Can you feel the buzz and the excitement?! The biggest sporting event on earth will begins today in South Africa, the 2010 FIFA World Cup. For those of us who follow soccer/football this is the pinnacle of the sport, where players from all over the world come to together to claim the sport’s biggest prize, the World Cup. The countries that are in the tournament have been playing qualifying matches for the last four years in order to earn their right to play. We all have our favorites to win the tournament, but it’s also a time for us to show our national pride and back our team no matter what the chances are of lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament. I for one will be proudly wearing the red white and blue this Saturday as the United States will begin their quest against England!
Speaking of colors…The flags of each nation become symbols of every national team attending the tournament. 32 countries will be in attendance. Its amazing how visual the World Cup has become. Flags, banners, face paint, jerseys, every fan in the stadium has become a walking symbol for their country. The colors of our country have become the brand we follow and display so that everyone knows who we’re shouting for.
Unless you’ve been asleep for the last few months you’ve also seen that the World Cup has become a world wide marketing phenomena. Commercials, soundtracks, concerts, shoes, clothing, internet content. The most recent final was watched by more than 715 million viewers worldwide, whereas the Super Bowl was watched by 106 million in just the U.S. Soccer stars are selling everything from shoes to underwear and are among highest paid athletes in the world. Business productivity will lower and governments will shut down just to watch (400 channels in 208 countries). So, if you don’t know what a corner kick is now you will know in the future.
The world cup was first played in 1930 and is held every four years. Since then there have been posters designed for each tournament representing the country holding the event. Being the poster junkie that I am, I would love to have several of these to display. These designs are not only something to admire visually, but they also represent a significant time in the history of the sport. The stories that unfolded at each have been told many times over. I’m excited to witness the stories that unfold in South Africa!
Tags: Branding, Color, Kurt Palmquist, Ripple Marketing
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Couldn’t let this coincidence go by. The other day Nikki here at our office sent me a link to a hilarious video. Albeit one that only type geeks could really appreciate the humor. Its a homage to the Neutraface typeface inspired by the song Poker Face by Lady GaGa. Now I’m not a huge Lady GaGa fan, but if you know anything about her, its hard not to notice her and her songs. These fellows in the video had way too much fun doing this and I’ve even caught myself with the lyrics going through my head! Don’t worry though, you won’t see me anytime soon on YouTube.
Neutra Face : An Ode On A Typeface
The next day I found out that two super giants in the telecommunications industry in the UK were combining; T-Mobile (UK) and Orange. Their new name is…Everything Everywhere, eventhough they will still be known as T-Mobile and Orange to customers. The new name itself would be an interesting discussion to have. It was developed in house with the help of some high powered agencies for both Orange and T-Mobile. The new word mark is set in none other than Neutraface italic. Now I know where to go for inspiration…YouTube parodies!
Tags: Branding, Corporate Identity, Kurt Palmquist, Logos, Ripple Marketing
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I had heard about the United Airlines merger with Continental, but hadn’t paid much attention to it given all the mergers that have been going down as of late. However as I was scanning various sites relative to corporate identity and branding I noticed that it became official this week that the two airlines merged. Along with that announcement and formal handshakes was the unveiling of their merged brands logo. Upon first glance it appeared that there was a mistake–somehow the words ‘United Airlines’ were with the Continental Airlines globe. But as I learned this arrangement was actually done on purpose. The distinctive United U was gone.
This hits closer to home for me due to the fact that since a very early stage in my career dating back to the early ‘80′s I have always admired Saul Bass who designed the distinctive U in 1973, and who also coincidentally had a hand in Continental’s early identity back in 1968. Saul Bass’ career spans over 50 years and across many different disciplines of design including films. So it is with some great sadness to see the iconic United Airlines identity brushed aside. It survived over 30 years of ups and downs in the airline industry with several updates to the type, but the U always remained.
The new arrangement seems to be a ‘what’s wrong with this picture’ puzzle more so than a real solution to the merger of two great airlines. From a visual branding perspective this presents some real problems because of the prior associations we have with these two airlines. Now where do we go? I’m confused. My only hope is that within time there will be a new identity created that will pick up where the U left off.
Tags: Branding, Corporate Identity, Kurt Palmquist, Logos
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by Kitch Walker
COMPLETE STORY AT: Bozeman, Montana Importer Brings Unique Products to U.S. – Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
published on Thursday, November 5, 2009 8:45 AM MST Bozeman Daily Chronicle
When Ripple Marketing principals Kurt Palmquist and Dodd “Kitch” Walker went to Italy a few years ago as part of a marketing-Montana trip, they had no idea the ideas they were pitching would turn into a wholesale import business in Bozeman.
