Words Just Can't Express Starbucks New Logo

Starbucks, which marks its 40th anniversary in March, will be rolling out their new "worldess" logo nationwide this spring.  It's been 20 years since they have changed their logo and its being received with both positive and negative reactions. Its not a surprise that some people will resist the new logo, but I think they will eventually come around and see the mermaid, err, the light.  It's actually a smart move by Starbucks to drop "coffee" from their logo, it will provide a more cohesive brand for innovations, new brand extensions and new distribution channels.

Starbucks svp of marketing, Terry Davenport, explains the companies decision:

Obviously with a brand with such a huge profile as Starbucks, we approach this change very sensitively. We actually explored a very wide range of options, and when we stood back and looked from afar as well as looked close, we all unanimously gravitated toward the images that freed the siren from the word mark. We really took inspiration from companies like Nike where at one point they separated the word 'Nike' from the swoosh in their logo. This allows us to bring our identity to life anytime and anywhere.

Starbucks' logo timeline:

iTunes + Lawyers + 7 Years = The Beatles

Its been a long and winding road for iTunes to get access to one of the most prolific bands in the history of music, the Beatles. As of 7 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow (Nov. 16th) the Beatles catalog is officially available to invade your ipod.

Apple is teasing their accomplishment by using this splash page on their website tonight:


This little buzz-worthy teaser ad is providing some helpful hints on what the announcement will be (not that it's a big secret anymore). The first line is, "Tomorrow is just another day." Another Day is a Paul McCartney song released on his solo record "Ram," but written during the Beatles' "Let it Be" sessions. page features four clocks, each with the arms in different positions, (denoting the time of the announcement in California, New York, London and Tokyo time zones). Pretty unnecessary unless you compare it to the cover of the Beatles' "Help!" album, featuring all four members side by side with their arms also in different positions.



*Video was created by a fan in 2007 for an "expected" announcement. Better late then never.

Best Buy Hires A New Elf

Best Buy and Crispin Porter + Bogusky have been working hard getting ready for their big holiday push this year. It's the perfect season for brands to bank on animation to give their ad messages the festive punch and familiar flavor of classic holiday specials. Best Buy’s latest gives us a Santa story with a new recruit, a tech-savvy, goateed elf with an iPad under his arm. The idea here is to showcase the fact that Best Buy offers tech support for all those snazzy new gadgets that will be under the tree, even on Christmas day. And like a motivational speaker, the new addition tries to rally the workshop about helping people set up all their new toys. Of course, the enthusiastic good will of the elf crew flips to wide-eyed silence in response, since they’ve just learned they have to work on the holiday. Consumers, however, should appreciate the message, since they will be anxious to get their gifts up and running as soon as possible. And if Kenneth the Blue Elf sounds familiar, it’s because Tom Kenny, a.k.a. SpongeBob Squarepants, provides the voiceover. The Blue Elf will star in subsequent spots.



Chief Creative Officer: Rob Reilly, Andrew Keller, Jeff Benjamin
Creative Director: David Swartz, Steve Babcock
Art Director: Andrew Pautler
Copywriter: Michael Danko
Director of Production: David Rolfe
Production Company: Psyop
Director: David Chantos, Dan Vislocky
Editorial Company: Beast Editorial
Editor: Charlie Lee
Music: Beacon Street Studios
Sound Design Company: Pop Sound
Sound Designer: Zac Fisher
Via: ADWEEK

Facebook DOs & DONTs For Businesses

I found a great article on Hubspot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog. It offers up some sound advice for businesses on Facebook. Here are 9 business strategies to avoid on Facebook, as well as how to steer back in the right direction:

1. Duplicate your Twitter Strategy on Facebook

Twitter is another great place to converse with your audience, but it’s a completely different platform, and should be treated as such. Although you’ll want to tweet several times a day to get noticed in people’s overloaded Twitter streams, applying the same frequency to Facebook could annoy your fans and lead to them hiding your updates. Additionally, you don’t want to duplicate the same exact content you use on Twitter for Facebook. Not only will fans following you on both networks notice, but you have much more than 140 characters to work with on Facebook. Take advantage of the extra space! You can even re-purpose the same concepts as your tweets; just rework them to fit Facebook.

2. Post Only Plain-Text Status Updates

Just posting standard text updates gets boring after a while. You have several different ways to share content on Facebook. In addition to your standard status update, you can also post links, upload photos, upload videos, or post a question (which non-fans can also see). Just like you’d want to vary the content type in your blog to keep readers interested, mix up the content type on your Facebook page to make your wall look fun and interesting.

