It's Logo Fever Time

It's February, or as I write this it's almost February. The new year for this Texas PR consultant is off to a good start. The holidays are finally behind us. It's too soon to know if there will be time for spring break, and too soon to plan summer vacation, so in American business it is now,excuse my French, "Balls to the walls time."

I love this time of year. Not just the business part and the being as busy as I want to be part. In Texas, the sun is shining and it isn't 110 outside. I can do 65 degrees with sun all winter long with no complaints. Good weather, good moods, good business.

This year I'm keeping my eye on a trend that feels good. It's the precursor for a leap in economic recovery at least for the marketing sector.

Budgets were obviously created last year, and not a lot has been spent YTD, but at OutreachPR we are starting to see new work in the form of rebranding requests and PR to support new brands and new product launches. A lot of this work starts with logo work and new design.

New logos lead to new marketing money hitting the economic scene. Logos are the first step in any branding or rebranding effort. New logos are a constant, as are new businesses. New businesses often fail, so logo work alone cannot signal good economic news, but it's almost always good for the marketing sector.

That's why I might be one of the few marketing consultants who cautions against massive rebranding, unless the business has really changed or the old brand is simply outdated. It's not that I don't like my partners in graphic design making a lot of money, new brands have to bring something else new too, or it's just window dressing that won't fool anyone or sustain the expense for long.

The "What's new about the business" part is what fuels public relations, and it's what keeps me getting up for work every day.

It's different though when large entities like sports franchises and universities start the rebranding process. I've been involved on an intimate level with a few major name changes or rebranding efforts in my time. They can be exciting or exasperating. It just depends on how much effort goes into it up front, during, and after.

For example, this weekend I received an email from the University of Colorado at Denver, where i got my master's degree in marketing. They wanted my opinion on the new mascot for the campus. Either I haven't been paying attention (very possible), or this had to be some sort of early stage marketing survey.

While the CU Denver campus is an urban campus right downtown, it is part of the University of Colorado system. I have a CU Buff Christmas ornament. I have a CU Buff penant in the garage. I may have graduated from the Graduate School of Business, and it was in Denver, not Boulder, but it was still CU. It's a top business school. It doesn't have a football team or even really need a mascot. Until this weekend, I never gave it a thought.

Apparently, that has changed. The survey I was asked to complete asked about several different "favorite new mascot" names. The options included, and I am NOT lying: Golden Elk, Stegasaurus, Minters, Fourteeners, Bandits, Snakes, Marmots, Harvester Ants (seriously, I am not lying), and so many others but not "Buffs." Excuse my alphabetical annunciation, but WTF? There was no option to pick "Buffs." While the alumni in me became a bit agitated, the marketing person in me went, "What are they thinking?"

Logo fever, or in this case "Mascot Mayhem" is the first sign that there's a lot of studying and research that is about to be done and a lot of marketing activity that is about to begin. I am hoping, against all hope, that in this particular case this survey was an attempt by the marketing team (or a group of marketing students, PLEASE) to find out how strongly alumni and students identify with the CU Buff. In my case, I don't care if you put a city scape behind him and make him a slick cousin of Chip's, but make it a Marmot, and as they say on reality TV, "I'm done."

My point: change can be good or not so good. Logo redesign can signal any number of things. If a sports franchise is not having a great season and merchandise is languishing, a new logo will spark interest in getting a new shirt, hat or jersey, and it might help ease the downturn for that particular budget line item.

Case in point: the Carolina Panthers. This new logo has created a need for new officially licensed merchandise, equipment, jerseys, advertising, marketing materials...it hasn't helped the football team win any more games, and more than a few fans are booing, but the new logo created work for lots of people and it will generate an economic boon, of sorts.

This is why I like focusing on the second part of a new logo. Leave the new logo to the board of directors and the focus group people and the graphic designers and the t-shirt folks. I want to leverage the attention the new logo might generate toward new things going on with the business: improvements, new divisions, technological innovations. That's where PR people have fun with logo design.

So here it is, February. It's Logo Fever time. From a "reality" standpoint, as I said up front, new logos cannot be used as an economic indicator extrapolated for the entire economy. Don't go buying stock today and say I told you to do it.

I do think that 2012 is going to be a good year for my graphic design partners. I only hope businesses put soome substance behind the new looks so that I have something to work with too.

P.S. CU Stegasaurases...are they nuts?