced to harm one of these corporations, which one would it be more painful for you to harm?" Based on my results, here is how I ranked the 13 companies they were testing.

1. Google
2. =Disney
3. =Apple
4. Toys 'R' Us
5. =Ben and Jerry's
6. Starbucks
7. Whole Foods Market
8. Playtex
9. Walmart
10. Trans World Airlines
11. Enron
12. Exxon
13. Phillip Morris

Google, Disney and Apple are tied for first because I love them all and couldn't inflict any pain upon any of them, then Toys R Us because it's a happy place, then Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's are tied for 3rd because they're both guilty pleasures. Next comes Whole Foods, which I don't actually patronize, but I think well of, then Playtex, which I don't really feel one way or the other toward, followed by Walmart, which I'm not a big fan of to say the least, then TWA, which doesn't exist anymore so I didn't feel so bad inflicting pain on it, followed by my three least favorite companies on the list, Enron, Exxon and Phillip Morris. I obviously feel stronger about high gas prices and smoking than I do about corporate scandal.

My results didn't surprise me much...given the list of companies, I probably would have ranked them similarly, with just a few changes in the middle perhaps. But it's interesting to see how emotions can be tied to our feelings about a company's brand, especially in the circumstances Harvard is asking us to put them in.

How do you rank the companies? Take the quiz and find out if your perceptions are in line with your actions. And see why even though a company might spend billions on marketing, or "branding" themselves, there are so many other factors that influence consumers' perception.

Eco-Friendly Marketing

I just took the Design Can Change pledge to make Perceptivity Studio a more eco-friendly design studio. There’s nothing particularly strict about the effort, it’s really just a set of guidelines that gets the ball rolling. It's something we've already been moving toward, but today was an official commitment to making it happen. Over the next few months we're going to make an effort to not only make our business more eco-friendly, but also to help our clients produce more eco-friendly marketing as well. Stay tuned for more blog posts on eco-friendly marketing topics you can think about on our next projects together.

We've already started helping our clients be more eco-friendly with their marketing efforts. We've talked a bit in the past about our efforts in green printing for Tanglewood and Accelerated Momentum. While it does cost a bit more to print with a green printer, it's wonderful to see tangible results of the actual difference you're making by spending just a bit more money.

Of course the "feel good" aspect can only take you so far, and eco-friendly marketing can also be a smart marketing decision, especially in an industry where being "green" is becoming more important, like construction, architecture and engineering. Perceptivity Studio has been helping our clients in these industries explore different ways to promote their LEED (which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a designation by the U.S. Green Building Council to signify sustainable building practices) services.

• We already mentioned printing Tanglewood's business cards with a green printer, and we just recently printed their letterhead and envelopes with a green printer as well. This development and construction company is part of the USGBC, and spends extra time and money to incorporate green building practices in their historic renovations and new construction. It was important to them to produce eco-friendly marketing materials, and we added a "100% Recycled" symbol to each piece to let their customers know that they'd made the effort to be more responsible.

• Bacon Group Architecture is also a member of the USGBC, and principal architect Rick Bacon is a LEED Accredited Professional, meaning that he's passed the test to prove he has the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process. Bacon Group has mentioned their sustainable architecture services in their company brochure and on the home page of their website, and we're working on a cut sheet for their brochure to explain the LEED certification process to their customers, since it can be a bit confusing. Bacon Group's eco-friendly identity package was all printed on recycled paper as well.
  

• Engineering Matrix is also a member of the USGBC, and a good chunk of their staff has obtained LEED AP status. Many of their projects have obtained or are in the process of obtaining LEED certification. We highlighted their Eckerd College Iota Complex project in a direct mail campaign a few months ago, and we've developed a very "green" sustainability page on their new website, launching soon. (Stay tuned for more on this fun project!)
  

We're very lucky to have clients who share some of our sustainable philosophies, and we really look forward to helping you all learn more about the small steps you can take to be more eco-friendly with your marketing and business over the next few months.

