But the rebrand could still be a success if it improves the company’s image among other stakeholders, such as politicians and voters.

Our index of brand health, along with other research, show that promotional activity in the short and medium term can have long-term effects on brands and financial performance. But the effect is very small and infrequent.

There’s no reason to think that BHP’s campaign will affect profitability or brand health. This makes it likely there are other motives.

Why rebrand?

The common wisdom is that if you have a strong brand then “don’t mess with it” – the brand can only lose. But if you are already in a hole then it can’t hurt.

BHP has had a rough couple of years, with the Samarco mine disaster, allegations of tax avoidance, and poor performance from some investments. So it might make sense that the brand needs a refresh.

But research shows that established brands suffer when they change their logo or core message. Consumers become surprised and confused when an otherwise familiar product is not what they’re used to.

Less-established brands can benefit by creating some novelty with a change in logo and message. It’s not what consumers are used to, so they pay a little more attention.

Here is the first problem with BHP’s rebrand – the research around rebranding is based on consumer goods, usually grocery products. It may not apply to a mining company.

There are relatively few cases where non-consumer goods rebrand, and those are often the result of an acquisition or merger.

Another example might be Transfield Services changing its name to Broadspectrum after the family of the original company withdrew naming rights, allegedly over Transfield Service’s controversial management of detention centres.

But if managers at BHP wanted to escape their recent history, then they’d need to change the whole name, not just drop half of it.

Highlighting Australian origins

Beyond driving customers, however, rebranding can be aimed at other stakeholders.

The BHP rebrand is accompanied with an advertising campaign, which seeks to drive home the Australian origins of BHP. How “some ordinary men in Broken Hill dared to think big” and so we are challenged to “imagine what we could all achieve if we continue to think big”.

All of this is highlighted in the press release sent out about the rebrand:

“The advertisements will talk about the importance of our Australian heritage, our contribution and our commitment to communities where we operate. The campaign will focus on what people can and should expect of us.

“In launching Think Big, we will take the opportunity to change our logo and move to a brand that Australians have known us by for generations – BHP. This abbreviated simple expression of our organisation is used colloquially around the world.”

This part of the rebrand makes more sense. BHP is an icon that represents an important era of Australia’s economic and social history. Tapping into this history could help improve relations with other stakeholders – investors, politicians and voters.

The takeaway

The research shows it is unlikely the rebrand will do much for long-term profitability, but if aimed at other stakeholders it could still be a success.

It could encourage a favourable attitude among current and potential investors, customers and suppliers.

The rebrand might make executives and employees feel better about the company they work for. It could also feed into other modes of engagement – with political lobbying at state and federal levels, for example. And as the advertising campaign includes television and newspapers, it will also reach voters.

This article was originally posted on The Conversation website.
Read the original article here.

Founded in 1977, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is today the most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world and one of the pioneering conservation organisations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa.

Go to helloinelephant.com and learn to speak Elephant.

Originally posted here 

But in the right situations, direct mail could be a crucial differentiator in a world where 78% of consumers have unsubscribed from a company’s email list because the company was sending too many emails.

Just as a product that’s similar to a dozen competitors will struggle to take off, marketing that looks like everyone else’s simply won’t be memorable. Classic digital marketing tactics like email have become so overcrowded that approaching inbound creatively is crucial to standing out from your competition.

The key to doing direct mail right is keeping it aligned with your inbound marketing funnel.

Never forget your main objective: you want to lead prospects back online to continue nurturing them there. Any piece of mail you send must direct prospects online to help you track them throughout the process – whether that’s including a link to a landing page or a code they can enter on your website. Plus, the more information you have about what kinds of offers they respond to, the better you can speak to their pain points and specific needs.

Identifying Your Potential Direct Mail Audience

Prior to beginning any marketing campaign, your team should be laser-focused on your potential customers’ preferences and needs.Your number one priority is standing out to those who are most likely to buy your product. This fundamental step shouldn’t change when you’re considering incorporating direct mail into your marketing. Inbound is all about meeting prospective customers where they are.

