What was accomplished by changing their font, color palette and adding an icon? Your opinion? Their perception? No. Because Wal-Mart is an established brand and good, bad or indifferent established brands rarely change our minds. Has Pepsi ever changed your mind? No. You know them now and forever more as Coke wannabes.
And the icon they added - an asterisk? Are we supposed to see that and think "Ah, Wal-Mart?" Asterisks, when properly used are supposed to remind of us an additional fact. Wal-Mart used to proudly claim that their merchandise was "Made In America." Maybe that asterisk is telling us, "Everything under the roof is exclusively made in China." If that's the case, then yes, I can see where a rebranding effort is in order.
This week's prize cow is Fast Company - not the magazine, not the website, but the e-Daily. Their email newsletter is really nice. It's well designed, offers tidbits of information without overwhelming the reader and offers the same interesting content (and more) than its monthly publication.
Thanks to Fast Company's Now Daily, it's easy to stay on top of business news while being intrigued.
So you are opening a new business, starting a campaign or engaging in a volunteer endeavor and for whatever reason a new web site is needed. So before you contact your local web developer (it better be yours truly!) you go off and secure a domain name i.e. web address. Hold the phone! You may have made your first mistake. Take this advise: before you go and secure some 14 character .com address that is peppered with hyphens, please seek the advise of a web marketer.
Marketing your company, event or endeavor online begins with simplicity. Think it through and then ask yourself, "How easy is it for my site to get noticed?" Hewlett Packard is hp.com - simple. Coca-Cola has many URL addresses. Most of them redirect to coca-cola.com. One address is what most people know them as - coke.com
One last freebie: consider creating a new word to go with your brand. Flickr.com, Twitter.com, Plaxo.com make the point.
When creativity is needed in the workplace, be the HERO! Speak up and say, "I know this guy…" Everyone will be so jealous!
Remember, we depend on referrals from friends like you. Who knows, maybe there's a fruit basket in it for you!
Many regards,
Alan
alan cannefax
txCreative
an interactive agencyPlease visit my site at http://www.txcreative.com.
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