Comments on Rob Frankel - Branding Expert: Obama's Logo Failure

I like the look of the Tiger logo (although I won'...

2009-03-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

I like the look of the Tiger logo (although I won't go so far as to say it's a success, because I'm not sure what they're wanting to communicate at all...) - But the stimulus logo I don't like...I don't hate it, aesthetically, but I think the designer probably had a hard time trying to make something look clean-and-simple and also full of meaning... Your point about the underlying confusion behind the administration's brand strategy is a good one--although I would say that the logo doesn't need to carry the message ('brand') of the whole Obama administration--just the recovery portion...related, intertwined, but still two different brands (like Apple and Steve Jobs?)

Dr. Tantillo, who also has a branding blog, did a post back in November about the difficulty--and importance--of Obama staying true to his brand.

I think this logo might have been an opportunity to reinforce the Obama brand by more clearly articulating the recovery plan, but instead things seem even more muddled...

You might be cramming all the issues together, whi...

2009-03-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

You might be cramming all the issues together, which happens. There are two issues here. The first is a critique of the logo itself. I think it stinks, for the reasons I outlined above.

The second issue drives the first, in that a logo has to be driven by a brand strategy. And a brand strategy has to be an articulation as to why the brand should be perceived as "the only solution to the prospects' problem."

If you can articulate Obama's brand strategy, that would be way cool. He can't. And neither can anyone else working for him.

When a brand can't articulate itself, it leaves itself open to people setting their own expectations of it. And if Obama leaves himself open - and this kind of logo is just the tip of the iceberg - he's going to have a heck of a time fulfilling everyone's expectations -- including Republicans.

That's why it sucks. IMHO, of course.

Rob,Your critique of the logo isn't making any sen...

2009-03-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Rob,

Your critique of the logo isn't making any sense to me based on your own criteria. You seem to be arguing against the brand based on the aesthetic implications of its logo. The logo isn't the brand strategy, rather it is but a mere portion of the brand, as you have astutely observed.

The "brand" in this case is the new Presidential Administration. An Administration that HAS engendered trust and credibility as evidenced by the election victory and high approval ratings. The Recovery effort, and it's logo, is an extension of that brand. Having established that, for you to try and state that people don't know who this represents (The US Government) and why they should care about this issue (The Economic Recovery) is an extremely myopic pint of view.

You further undermine your argument by comparing the effectiveness of the logo as a communicator vs. a poster from an FDR program. Two different mediums with wholly different communication opportunities. A poster is not a logo.

Now you may be right, but before you pronounce this brand DOA, let's maybe consider a little more than the logo, bud.