If your target customers don’t check their mailboxes often, they’re probably not a good fit for direct mail.

Given the plethora of other places to spend, it’ll be hard to justify spending on direct mail over, for example, paid content promotion on social media if your target audience is addicted to their smartphones.

However, if your potential customers are old enough to own homes or apartments and are likely to check their mailboxes often, direct mail could prove to be effective. It’s all about understanding what your audience needs.

If you’ve identified that sending a letter or postcard is an effective way to reach your particular prospects, you can begin to think about the moments in the buyer’s cycle when it’s best to reach out with the personalized touch of a physical piece of mail.

Being Conscious of Your Prospects’ Stage in the Buyer Cycle

A prospect finds a piece of content useful and subscribes to your blog to stay in the know. So what’s your next step?

Keep in mind that all your prospect did was subscribe to an email list. That means they’re probably still a pretty “cold” lead. If they found a blog post through organic search or because they saw a headline that looked interesting on LinkedIn, they’re not going to appreciate receiving any type of content that attempts to make a hard sell, let alone a postcard explaining your pricing.

Think about the number of coupons and offers that you’ve discovered in your mailbox, only to toss them in the recycling bin immediately. Those pieces of mail probably weren’t relevant to needs you’d expressed.

You need to make the content you’re offering via direct mail speak to the individual. That means that if at all possible, you want to segment your mailing list in the same way you’d segment an email list. Can you match a physical offer on a piece of paper to the article or offer the prospect just opened online?

Ultimately, striking at the right time with direct mail comes down to maintaining awareness of your prospects’ stage in the buyer’s cycle. Craft the direct mail piece that stands out from the rest by showing that your company understands their leads.

Creative Ways to Incorporate Direct Mail – at the Right Time

Let’s return to the recent blog subscriber.

The typical inbound marketing response is to send them an email, thanking them for subscribing and assuring them that you’ll keep them updated when the next blog is published. Rather than sending a follow-up email, though, what if you responded with a direct mail piece?

You could thank them for subscribing to your blog and direct them to some of your most popular blogs. You could even direct them to a landing page with a video that contains a personal message. It certainly stands out from the mundane marketing messages they see on a daily basis.

Rather than sticking with a complete email campaign, you could use a direct mail piece to encourage your prospect to check out an ebook or other offer you’ve created.

You could also provide them with a case study from a business similar to theirs and include compelling stats. The key is to help educate them on how to address whatever problems they’re trying to solve.

Further down the funnel, once a lead is more familiar with your brand, you might host an event they’d find useful. Invitees often perceive physical event invitations as more personal – just as an invitation to a wedding or large birthday party is likely to feel more genuine when you find it in your mailbox rather than your inbox.

Drive event attendance and track your offline efforts effectively by putting a QR code on the invite that motivates invitees to register online.

Direct mail is particularly useful when you’re trying to target a specific geo-location, age bracket, or household income level. It comes back to meeting your customers where they are. If you’re running a campaign on a local level, generate buzz in your community by sending out a visually compelling piece of direct mail that neighbors are apt to discuss.

Keys to Direct Mail Marketing Success

1) Focus on the trackability of your campaigns.
You should already be using a marketing automation solution to track your typical inbound efforts. In order to make the most of your direct mail efforts, you must also track these campaigns to decipher what’s working and what’s not.

Without tracking – a function of driving recipients online – you won’t have a true understanding of what pieces are resonating with your prospects (and what topics they’re actually interested in).

2) Keep it visual.
Remember what the last long, descriptive brochure you read said? Me neither. Lean away from long sentences and blocks of text. Instead, spark your recipient’s interest with a beautiful image that’s relevant to the content or event you’re offering.

3) Provide a clear next step.
It’s best to limit yourself to one CTA per piece of direct mail — and make it obvious. It’ll limit confusion and make it easier for you to evaluate the piece’s ROI.

