You may have previously read my post about apparel companies spoofing luxury fashion brands, but in Milan, one luxury fashion brand spoofed brands perhaps a little more familiar to the average Joe or Jane.
Moschino’s capsule collection, “Fast Fashion – Next Day After The Runway,” drew some criticism for its treatment of some of
The Sports Bar in the Mirage Resort & Casino, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, is currently sporting a pretty interesting collection of tap beers, from left to right: Bud Light, Goose Island Honker’s Ale, Stella Artois, Heineken, Dos Equis, Pacifico, Shock Top, Newcastle, Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Goose Island Indian Pale Ale, and Michelob Ultra.
What
A recent road trip in Texas flagged this roadside sign, depicting a likely famous non-verbal logo, standing all alone:
So, I dug up this little gem from our archives to refresh my memory on what I had said about it before: Which Non-Verbal Logo Doesn’t Belong?
Admittedly, I was skeptical about Starbucks’ move to
Last month William Lozito, over at Name Wire: The Product Naming Blog, reported on Twitter’s new bird logo, and the multitude of don’ts associated with the launch of it.
Having so many don’ts seems a bit contrary to Twitter’s prior rather lax or laissez-faire approach to
–Susan Perera, Attorney
Last year I had a running discussion on color trademarks. I blogged about the issues surrounding the protection of a color as a non-traditional trademark, the impact of industries clustering around a particular color, and the concern that functionality may impede protection of a color trademark. Need a refresher? Check here,
Yesterday, we asked about when it might make sense to go brand-less, and whether doing so can be an effective marketing strategy long term.
Today, I’m wondering, what and where would McDonalds be without the Golden Arches? Nike without the Swoosh? Shell Oil without the, well, Shell?
Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher of BlackCoffee stirred up an interesting
Brands communicate with the world through a series of message delivery systems such as broadcast advertising, web sites, company representatives and product interaction. These systems utilize brand signals to communicate. While these signals commonly take the form of brand names and logos, they can also extend into sight, sound, touch, taste, smell or even action
As promised earlier this week, in my post entitled “Without Words, But Not Speechless: More On Non-Verbal Logos That Can Stand Alone,” here is my effort to identify, from a legal perspective, some of the pros and cons of non-verbal logos and other trademark styles.
But, before addressing the legal implications, it is worth noting that a number of our insightful readers and commenters already have helped articulate a variety of pros and cons from a business and marketing perspective, here. By my count, there appears to be consensus on at least two important points: (1) Having an iconic stand-alone non-verbal logo or wordless trademark symbol is highly desirable, especially for truly international brands; but (2) be prepared to spend a lot of time, effort, and significant resources to achieve one.
In addition, at least one designer has written that having a logo without words “can be a big branding pain,” for a variety of reasons. She identifies three basic logo styles: (1) Text logos; (2) symbol logos; and (3) combination logos. Examples of text logos would be the Coca-Cola script, the Yahoo! stylized word, and the Google stylized word, all three illustrated in my earlier post. The highly stylized Ebay logo is another good example of a text logo. On the other hand, the Shell logo, McDonald’s Golden Arches, and the Nike Swoosh, are all good examples of symbol logos. In addition, here is a message board collecting a number of other possible candidates for symbol logos that are capable of standing lone — without words — yet, they still have a lot to say to consumers. Many of them, in fact, were mentioned by commenters to my prior post.
Anyway, the designer referenced above contends that for a variety of reasons, combination logos often make the most sense. According to her, a combination logo “combines both a symbol and the company name. The symbol and text can be integrated together, side by side, or with one located above the other.”
Generally, from a trademark owner and legal perspective, I prefer the combination logo too, but not the “integrated” type, instead the “side by side” type or the “one above the other” type. The Mercedes-Benz combination logo shown below nicely illustrates the “one above the other” type of combination logo:
Why do I generally prefer this type of trademark logo format and style?Continue Reading Pros and Cons of Stand-Alone Non-Verbal Logos and Other Trademark Styles: A Legal Perspective
My family vacation and road trip through the heartland this past week has yielded a few photos for discussion. For example, here is a captured pair of non-verbal logos that can stand alone, without the need for any words.
As you may recall, one of my previous blog posts (April 9, 2009) discussed non-verbal logos
Our celebration at DuetsBlog earlier this month on passing the 10,000 unique visitor milestone in four-short months online got us thinking about Big Mac and about the iconic McDonald’s Golden Arches signage, touting and counting how many McDonald’s hamburgers have been sold or served at any given point in time. We began to wonder, ahem, should we start searching on Ebay, at garage sales, or elsewhere for some vintage McDonald’s signage that might be adapted for our admittedly more modest purposes?Continue Reading The Power of Exponents in Branding: DuetsBlog Serves Over 10,000 Unique Visitors