The Magenta Lessons consist of four installments: Design and Colors, Marketing, Trademarks and Public Relations. This is the 2nd part, in which we are discussing brands and how important they are in today’s world.
When was the last time you had a Coke? Maybe you prefer Pepsi? I’m sure you’ve tasted them both, and then you decided to stick with one of them. You may even go for Virgin Cola, Afri Cola, RC Cola, or another one (the list goes on). The point is, from the variety of given choices, on what do you base your decision which one to purchase?
You could say it’s the taste. Granted, Coca-Cola tastes slightly different than Pepsi Cola. But what if I tell you that it’s not only the taste that makes your choice, but the brand and their marketing?
Now you say, “no, you’re wrong. It is the taste I’m going for, not the brand. I’m in marketing or advertising myself and I don’t fall for brands” - ok, I’ll give you that. You already know that the values consumers connect with a product are the results of marketing efforts. And because you’re in the field yourself, you’re not falling for it.
I say, let’s move away from Cola for a second and look at table waters. Do you like Evian? Read on…
The Magenta Lessons were born from the current trademark battle between the tech blog Engadget Mobile and the telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom on behalf of their brand T-Mobile. Click here to read up on this truly exciting clash that may or may not have been an elaborate April fools joke - or a cooperative PR gag by the involved parties.
The Magenta Lessons consist of four installments: Design and Colors, Marketing, Trademarks and Public Relations. Today, we will use these real-life happenings to discuss the role of design - more precisely: color - in branding:
Welcome to the first part of the Magenta Lessons.
Imagine life without color. What would it be like to live in such a world? What if the sky wasn’t blue, but white? Imagine the grass not being green - picture it grey! And now, imagine T-Mobile being black. Read on…
An interesting battle is going on between a popular technology blog and a major telecommunications company as I am writing this post. In the spotlight: a questionable letter, a vast outcry in the blogosphere and the overall question if a company has the right to protect a color. This color: Magenta
Before we take a look at the relevance of these happenings for us designers, let me sum up the events so far.
Round I
Deutsche Telekom AG (with the subsidiaries T-Mobile and T-Online, among others) asks Weblogs, Inc. (an AOL Time Warner company, runs around 90 blogs, including engadget.com and engadgetmobile.com) to kindly
…replace the color magenta in the Engadget Mobile logo and discontinue using the color in a trademark-specific way…
That was earlier last week.
Round II
Engadget’s reaction to the letter is to publish it in its beautiful completeness on their blog. Here it is: Read on…
Now this is something really worth looking at. If you’re looking for a bullet-proof way to scare away your target audience, follow the lead of this advertising agency, and you’ll be fine.
I have to admit: at first, I didn’t quite know what to make of these ads for UK Trade & Investment. That’s the client - the “Government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in an increasingly global economy” (from their About page). I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s take a look at a very interesting series of 6 mesmerizing print ads with a huge learning value for us designers and advertisers.
Click on the following image to view a larger version. Just don’t get stuck in this computer generated girl’s cleavage; there is more to come… Read on…
Routine-blindness is inevitable in almost every business. It definitely exists for every task involving the higher brain functions: while it’s not likely that you lose sight of the complete picture while mowing your lawn, it’s far more probable to happen for one of your designs. In the worst case, you’ll deliver a design that’s peppered with mistakes. Mistakes you could have avoided if you had followed a few simple steps. Read on…
Subscribe to our RSS Feed!
Recent Comments