4) Target people who are checking their mail (and particularly the ones who are hard to reach online).
It won’t matter how compelling the image or copy on your postcard are if your recipients aren’t seeing it. Consider setting up automation to send physical mailers to recipients that have expressed interest in your company, but haven’t responded to digital outreach after a certain amount of time.

5) Always tie it back to online efforts.
The only way you’ll truly know how direct mail is influencing your bottom line is to track everything. Your mailers should have unique codes or phone numbers with unique extensions. Prospects should go to landing pages that track their journey and trigger next steps in your marketing automation or sales process. Make sure you’re setting yourself up to prove the effectiveness of your campaign.

Remember, providing information to prospects when they’re ready is a foundational principle of inbound marketing.

If you can automate sending the right information at the right time, you’ll be primed to turn leads into customers.Marketers commonly paint direct mail with an outbound brush, but classic mail can be an effective marketing tool with the right approach. With creativity and a targeted approach, you have the chance to speak to your prospects in a personalized and genuine way.

This article by Mac McAvoy was originally posted on Hubspot.
Read the original article here.

• Did the reader get the message we wanted them to get?
• Was the message memorable?

Doctoral student Michelle Borkin of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences worked with collaborators to collect, analyze and present 2,070 single-panel visualizations from a range of publications and websites.

In the “largest scale visualization study to date,” they asked, “What Makes a Visualization Memorable?”

Caveat

Memorability is very important, but still just half the recipe.

The researches did not look at how well viewers understood the images, just how well they remembered them. Borkin’s next steps are to measure comprehension: that new study is already in progress.

This study represents the first step in their research, as they explore what makes an effective infographic, but it already raises questions about what designers have believed so far.

What they did

First, the team created a “visual taxonomy” of the images, identifying them by qualities like chart types, number of colors and presence of human-recognizable objects. They also classified attributes like the presence of non-essential decoration and “visual density” (a.k.a. clutter).

“Redesign Your Place” infographic designed for DMC Bologna, by Jacopo Ferretti

Then they chose 410 images that evenly represented the range of their sources (like news, science and the infographics site, visual.ly) as well as the range of qualities they’d identified. Using that group, they ran an online experiment in which participants watched a stream of images and clicked a button whenever they saw one they believed had been shown before.

What they learned

To the surprise of the researchers, bar graphs and charts did poorly. It turns out (news flash) they all kinda look the same. The most memorable images contained “human recognizable objects.” Think mundane stuff like photos or illustrations of bottles, animals and shoes, not to mention people.

“Who is Occupy Wall Street” infographic created for Fast Company, by Jess3

Other important points:

1. Colour made a huge difference: the more, the better.
2. Images with more clutter were highly memorable. How much more memorable? A lot.
3. Images with lots of circles and rounded corner graphics also ranked high.

More about clutter

Plenty of psychology lab studies show that simple and clear visualizations are easier to understand. However, researchers have also found that “chart junk” (a term coined by Edward Tufte, so important it gets its own Wikipedia entry) can improve retention because it forces us to work harder at understanding a graph, resulting in better comprehension.

Again, understanding what makes an infographic memorable is only the first step to creating more effective presentations. According to Borkin, “Making a visualization more memorable means making some part of the visualization ‘stick’ in the viewer’s mind.” She emphasizes that we also need to learn how to make sure that what sticks is our intended message, and not the eye candy.

This article by Penina Finger was published on webdesignerdepot.com.
Read the original article here.

A big redesign is daunting. There are a lot of variables and unknowns that tell you there will be potential failure down the road. But we knew that if we wanted to build for the future, we had to be comfortable taking that risk. This meant not only taking a big bet on how things look, but also re-imagining how things flow.

Uber’s original premise was simple. “Push a button, get a ride.” You didn’t need to set your destination, you didn’t need to select a product, you just hit a button, or two, and you were off.

