Positioning a Brand: a Lesson from American Idol

Tuesday night, a bazillion viewers and I were watching American Idol. This was the first "live" episode of the season, which featured the show's top 12 female vocalists.

Performance after performance, Simon Cowell and the rest of the show's judges shared with the contestants how they had simply failed to "stand out" among their peers. I was struck especially by the judges' recommendations.

"You're trying too hard to mimic Adelle or Duffy."

"It's all about song choice. You need to find the right song for you."

And for me, one of my favorite Simon quotes is always...

"That was just... forgettable."

The bottom line is, these contestants are trying to position their personal brands in front of millions of viewers. It's similar to branding a business.

Originality, personality, and individuality matter, whether you're competing on American Idol, or running an enterprise-class business. Too many of both - Idol contestants and businesses - suffer from the boring, uninspired sameness of "me too" positioning.

When it comes to being original and memorable this year, who are your favorites? Who is the most unique contestant (or brand) in your mind, and why?

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Charting a Fresh Perspective

I recently spent a week traveling Oregon and Washington State while visiting a cousin in Corvallis. This was my first time visiting the west coast so I was excited to be visiting somewhere I'd never been. Discovering unfamiliar places can be enthralling, and my recent travels were no exception.

My first discovery became apparent as my flight from Indianapolis began its decent into Salt Lake City. As soon as we broke through the clouds, mountains appeared on both sides of the plane. They were a rich gray with brilliant white peaks. It wasn't until I spotted the airport that I could appreciate how immense the mountains were -- this sudden shift in scale was fascinating.

This shifting of scale occurred many times throughout the week and it continuously caught me off guard. Whether it was at the coast, driving past the trees and mounds of Oregon, or standing 520 feet above Seattle -- I felt incredibly smaller than I do in Indiana which was quite a refreshing experience.

My northwest traveling became a week of re-evaluating my own perspective and a reminder of the exciting role that scale and perspective can play in design. Working towards a fresh perspective can be unsettling, but there is much to gain in the process of re-evaluating the current perspectives -- and sometimes it takes going places you've never been to get there.

In an attempt to visually convey the shift in scale, I've designed a few charts that compare Indiana to Oregon. (Click the image below for more detail.)

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Rapid Brand Identity Design Process for SXSW Presenters: Pocket Tales

When creating a brand identity, it's not unusual for our internal process to take several weeks to a few months. It's not too often that we have to expedite that process, but every now and then, an opportunity arises...



Last week we received a phone call from a potential client who was in need of a logo. Initially we assumed the project would follow our typical design process: we discuss general requirements, business objectives, schedule an initial discovery meeting, etc. But by the end of this phone call, we realized this client was in a bit of a hurry. They needed a final logo by 5PM Central time on the following day!

Our new client, Pocket Tales, is only one of eight companies selected to present in the Entertainment Technologies category at the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator, part of the 2010 SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. We felt confident in their potential for success--especially when we learned that their project was selected by SXSW solely on the presentation of their concept.

We found out that SXSW needed a logo from Pocket Tales right away to begin printing promotional materials for the event.

We had only 24 hours to concept, sketch and finalize their brand identity design.

As our client described the concept, "Pocket Tales is an online social reading game for kids 7-12 years old. The objective is to earn points and rewards by reading books and completing activities like taking quizzes, playing games, rating books, and recommending books to friends."

Within the hour, we met with the client and discussed their concept, audience, and visual inspirations. Following the kickoff meeting, our entire design team was debriefed on the project and issued a challenge to have concepts and sketches to bring to the table the following morning.

The rest is history. Here's a visual snapshot of the process:

















The final Pocket Tales identity is infinitely customizable. The design allows the client to "swap out" what goes in the pocket--a globe, the wheel of a ship, a knight's helmet, etc.

Good luck to Pocket Tales this year at SXSW!

Project Timeline:

Tuesday:
3PM - Discovery meeting
4PM - Internal creative Meeting
6PM - Begin sketches

Wednesday:
10AM - Review concepts / sketches
11AM - Finalize top 4 concepts
Noon - Submit 4 concepts to client
1PM - Final direction approved by client
4PM - Rough vector art submitted to client
5PM - Final Pocket Tales logo design delivered

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2010 Super Bowl Commercials - Battle of the Brands

Which 2010 Super Bowl commercials did the best to build an already strong brand? Which brands invested in commercials that best introduced a new brand? Which were the best uses of Social Media, after the commercial? Which brands would have done more good by just donating their cash to a cause?

After they air, check here to vote for your favorite (and least favorite) Super Bowl commercials of 2010. Go Colts!




After you vote, please share your thoughts below.

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