The friendliest brand in the world?
In the past few years, thanks mostly to the influence of the Internet, stereotypes regarding any and all things “branding” have come under scrutiny. Many of the ideas regarding what makes for a good brand and how it’s maintained – ideas that were foundational within the advertising industry – are now crumbling.
It doesn’t seem so terribly long ago that we all thought of a “brand” as an ideology solely created by an entity as an ideal reflection of itself, with the purpose of conveying that ideology to a given audience. A successful brand didn’t change or fluctuate. It was the suit of armor that every company wore, a steadfast and true identity.
Of course, the Internet – especially social media – changed all that. So did the fact that we now have so many new mediums (smartphones, tablets, viral videos, etc.) upon which brand messages can play themselves out.
In essence, those of us in the advertising business now have to grapple with the reality that a brand is really a much more organic thing, shaped through the living conversation that occurs between an entity and its audience, as well as through the medium in which the conversation takes place.
I mention all this because I recently came across the new logo design for the TBS cable network and automatically saw it as a particularly brilliant and concise demonstration (as all good logos should be) not just of how TBS wants the world to perceive them, but of how a brand really functions today .
TBS 2011 Network Rebrand from ferroconcrete on Vimeo.
How fun is it to watch it dance around and morph to purpose, acting and reacting as if it’s part of a conversation rather than a steadfast idea? It begs the audience to interact with it and influence its next move. Don’t you want to take TBS home with you and make it part of your family?
Welcome to branding 2011. Welcome to the conversation.
