For the past month or so it seems like almost everyone I know was either pre-ordering or standing in line for the new Iphone4. The new phone claims to be a vast improvement from the old one. New features include a better battery life, thinner phone, not 1 but 2 cameras, and the ability to record HD videos. Sure some of these features are impressive but at the end of the day it’s only a cell phone.
Being that I’m a PC user and that I have a Droid phone any devoted Apple fan reading this is probably saying “She just doesn’t get it.” Perhaps it is the age old PC versus Mac battle that prohibits me from running to Apple’s website every time they drop a new product. Despite my tech preferences, working at a company that focuses on strategy & communications means I definitely have noticed that Apple does a fantastic job at creating buzz for their brand. I think a huge part of the company’s success is their clean design and sleek communications. Everything from their website, to their television ads, down to their packaging is always consistent and simple. Like I stated before the Iphone4 is just a cell phone but Apple makes us feel like it is a part of life as we know it. It doesn’t just have longer battery life; it has longer battery life so we can talk to our grandmothers longer. The phone doesn’t just shoot HD movies; it vividly captures your child’s first steps.
You don’t have to be selling an expensive high tech gadget to get people talking about your brand. Take into consideration banks. They all do the same thing and give or take, offer the same services. With campaigns geared towards the convenience of having the most ATMs available across the U.S. or telling us how savings accounts are how dreams start, banks are also selling us lifestyle versus financial services.
Whether it’s a new product or service you are launching just remember using strategic marketing geared towards your targets lifestyle and pairing it with beautiful design will always get you good buzz.
For every barrel of oil that continues to spill into the ocean in the Gulf, BP’s brand equity continues to exponentially disintegrate. Which is a real shame for a corporate giant that had hired the great creative minds of 
The other week, United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced a merger. This deal has been in the works for many years now, but they have finally merged to create the world’s largest carrier. Good news for both of them, unfortunately bad news for their respective logos and brands. Instead of taking the time and expense to create a new identity to represent this merger, they instead took their two very different logos and literally combined them into one. The result is disappointing to say the least, making the design community sigh collectively with frustration; that a multi-billion dollar company doesn’t have the foresight to put the time and energy into a new brand.