As we added more features and our products became more complex, we continued to strive to keep the original simplicity and speed of a single button. But we realized that speed was about much more than minimizing taps and streamlining flows. People were selecting the wrong product when they had to catch a movie (I’m looking at you, Uber Pool). Opportunities to save time by suggesting good pick-up spots were being missed.

In a fast growing environment it can become challenging to see the way ahead. So, to move past the comfort of our beginnings we decided to design the new Uber experience with a simple twist: “Start at the end.”

Where to?

Sometimes in order to get more quickly from point A to point B, you need to slow down, look up, and see what’s ahead of you. Where Uber originally asked you to only think about getting a ride, we now ask you “Where to?”.

Everything starts there and builds around that. Interface elements fly in from the next step and route-lines animate toward your destination. It’s a philosophy based on looking ahead that carries you forward. Each action you take propels you to the next step and each trip you complete feeds back into the experience. By the time you’re ready to enter your next destination, it’s already there.

A key area of the experience that was showing cracks was the product selection slider. A great interface when you have, say, three to four options… not so much when that number balloons to more than eight – as our riders in Los Angeles and other cities can attest. It got even worse: when we launched a scheduling option, we simply ran out of space and dropped it pretty much in the middle of the screen.

This feature went through the most design cycles and iterations. From list views to tabular representations to paginations and pretty much everything in between. Ongoing user research and iterative prototyping played a crucial role in our process. We interviewed people each day with prototypes we built in Framer and Swift. Day by day, week over week we iterated on these prototypes until we got to the right answer. We found that people didn’t care about how many products and features we could cram in a single screen.

By knowing your destination, we can now give you opportunities to make better decisions with just the right amount of context. We display up-front fares for products so you can make a clearer and simpler choice on how to get there. For Uber Pool and UberX we show you arrival times to let you know if you’ll make your dinner reservation.

And as you’re looking forward, the app is constantly working on the next step to save you time. It’s searching for the fastest pickup point while you’re selecting a product. And once you hit request we instantly give you a peek into your future by showing you which drivers you could be paired up with, giving you an estimated time sooner.

Getting there

From the start we wanted to be sure to create a platform that other people could use, build upon and extend internally. It takes a village to build something, and not one populated solely by designers; engineers, product managers, operations, marketing, and many other talented members of the team were involved. Building an entire new product and a design system at the same time was a challenge, especially at this scale.

In an ideal world you would probably choose to sequence product design and platform design a little more, but at the speed we were moving, that was simply not an option. This constraint, however, proved to be a happy accident: it forced us to apply platform design decisions in near real-time to product designs, with real data — and vice-versa. It reminds me of a quote by a legendary racing driver:

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” Mario Andretti.

We developed standards across a number of elements from foundational parts like grid and spacing, typography, colors, content, icons, illustrations, drop shadows, status bars, animations, and action sheets to components like alerts, avatars, buttons, cards, date and time pickers, empty states, forms, headers, lists, map interfaces, loading indicators and states, selectors, and tabs. But perhaps most importantly, we created a space to interact with our riders during the trip.

Enjoying the ride

We used to think our job was done once you got in a car, and that the faster we got you out of our app, the better the experience. But as we looked ahead at each step, we realized we were neglecting the longest part of the journey: being on your way.

We thought about the music you might want to listen to on your way, the menu at the restaurant you’re headed to, and how you could stay connected to the people you’re going to see. We built a platform for content that will put you and your journey at the center.

The new Uber app is about you, the things you want to do, and the places you want to be. We start at the end, to get you closer to your next beginning.

You can view the original post on Medium here.

