Weber Shandwick: PR Innovation of the Year

The Story:

Weber Shandwick, a digital marketing agency in the US has won multiple awards this year, but most recently, it took home the prize from PRWeek for PR Innovation of the Year for its proprietary online social crisis simulator, FireBell. This simulator illustrates the fallout of a public relations crisis across multiple social media platforms (including YoutTube, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn, and various blogs). They use real images of the companies actual social media profiles and show exactly what it would look like in a crisis and how it would unfold, and the unexpected spin that may be put on various situations. This allows companies to evaluate the potential fall-out and understand how to best handle these situations before they may occur.

Reflection and Analysis:

While this article is not necessarily related to one particular brand, the development of this simulator may have positive repercussions for numerous brands today. I think this is a great new way to help prepare companies for potentially harmful public relations issues. Too often, a situation arises and companies are vastly unprepared to manage the consequences and their action or lack thereof is what inevitably comes under question. Since social media has increased in popularity, it is becoming an area of business that cannot be ignored and must be managed effectively.

Home Depot gets a New Logo

The Story:

Home Depot has recently unveiled a new logo for its brand. They have opted for a more simplistic look that is slightly more aesthetically appealing, but has retained many of the brand elements present in the original logo. 

Reflection and Analysis:

I think this is a welcomed change for Home Depot. They did a great job of maintaining the general look of the logo in terms of the orange color, the square box and slanted lettering inside the box. Retaining these elements of the brand helps to ensure consistency for the consumer and allow Home Depot to enhance the brand without causing confusion. I also feel that this new logo is more aesthetically appealing and has moved away from the overly ‘industrial’ look of the old logo. Home Depot itself is of course a big box store that focuses on construction, but has in recent years, focused more on the softer side of decor and home furnishings as well which seems to be captured in this new logo re-design. This adaptation may slowly begin to form new associative networks in the minds of consumers toward home decor, style and furnishing trends, as opposed to the highly industrial feel that was linked to the old logo.

New Google Chrome Logo

The Story:

Google has introduced a new logo for its internet browser, Chrome. They have opted for a more simplistic look which seems to be following a recent trend and foregoing their original 3D logo.

Reflection and Analysis:

Personally, I preferred the original logo for Chrome as it had more dimension and looked more futuristic when compared to the new ‘geometric’ look of the new logo. I feel as though the 3D configuration suited the brand identity of Chrome better as it seemed more technologically advanced and cutting edge which is how I tend to view Chrome in relation to Internet Explorer. I’m not sure of the rationale behind the change and I couldn’t find much info giving reason for it, but all I could suggest is that Google is following the logo ‘simplification’ trend that has been rampant in recent months (ie. Starbucks, the Gap, Tropicana). I don’t think that this is going to necessarily deter consumers from using Chrome, but I definitely feel that the connotation with new logo will be that of a more ordinary or basic browser as opposed to the advanced and superior browser that I know Chrome to be. For users that are new to Chrome, there could be negative implications for their perception of the brand.