If you have any specific eco-friendly marketing questions you'd like answered or topics you'd like us to cover, leave a comment or email us. In the meantime, consider visiting the Design Can Change website. Their Resources section has all kinds of good information to get you started being more eco-friendly with your business!

Yummy Menu Brochure for Bonetti's Catering

Bonetti's Catering is a new catering company with much older roots. An offshoot of Gino's NY Style Pizzeria, which has been in the Tampa Bay area for almost 20 years, Bonetti's Catering is now serving the delicious Italian cuisine of Chef Gino Bonetti at events from 20 - 200 people.

I was approached by Leah Bonetti (a referral from a client at Engineering Matrix...thanks Jamie!) to create a menu brochure for the company. Let me tell you, the stunning photography and delicious food descriptions were quite an inspiration (and a distraction to my stomach!), and I'm so happy with the finished product--a gorgeous 12-page booklet that we're printing in full color on coated paper to really showcase the food and project a professional image. The final design features rich textures and "hand-stitched" borders throughout the booklet that complement the family-owned company and their home-style Italian cuisine.

Here is the cover:






























And one of the inside spreads:





















Hungry yet? We wish Bonetti's Catering the best of luck as they launch this new chapter in their family history. I have a rumbling feeling in my stomach that they'll be quite successful!

Want to learn more? Visit the Bonetti's Catering website, call 727-789-6883, or email them at info@bonettiscatering.com.

Ruby Tuesday Demolition: A "Cheeky" Viral Marketing Stunt

I was intrigued when I saw the following Ruby Tuesday commercial on TV on Monday night, and made a mental note to myself to go check out their website at 3pm on Tuesday.



I should learn not to depend on mental notes, because I just now remembered (on Wednesday!) that I was supposed to go watch the live Ruby Tuesday demolition. I went to the Ruby Tuesday website to see if they'd posted the demolition there for those of us with memory problems, but it appears that this was a viral marketing stunt by Ruby Tuesday, and a disappointing one at that.

The premise was that the newly re-branded Ruby Tuesday, which recently adopted a new logo







and more upscale interior design for their restaurants (which is a big improvement, if you haven't been there lately...still not a huge fan of the food though!), was going to demolish their last "old" store live on the internet to symbolize how different they had now become from other casual dining restaurants. Here's a video of the result:



Apparently, the demolition crew "accidentally" blew up Cheeky's Bar & Grill next door instead due to its "sameness," but now, because of the "sweeping changes that have taken place within (the Ruby Tuesday) organization, it's extremely unlikely that a Ruby Tuesday restaurant will ever be confused for another casual dining establishment again." Hardy har har.

They have an apology letter up to Cheeky's Bar and Grill on the Ruby Tuesday website, but of course the whole stunt was just a gimmick. I appreciated the symbolic nature of what Ruby Tuesday was trying to do when I saw the commercial on Monday, but I'm very disappointed with the result, as are others and others to say the least.

Had they actually demolished their last restaurant instead of the fake Cheeky's Bar & Grill (for which they even created a website), I would have had a lot more respect for the marketing stunt, because it really did seem like an interesting idea. I was definitely intrigued after seeing that initial commercial for the Ruby Tuesday demolition, but now I'm just disappointed. To quote the Serious Eats blog, "Ruby Tuesday arguably botched what could have been a complicated, humorous campaign, and this whole debacle shows how talented and clever you need to be to successfully pull off viral marketing stunts." Amen.

LOGOS and LOST: The Dharma Initiative gets a new logo redesign

At Perceptivity Studio, we love a good logo redesign...and we also love the television show LOST. So when we heard here that the show's fictional mysterious scientific organization, the DHARMA Initiative, had undergone a logo redesign resulting in a new logo, we had to take a look at it.












The original logo, according to the Lostpedia, is "based on an octagonal design incorporating eight trigrams surrounding a central symbol. The design of the logo was derived from a Chinese concept known as Bagua."

The new DHARMA logo has a fresh, modern look with an updated wordmark and simplified trigrams. The trigrams have also been rotated clockwise two positions...perhaps due to events from the season finale? The new DHARMA logo also loses the bold lines and hand-drawn aesthetic in favor of a streamlined 21st century look.