But first, here’s what not to do

When I was in business school and searching for an internship, a friend in a creative industry told me to try out a website that was created, supposedly, for people with my skills and background. But when I used the platform to create a profile and upload my credentials, I was turned away with no explanation. A few days later, I received the following email:

Let’s outline what this apology is lacking:

• Specificity. The message notes that I was turned away – but it doesn’t explain why. When you’ve made a mistake, acknowledge it in full, explaining exactly where you went wrong and why.
• Remorse. While the email opens with some apology text, that accounts for a minute portion of the email. The majority of the copy is asking me to do something on behalf of the company that wronged me. Think about it – if you immediately ask someone to do you a favor after you apologize for a mistake, how genuinely remorseful will you sound? Not very.
• Next steps. When you’ve made a mistake, people want to be sure of two things:
  1. That you’re truly sorry for your wrongdoing
  2. That it’s not going to happen again.

The above email does neither of those things, as per the “remorse point.” It’s also lacking any accountable language to address what it’s going to do to prevent this issue from taking place again, using non-committal language like “I hope.” And if you’re not sure what to do to make it right – ask.

We chose the examples below due to their inclusion of all of these factors and, in some cases, even more.

6 Brands that brilliantly apologized

Apple

Back in 2015, U.S. pop artist Taylor Swift announced a very public boycott of Apple Music. That was due to the service offering a one-month free trial of its streaming feature – but not paying artists for any of their music that was played during the free period.

To right the situation, Apple enlisted the help of its SVP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, who went about a slightly unusual way of admitting to the brand’s wrongdoing – via Twitter.

Not long after this unconventional apology was issued, Swift starred in an Apple commercial, which led some to speculate that the entire incident was an orchestrated publicity campaign. That said, it does illustrate some positive points of how big-name brands can apologize. With two tweets, Apple sent the message, “We hear your grievances, we get it, and here’s what we’re going to do about it.”

ZocDoc

It seems like you can use the internet to procure anything these days. From buying specialty products to scheduling meetings, so much can be accomplished and taken care of online.

ZocDoc is one such provider of these services, and provides a platform that connects users with doctors for almost every speciaity in their respective areas. There’s just one problem – sometimes, the doctors don’t accurately update their schedules within ZocDoc, causing users to make appointments for times that aren’t actually available, leading to their subsequent cancellation.

But ZocDoc isn’t one to say, “Not our fault, not our problem.” Instead, it’s constantly striving to gain and use customer feedback to enhance the user experience, like it does with this email:

Here’s the thing – ZocDoc wasn’t really the one responsible for the cancellation. The doctor’s office was, but despite that, it still negatively impacts the user experience, which ZocDoc acknowledged and offered to make right, by not only asking what went wrong, but offering a gift in exchange for the feedback.

Netflix

When Netflix was looking to transition from DVD delivery to a streaming service (yes, we almost forgot about that, too), it had a few missteps along the way.

At first, the company built a system in which its streaming and DVD delivery services would become different entities with separate billing agreements. Before, members had the option of subscribing to both for $10 per month. But the split meant a 60% price increase for current members who wanted both – the new system’s fees were $8 each month solely for the DVD service, plus another $8 per month for streaming. What’s worse, the company didn’t really provide a clear explanation.

But CEO Reed Hastings wanted to shed light on the situation, and did so in an open letter on the company’s blog. He explained why the changes came to be, and noted that Netflix was “done” with pricing changes. But there was a problem – the company wasn’t doing anything to reverse the issue affecting most customers, which was the separation of subscriptions. People enjoyed having the option of signing up for multiple services with one bill. But Hastings didn’t fix that. Instead, he noted that the DVD service would not only remain separate, but would be renamed Qwikster.

Qwikster was short-lived, to say the least. Three weeks later, Hastings issued yet another apology. This time, he kept it short and sweet, and essentially sent the message, “Okay, you’re right. Having two billing systems was a bad idea, and we’re doing away with that.” Netflix did suffer some initial damage, with a loss of 800,000 members and a falling stock price. However, the brand has since recovered and currently enjoys healthy financials.

Naked Wines

I’ve discovered a pattern to my email-unsubscribing behavior. It typically happens when I’m generally stressed out or overwhelmed, and might snap if I get just one more notification on my phone. The easy answer, of course, would be to turn off my notifications. Instead, I angrily unsubscribe from the well-meaning brand’s newsletters, for which I happily signed up, but didn’t really engage with.

