We have been heavily discussing brands and their recognition and perception on this blog. Also I put up some Obama mania entries dealing with recent events. So why not mix it up a bit and look thru this great survey I found (before the election).

Tadaaa: A brand analysis of the presidential candidates’ brand association that was concluded using a survey by conducted Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland in the beginning of October.

Look through it, now it’s clear why people went for the Obama-Biden ticket, right?

Starbucks, BMW, Mac, Target, Google, Marriot, iPhone, iPod - I could identify with it. · Picture by Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland

If you spin this a little further and move from brands to everyday products, what would this survey be like? Animal associated with Obama: puppy. Animal associated with Palin: a moose. Now, isn’t this funny?

0600 in the morning...

It’s been quite a while since I was blogging about brands and our perception on them (more: search my blog for tag: brand). Here is fairly interesting guide to the usage of color in creating brands. Here’s an overview of popular brands connected with the basic color and the feelings and associations it stands for: A Guide To Choosing Colors For Your Brands by usabilitypost.com.

The color you use in your brand not only serves as eye candy but can also portray on what track your company is on (A fresh green to show environmental concerns, a matt blue for freedom). Also who you want to address as a target group (young dynamic blue or green to attract young people). Whether you are modern (lively orange), conservative (dark red or brown to show that you don’t give up on old values - especially long established brands) or liberal. What your company and what kind of services stand for (a saturated red for passion, a warm orange for an inviting atmosphere). And so much more. The color suggestions for the before mentioned notion are chosen by me and do not represent a strict set of rules.

Colors in Brands

Additional Note: Why Color Matters (via swissmiss) 

Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.

Is there a color that you automatically associate with a feeling served by a specific brand?

One is growing into Orange. There better be no political implication with that (in regard of the Nationalrat-election coming up next weekend), but other than this hope, I have to admit that I am a kind of geek stoked by what they will make out of this rebranding from fat-lettered one (the blue doughnut) into really simplistic orange square. I really liked their campaign and yesterday I just saw a really good spot. I look forward how they are going to reform the presentation (their font style, their ads, their leaflets) and the public image of Orange Austria.

Is there any truth in this rumor? YES.

Last summer my host family and I were in the family van headed north to go some place, probably San Francisco or San José. We passed an In-N-Out and each of us was starving (we probably skipped breakfast) and were ready to throw in some real American food, burger and fries. The younger brother Austin claimed to have gotten wind of a special menu hidden on the usual menu but every restaurant would serve if you used special key words when ordering. The hidden menu’s name: Animal Style. More on this, after the jump.

A collective experiment in brand perception.

Lately, philsblogging has spent quite some time dealing with brands and how we interact with them. If you haven’t read Where We Encounter Brands by now, this is now highly recommended. As a follow-up story (there are more to come, that’s what I can say for now), I point at a research program that describes the offered service with the following words - and I quote now:  ”A collective experiment in brand perception.” Brandtags.net digs deep in our (collective) minds to answer one question. What associations is the public reflection of world brands made of?

This is what a flickr search for “collective brand” results in · Ever wondered what the public reflection of the Coke brand looks like? · photo by Ende

That “Typical Friday”

Jane had this smart idea to keep track of what brands she interacts on a typical Friday. It’s one of these ideas that every modern blogger picks up and is really mad at himself/herself for not coming up with this on his/her own. In fact, this method is quite interesting to think of brands you encounter on a daily basis.

Brand Timeline Portrait

The toothbrush company? Google? The supermarket you buy that lunch from? The cigarettes you smoke? Try to think of all the brands you are encountering right now? Your computer company is quite obvious (duh! I want “duh” to be a brand, quite honestly owned by me and I’d charge 5 cents per usage and get rich from obnoxious cheerleaders) but there are way more logos that surround you that you don’t necessarily have to be aware of.

A Commercial produced in San Francisco. Folks, you can’t imagine what it feels like to see a commercial like that with the Coit Tower in the background (Blake, we need to get there this time!)

Here is the the link to the extended version. Highly recommended. And thanks Katy for the tip!