Posts Tagged ‘credibility’
Think twice before “evolving” your logo
By Rob Meyerson, RiechesBaird
Bill Marsh’s article in The New York Times a few days ago pointed out that a number of companies have recently redesigned their corporate logos, replacing “emblems of distant behemoths” with updates that are “non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like.” The article includes a nice Flash click-through showing before and after logos. Marsh’s assessment is that these redesigns are aimed at addressing “the economy, environment, image repair,” and that while logos are meant to be differentiating, “there are striking similarities among recent redesigns.”
He’s right to point out the similarities, but the trend he’s seeing—which includes lowercase lettering, “softer” fonts, and lightened colors—began well before the recession. I first noticed it in 2005, while at Interbrand during the design of the new AT&T logo. Shortly after it launched, it seemed, Chevron and Allstate made very similar changes to their logos, incorporating lighter colors, rounder type, and highlights and shading that give the logos a 3D feel. (more…)
Social media strategies for B2B
By Marty Ellery, Nelson Schmidt
While the role of social media in B2B marketing continues to spark debate—which networks are most appropriate, should your CEO be blogging and do you really need to tweet—the fact that it should play some role in marketing strategy is becoming more and more accepted among marketing pros. The challenge is not only how to identify the best ways to create meaningful content for, and engage in dialog with, your customers, but how to successfully maintain momentum over the long haul. When a company looks for ways to leverage social media, it is important to recognize the level of commitment required to support a multifaceted social media strategy. (more…)
Marketing, messaging & the Medical Device Safety Act
By Mike Ritchey, RiechesBaird
This past week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee began holding hearings that could have far reaching implications for manufacturers, users and recipients of medical devices. In a nutshell, they are examining the pros and cons of overturning a 2008 Supreme Court decision that prohibits patients from being able to sue medical device companies for damages resulting from defects or poor design. Without going into all the legal mumbo jumbo, the gist of the original decision was that the FDA should have the final word in determining what was safe and what was not. By definition, products approved by the FDA were deemed safe with the Supreme Court concluding that the companies that manufactured them be immune from any product liability or litigation. (more…)