But when Richard Helzer, former director of Montana State University’s art school, asked Palmquist to turn his attention to Umbria — a region in central Italy, between Florence and Rome — a business was born. Helzer had been taking students to study in Umbria for years, where they stayed at a villa owned by Filippo Vasta. When Vasta asked Helzer for help developing an artisans’ cooperative, Helzer went to Palmquist for help.
Now Palmquist and Walker work out of a 5,200-square-foot warehouse behind industrial buildings in Four Corners, where shelves are stacked with exquisite and folksy Italian hand-painted and hand-thrown ceramic dishes and woven tablecloths, all tucked into cardboard boxes that rise toward high ceilings…..
Photo By NICK WOLCOTT/CHRONICLE
Kurt Palmquist, Nikki Walker and Dodd “Kitch” Walker of Ripple Marketing have gone beyond marketing and now import handmade Italian goods.
Tags: Autentico Italiano, Flat Earth Imports, Kitch Walker, Kurt Palmquist, Nikki Walker
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I was reminded of the challenging task of selecting colors for a new logo as we are nearing completion on a new identity for a company called Timberline Tool. Think of any major brand in the marketplace and you can probably identify the color that is associated with them. IBM Blue, UPS brown or the color of a school bus. A person doesn’t need to read a package to know that it is a Coca-Cola. Over time these companies have invested millions of dollars to make sure they “own” a color an
d spend millions protecting their color as well.
Our association with color is closely connected to our emotions and senses, just like our sense of smell and taste. It affects our mood, what we wear, and what we purchase. The brain reads color after it registers shape and before it reads content. The human eye can distinguish some 10,000 hues of color. This presents both opportunities and dilemmas in the world of corporate identity and branding.
Early in my career I worked for a corporate identity firm in Seattle, WA, where I first learned how important this was. The project was for Boeing www.boeing.com and we were updating their corporate standards which included standardizing the colors for their corporate identity system. There was no doubt that there needed to be standard color when at the time they had over 200 different versions of business cards in use. They had realized that over time their core brand had deteriorated partly due to the abuse of the color blue. I have never looked at so many different shades and hues of blue, but the end result was two specifically formulated colors known as “Boeing Blue” and “Boeing Gray.”
For smaller business enterprises this should not be overlooked. It is the one tool in your marketing belt that is quite often overlooked and ignored. Companies that control their color in their industry will have a distinct advantage over those who don’t. Ensuring proper reproduction of the brand color across a broad range of mediums is a tall challenge, but one that is well worth the investment considering the equity you can gain by establishing standards.
Here are a few basic questions to test the effectiveness of a color strategy:
Last but not least, once standardized colors have been established, create identity standards and guidelines that make it easy to use for those who are involved with your marketing efforts.
How strategically did you select your colors? Does your brand identity truly represent your company or product well? Have you established usage standards and guidelines to maintain and manage your identity?
Tags: Color, Kurt Palmquist, Logos, Small Business Branding
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by Kitch Walker
In March 2009, Flat Earth Imports | Ripple Marketing founders and Montana State University (MSU) Alumni were fortunate to be featured in the MSU Alumni’s prominent publication, the MSU Collegian magazine. The featured article, ”Flat Earth Imports: An Artful Collaboration of Alumni, Artisans And Art Professor, by Marjorie Smith, appeared in the March 2009 issue.
…If you happen to have a terrific idea for a business, but think you’d like to mull it over for a few years, don’t mention it to Kitch Walker, ’96 BioSci/F&WL, ’98 BusMrktg,BusMgmt. With Walker involved, you’re likely to find yourself helping manage an international corporation within a matter of months.
Flat Earth Imports, the company Walker created with [his wife Nikki Walker, '97 Photo] Kurt Palmquist, ’88 Art, and his wife, Denise, ’86 Bus, also his partners in Bozeman-based Ripple Marketing, markets the creations of Italian artisans in Umbria, poetically known as “the green heart of Italy.” [read/download PDF of complete article]…
Special thanks to Ron Lambert, Art Director at MSU Marketing and Creative Services and Marjorie Smith, writer, for their creative efforts and professionalism in sharing our story. Also, special thanks to Jaynee Groseth, President & CEO of the Montana State University Alumni Association, and Richard Helzer, retired Director of the MSU School of Art, for their ongoing support, friendship and advocacy.
Article. Marjorie Smith, “Flat Earth Imports: An Artful Collaboration of Alumni, Artisans and Art Professor” MSU Collegian, magazine, March 2009.
Tags: Autentico Italiano, Denise Palmquist, Flat Earth Imports, Kitch Walker, Kurt Palmquist, MSU Alumni, Nikki Walker, Ripple Marketing
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