RSS
Easter eggs and dynamic branding
Conventional wisdom suggests that consistency is the granddaddy of all brand strategies. You implement a specific framework for communication of a single, relevant idea and follow up with visual guidelines that spread your brand identity to constituents, customers, and strangers alike.
But when is it OK to break those rules? Is it possible to modify an established logo? To plant an Easter Egg in your mosaic brand?
Google has a brand identity, but it’s one of the most vague, minimalistic major brands out there. Really, what are you meant to get from this:
It’s colorful, perhaps playful, but ultimately open to interpretation; nothing, but also anything (which is in line with the word’s origin). Not only that, but it’s at the heart of a medium (the internet) made unique by its capacity for rapid change and dynamism.
So when Google started celebrating various holidays and events by transforming its logo, it did no harm. In fact, it actually strengthened the brand. This initially obtuse concept became something familiar by embracing commonly understood aspects of culture; like when they put a Cubs and White Sox hat on the Chicago Picasso.
People notice this sort of thing; and word of mouth is powerful. Some of the changes have even prompted articles about just how much time people have wasted admiring them.
This strategy is not, however, something that can be mimicked with ease. Google meets all the right criteria to get away with it. It’s big, ambiguous, and widely liked in advance.
Plus their initial execution was very subtle. Tweak an “o”, hang a Santa hat on the “e”, etc. They’ve grown more ambitious only after several successful iterations.
Even so, this sort of brand dynamism is very achievable on the internet, where changing one graphic is all it takes to reach an entire audience. It should be considered with care, but it’s definitely something worth considering.
Categories Branding, Digital Media
Twitter
LinkedIn
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Meg Fowler, Gradon Tripp and Tamsen McMahon, Sametz Blackstone. Sametz Blackstone said: How do you color the Easter eggs in your brand basket? Our Jeff has some thoughts on the @sametz blog: http://bit.ly/cBvkCR [...]