I agree.

What about Caterpillar yellow? They must be some 60 years or so.

What about Coca-Cola red? They must be 100 years or so.

Yea, I agree that the symbol of Apple has a visual potency, no less than many other business icons that have abounded (I mentioned the Nike symbol earlier). But Apple backed that image up with reliable computer systems that don’t suck. I wonder what the wastebasket of old logos and icons might be.

Your examples have counter-examples, which I think somewhat diminishes their generalized potential. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguars, Fords, Mazdas all have easy to remember symbols because we see them frequently. People buy Honda’s and Toyotas not because of the symbol, but because of the history of quality vehicles. The same is with beer, as well as most consumption items. It is the mythology of association that advertising creates, and this creation is independent of any other symbolic reference.

Combine symbols and mythology … watch out. You get evangelical christianity . :-)

I think I understand what you mean
trying all hard not to be obscene
but what I meant by off-color
was something quite other
then you prancing around like a queen.

:-)

Peace out.

It was not that long ago that Forbes magazine named “Marlboro” as the single most valuable brand in the world. Well north of $50 Billion. And of course, today, there are large tracts of the golbe where one can trade a pack of Marlboro Reds for whatever the market will bear –

As just one example, Philip Morris spent $millions perfecting and honing a singular brand identity for their most valuable product.

Today, this is an art form and identity management capability that has been relegated to outsourced manpower, and why so many “brands” today lack the visual authority and mindspace relevance needed to drive value.

What do you think of when you hear “Chevy”

What do you think of when you hear “Bud”

Now –

Think of “Apple”

And that’s the difference.

.

“You put 8 off-color cards in an order of preference.”

Off-color … you mean, with naughty phrases or ribald limericks written on them?

There once was a man of Madras,
Whose balls were made of pure brass.
When jangled together,
They played “Stormy Weather”,
And lightning shot out of his ass.

Yea, I agree. Too too much is conjectured about advertising. Blasting people with commercials of skits and repeated sound-bytes is more effective than color in today’s instant video world.

They think they can market anything with advertising. For example: what the hell is “Muscle Milk” ? The street sign ad says I can go from Bland to Bootylicous by drinking this stuff. Seriously, is that supposed to make me change my routine and choice of drinking beverages?

Go back 30 years and look at all the failed marketing efforts and dead products despite the stream of adverts.

And look at Nike. It’s symbol is everywhere, from hats and catcher’s mitts, to billboards and “just do it” commercials. All of it so that you don’t forget Nike. It creates a normative reference since tennis shoes are really not that much different, gaining strength by association with sports stars because if the commercials go into your brain, your brain has created a memory that pops up when you see the Nike symbol.

The color of the Nike symbol is not the association.

http://www.colour-experience.org/matching/matcol_psych_tests/matcol_psych_test1.htm

Can you “Name That Brand” by color alone?

reply:
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No. I can probably get a few logos right. I mostly don’t care. I know a lot of corporate types agonize about the right shade of red that is needed to blow the beejeezus out of sales, and I believe some real fights break out over it. Some poor souls surely go home crying over the fights, worrying about whether or not their boss might seek retribution over their favor of one color or shade over another in opposition to one preferred by the team.

I really don’t care. While I’m certainly glad that pepsi or coke don’t carry black box warnings, and I am probably glad that neither try to confuse me with plaid or anything new on the bottles and cans, Mediocrity is good for everyone else. They appear to agree.