In my case, at least, it’s not the brand’s fault. So if that company sent me a witty, thoughtful email in response to my cancelled subscription, asking what went wrong and what could be done to fix it, I might happily oblige – after I calmed down, of course. And that’s exactly what Naked Wines did with the apologetic email below:

The company openly leads with “sorry,” and acknowledges that the canceled subscription was likely due to something it did. So it asked, “What was it? Let us know, so we can fix it.”

Toronto Maple Leafs

If there’s one thing that truly dedicated sports fan would be happy to never hear again, it’s the phrase, “It’s just a game.” And no one, it seems, understood that more than Lawrence M. Tanenbaum – chairman of Maple Leaf Sports – after a devastating loss by the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 2012.

As a somewhat diehard sports fan myself – go Red Sox – I can understand the desire for accountability from a team’s front office management after a bad season. And with this long, apologetic letter, that’s exactly what Tanenbaum accomplished, with the recognition of not only his team’s poor performance, but also, a public commitment on behalf of ownership to improve things.

Airbnb

In December 2015, home-sharing platform Airbnb began to come under fire for racial profiling and discrimination taking place on its site. That month, Harvard researchers released a working paper, which indicated that travelers with “distinctively African-American names are 16% less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively White names.” That data was only compounded by reports on social media from travelers who experienced that discrimination first-hand, as well as a lawsuit over such actions.

In monitoring the social media dialogue, it seems like the issue isn’t quite completely resolved. However, Airbnb isn’t trying to dodge it, and is actually quite proactively addressing this (big) problem. It began with this email from CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky:

Chesky addresses the fault of Airbnb early in the message, acknowledging that the brand was far too slow to respond to the issue of discrimination, and apologized for it. Since then, the company has taken several actions to prevent and put an end to it on the platform, which it outlined in a 32-page report authored by Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. The report documented an audit conducted to evaluate where Airbnb was falling short on preventing discrimination, and the resulting measures that would be put in place. Since the report was released, the brand has very publicly campaigned on a platform of inclusion, capped with an ad that aired during the 2017 Super Bowl.

Of course, this series of events presents a much larger issue that isn’t limited to Airbnb and does raise the question, “How much can a corporation really do?” And while that is far from an easy question to answer, Airbnb seems to be continuing to do its part, and acknowledging its role within this landscape.

So, next time you mess up…

…you know what to do.

Granted, admitting when you’re wrong is still anything but a simple task. And figuring out how you’re going to make it right isn’t a process that can take place overnight. But one thing you can do immediately is to admit your mistake. Ask for feedback. Be transparent. And remember – “I’m sorry” can go a long way.

You can view the original post on Hubspot here.

1) Bold Typography

More and more companies are turning to big, bold typography to anchor their homepages. This style works best when the rest of the page is kept minimal and clean, like this example from French agency Big Youth.

 

2) Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs — high-quality videos or GIFs that run on a smooth, continuous loop — have become a popular way to add movement and visual interest to otherwise static pages. Full-screen loops, like this stunning example from Danish agency CP+B Copenhagen, are sure to hold visitors’ attention for longer than a quick glance.

3) Experimental Compositions

To stand out in a sea of tidy masonry style layouts, some designers are opting instead for more eclectic structures. Design director Will Geddes displays samples of his work in this unexpected collage of overlapping images.

4) Bright Gradients

Kaleidoscopic gradients are coming back in a big way. Zurich-based agency Y7K illustrates a perfect example of how to make this two-tone effect look fresh and modern, with their full-screen, gradient-washed homepage.

5) Vivid Layers of Color

Staggered, stacked layers of color add depth and texture to a simple site layout, as seen in this stylish example from the São Paulo-based team behind Melissa Meio-Fio.