3. Don’t Allow Fans to Share Content

Not letting your fans post to your wall defeats half the purpose of having a Facebook page. Not only do you want to share your updates with fans, but you want to allow fans to share their thoughts, opinions, feedback, and even pictures and videos with you. Don’t you want fans sharing pictures of them using your product for the rest of your Facebook audience to see? Or hear what sort of product ideas your fans wish you’d add to your product line? To make sure the share settings are turned on, go to wall settings and make sure all the boxes are checked.

4. Don’t Comment on Your Fans’ Content

If your fans have started posting on your wall and sharing pictures on your page, don’t ignore them. Comment on what they’ve posted, even if it’s just a simple “Thanks for sharing!” or click of the like button. Not only will it encourage them to post even more content, but new fans will see that you care about what your audience has to say, and they’ll start sharing content with you as well.

5. Don’t Share Your Fans’ Content

As someone who works at, well, any business, you’re probably really busy. Coming up with content to post on Facebook and Twitter probably takes up a fair bit of your very valuable time. So why not share some of that user generated content? If someone shares a great photo of your product in action, click the share button and say “Check out this great photo Joe Smith posted!” Not only do fans love other fan photos, but you’ll make Joe Smith awfully happy.

6. Don’t use Facebook Questions to Find More Fans

Facebook recently launched Questions, an application that allows anyone, including Fan Pages, to ask and answer questions from the Facebook community. Just like LinkedIn Answers, Facebook Questions is a great place to establish yourself as an industry knowledge leader. It’s also one of the only ways that pages can go out and reach out to non-fan Facebook members for free, so take advantage of it!

7. Use a Profile Image That has a Poor Thumbnail

When you upload a new profile image, Facebook automatically sizes it down to fit the thumbnail size that appears in users’ news feeds and your wall. On your fan page, your brand’s logo could be cut off in the thumbnail, and this is bad for brand recognition. So make sure you get the dimensions of your Facebook profile image right for the thumbnail resize. A profile image will be 200 px wide, so make sure that your desired thumbnail is within a 12 pixel border.

8. Don’t Share Your Facebook Page on Your Website

Don’t keep your Facebook page a secret from your website visitors, who are the people most likely to actually like your page and become a fan. Facebook provides pages with a Facebook like box, formally called a fan box, which you can add to your website so that people can like your page without ever leaving your website. It’s just a matter of copy/pasting a bit of code.

9. Don’t Develop a Personality

Your company Facebook page shouldn’t have a corporate, stuffy tone. Facebook is a place where users go to connect with their friends. They don’t want to go to Facebook to get your sales pitch. You can still maintain a professional presence and have a casual tone. Just take a look at the Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Skittles Facebook pages; these are three of the top product pages on Facebook, and have established fun yet professional personalities on their pages.

Diana Freedman
Facebook Page Marketing Guide

Just the Tip

Ismet Dural, a circumcision doctor in Turkey, needed a creative way to effectively spread his contact information around his home town. The hardworking crew at Grey came up with this amazing tear-off advertisement.


Advertising Agency: Healthy People by Grey, Istanbul, Turkey
Creative Director: Nurcan Yıldız
Art Director: Tarık Akın
Copywriter: Erçin Sadıkoğlu
Published: January 2008
Via: copyranter

Are You Indispensable?

If you've never heard of Seth Godin, its about time you have (I highly recommend you follow his blog). He is one of my favorite authors and an inspiration to millions. Seth has a very counter-intuitive way of thinking. Going against the status-quo can help you make conscious decisions that will affect your future and your potential. Here's some insight to ponder from Seth's latest book, Linchpin;

Everyday is a new chance to choose to:

1. Change your perspective.
2. Flip the switch in your mind. Turn on the light and stop fretting about with insecurity and doubt.
3. Be free of distractions.
4. See the best in someone, or choose to bring out the worst in someone.
5. Be a laser beam, with focused intention, or a scattered ray of light that doesn’t do any good.

Let the Deciphering Begin...

I've been told I'm hard to "figure out". Apparently I'm a paradox in the world of understanding and comprehension. I don't think I'm complicated at all. Actually, I think I'm quite up front with my beliefs, aspirations and all in all, true to my nature. Well, this blog is "me" letting "you" into "my" world. Consider this blog a cipher into my convoluted and perplexing life. Good Luck.

Onwards & Upwards People.