For those of you not familiar with LOST, a group of plane crash survivors land on a mysterious island which they discover was formerly occupied in the 70s by the noticeably absent DHARMA scientists. As the show progresses, we discover the group's "stations" littered across the island, each with a new DHARMA logo.

Here's the first DHARMA logo found, the Swan:

















And the last DHARMA logo found, the Orchid:

















The LOST team has been attending the Comic-Con convention for the past few years, and each year they do something fun and interesting. This year the DHARMA Initiative is supposedly attending the conference to "recruit new members." This publicity stunt, which is rumored to become an alternate reality game, was revealed in a commercial during a LOST episode from Octagon Global Recruiting (referring to the octagonal shape of the DHARMA logo), and they've hired actors to man the booth and administer "eligibility tests." (The site was down when I tried it, but feel free to check back.)

They also unveiled their new logo at the conference. Nice job, DHARMA Initiative on your new logo. Namaste. :)

Introducing LendersREOTitle.com

LendersREOTitle.com is a new title company started by Phil Clark, President of Enterprise Title of Tampa Bay. This start-up company specializing in title work on foreclosure homes needed a new logo that complemented their existing Enterprise Title identity, so Perceptivity Studio worked with the company to created a logo that was unique while still remaining professional. It also shares a consistent color palette and typeface with the existing Enterprise Title logo.


















We wish Phil luck as he launches this new company soon!

Subscribe to Perceptions from the Studio Blog

I've just added a few subscription options for the Perceptions from the Studio blog so you can stay updated without having to check back all the time. Enter your email address to the right, and we'll email you whenever there's a new post, or you can click the "Subscribe to Feed" button on the right to add this blog to your feed reader.

On a related note, if you don't already have a feed reader, I strongly recommend getting one. (Google offers a free one when you register with them, and there are plenty more out there.) If you don't know how a feed reader works, you subscribe to all of the blogs you read on a regular (or not so regular) basis, and the feed from each blog sends a message to your feed reader every time there is new content on that blog. So instead of going to multiple sites, you can go to one place to quickly read through all of your favorite blogs. It's quite a time saver when you spend a lot of time out in the blogosphere, and who doesn't want to save time these days?

Viral Marketing: Popcorn Cell Phones

Did you know that cell phones can make kernels of popcorn pop? Just think what they must be doing to your brain! Mass pandemonium ensues!



Wrong! It turns out the video was a marketing ploy by Cardo Systems, makers of a Bluetooth headset. It was officially debunked by physicists here, and Snopes here but everyone doesn't do the research before believing their email forwards. Hence the video has gone "viral," with millions of people spreading it around.

Viral marketing is defined as a marketing strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence.

Marketers have been using the viral marketing medium quite successfully. Some famous viral marketing examples that you may have participated in yourself include Burger King's Subservient Chicken which allowed users to control a creepy chicken character to promote their BK Tendercrisp sandwich that you can get "just the way you like it" just like you can get the subservient chicken to do anything you want it to do.

Another of my favorite viral marketing examples is the Dove Evolution campaign, which has won multiple awards, and goes beyond the "silly" factor to present a very valid and important message to women around the world. I received it quite a few times in email forwards myself, did you?



Goofy, meaningful or just plain weird, viral marketing is certainly a new medium that many big companies are using quite successfully.

A new logo for Walmart

Wall Street Journal released a story today that Walmart is changing its logo. While it's not official yet, new signage designs were submitted for a new store prototype, and show white letters on a burnt-orange background followed by a white starburst.

The new design is evocative of Target's clean, simple logo, and evidences Walmart's attempts to modernize its image to better compete with Tar-jhay. Reports show that the new logo should officially be revealed sometime this week.

I think it's about time they spruced up their image a bit. Sometimes it's tempting to keep a logo just because it's been around forever, but oftentimes a logo "face lift" can bring new attention to your company and show your customers that you are a fresh, relevant company that really means business.

Here are a few before and afters from some re-branding projects we've worked on at Perceptivity Studio.