6) Straightforward, Simple Text

Some websites are cutting out images and prominent navigation sections altogether, relying on a few choice lines of straightforward text to inform visitors about their company.Danish agency B14 uses their homepage real estate to simply describe their mission statement and provide links to samples of their work. It’s a modern, uncluttered approach to presenting information.

7) Illustration

More companies are turning to illustrators and graphic artists to create bespoke illustrations for their websites. After years of flat design and minimalism, adding illustrated touches to your site is a great way to inject a little personality, as seen in this charming example from NewActon.

8) Ultra-minimalism

Taking classic minimalism to the extreme, some designers are defying conventions of what a website needs to look like, displaying just the absolute bare necessities. The site from designer Mathieu Boulet is centered around a few choice links to his social profiles and information.

9) Duotone

These parred-down, two-tone color schemes look cool and contemporary, like this example from Australian Design Radio.

10) Mixing Horizontal and Vertical Text

Freeing text from its usual horizontal alignment and placing it vertically on a page adds some refreshing dimension. Take this example from director Matt Porterfield, which mixes horizontal and vertical text alignments on an otherwise very simple page.

11) Geometric Shapes and Patterns

Whimsical patterns and shapes are popping up more frequently on websites, adding some flair in a landscape otherwise ruled by flat and material design. Canadian design studio MSDS uses daring, patterned letters on their homepage.

12) Modular Design

Modular design is certainly sticking around in 2017. It’s a foolproof way to create a clean, accessible website that keeps visitors interested. This example from design studio Waaark offers a twist on modular design: When you hover over the dividing edges between modules with your cursor, you produce an unexpected ripple effect.

13) Overlapping Text and Images

Text that slightly overlaps accompanying images has become a popular effect for blogs and portfolios. Freelance art director and front-end developer Thibault Pailloux makes his overlapping text stand out with a colorful underline beneath each title.

Original article was first published here

First celebrated in 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual international TV song competition hosted and “played” by member countries of the European Broadcasting Union.

Each country is represented by a singer performing an original song and then the viewing public selects the winner. Nearly 200 million people watch the televised event, which itself is quite a spectacle. Past winners have included ABBA and Celine Dion before either were ABBA or Celine Dion as we know them today. Each year, the competition is hosted by a different country and as long as they use the Eurovision logo, each edition has its own identity. Taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine, this May, this year’s identity has been designed by local firms banda.agency and Republique.

We started looking for the symbol that would be authentic for Ukrainian culture as well as identify mission of the contest. Therefore, as a basis for Eurovision – 2017 visual identity we have chosen traditional ukrainian necklace, elements of which symbolise participants of the contest. Bead after bead, countries, which take part in Eurovision, together create a captivating celebration of music. banda.agency project page

Traditional Ukrainian necklaces served as the main reference.

Having used a traditional Ukrainian symbol, we have also given it a modern look with bright live patterns. Every element of the necklace has its unique design and shape, which symbolises a simple truth: we are all different, but every year we meet together for one beautiful cause.
banda.agency project page

The last couple of years I have received tips for the Eurovision Song Contest but neither 2015 nor 2016 caught my attention and in all cases I find the obligatory use and integration of the Eurovision logo to be too much of a detraction to the work. This year, though, even if the Eurovision logo stands out even more than past editions, the identity behind it (literally) is awesome and strong enough that I can (again, literally) look past it. And it’s not that the Eurovision logo is bad but it’s not a logo that has been designed to integrate gently with anything else. Anyway…

The bead concept is well founded in a piece of Ukrainian tradition and then it’s excitingly visualized as a range of groovy patterns mapped around spheres and donut-like beads. The mix of shapes used in the patterns is varied and eclectic but nicely unified by the coral red color. On their own they look rad but they also work together in a surprisingly not cloying way when they form a necklace. As a lock-up with the tagline and the Eurovision logo, it’s not really that good and the use of Gotham seems off but it’s easy to move past it as the applications are quite entertaining.

I usually interrupt the visuals earlier on in the post to add some comments but these are best enjoyed in succession and the premise is consistent across all applications, from wristbands to bus wraps: big beads in any configuration that looks fun, Eurovision logo and tagline placed where they are least in the way. Some of the renders are quite out there but if even a fraction of them are made, it’s a win. I’m looking at you, socks.
I wish the bead animations were more ambitious — something like this — instead of just rotating the objects with the patterns being static. Perhaps they are saving it for the broadcast. Nonetheless, this is a smart and attractive identity system that plays out perfectly across many platforms… it doesn’t quite scream “Singing Competition!” but since the audience is so familiar with the Eurovision brand, it’s not that big an issue.

This article was originally posted on underconsideration.com. View it here.

And that’s all Apple wanted you to know about the first version of the iPhone, a device we now expect to do thousands of different tasks. The company’s first advertisement for the 1st generation iPhone highlighted nothing more than the calling capability of the device.

Jump forward just three years to the release of the iPhone 3GS, and Apple’s marketing had taken a significant leap, promoting the use of multiple apps, network connectivity, and video streaming. Even so, the ability to make a phone call still sneaks in as a feature.

Fast forward to last year’s release of the iPhone 7 and you get a very different stpry. The launch of the product involved a two-minute commercial titled “Don’t Blink”. The ad covers multiple new features, including colour varieties, water resistance, fingerprint recognition and high definition cameras.

The video ends with a scrolling list of features over the last edition of the iPhone, packing an immense amount of information into just 107 seconds. Sadly, no phone calls make an appearance as a major selling point.

What’s next for Apple’s promotion of its flagship product? Could the device finally ditch its namesake (along with the headphone jack) and remove calling capabilities for good?

This article was originally posted on smartcompany.com.au. View it here.

However, as with branding, there are definitely hits and misses, and some that are more controversial than others.

To round-up 2016, Fast Co.Design has curated both the good and the bad in branding this year. Take a look at some of these below and head over here for the entire list.

THE BEST: MASTERCARD

The company’s first major rebranding project in twenty years, MasterCard ditched its dimensional logo for something more minimal, though its signature overlapping yellow and red circles were here to stay. The new identity modernizes the credit company for the age of digital payments.

THE BEST: INSTAGRAM

When the social media app switched its familiar polaroid logo to a minimalist icon in May, the Internet had a meltdown. Adopting a rainbow gradient and bold white outlines of a camera, the new icon was aesthetically informed of Apple’s new iOS updates, while making subtle references to its predecessor.

THE BEST: ZOCDOC

From a uninspiring, traditional logo that the health care platform launched in 2007 to its graphic anthropomorphic logo, Zocdoc is perhaps one of the most dramatic rebranding stories. The redesign is a complete overhaul, adopting a friendly and human-centered identity.

THE BEST: VSCO

A favorite amongst photographers, the image editing app redesigned both its user interface and visual identity this year, featuring a custom-made Gothic typeface and emotive symbols. The logo took on a complete new look with an abstract circular logo to embody the global community.

MOST CONTROVERSIAL: THE MET

In an effort to be updated and relevant, the Metropolitan Museum of Art ditched its traditional, art deco-esque logo for typographical logo that simply rebrands the museum as “The Met”. The rebranding project was met with immense outrage.

THE WORST: UBER

Launching a new icon in February, Uber’s minimalistic icon drew much ridicule for looking like “Pacman”, “an asshole”, and a “little kind of bluish sideways ass”. According to CEO Travis Kalanick, the icon was designed in-house as he didn’t trust anyone else to do it.

THE WORST: TRUMP-PENCE LOGO

Perhaps the logo that drew most online mockery in 2016, the Trump-Pence logo was a brilliant meme. The reason for its downfall? It looks like the “T” is penetrating “P”. While it was quickly withdrawn from the campaign, this logo will stay on the Internet forever.

This article was originally posted on fastcodesign.com. View it here.