If you plan to run a re-branding campaign, this post will help you understand the details involved aside from a compelling logo design. Hopefully, you can apply these tactics to come up with your own campaign.

Last October, casual dining restaurant Applebee’s has launched a re-branding campaign through its new logo design, tagline, uniforms, menu, and advertising campaign. Advertising agency McCann Erickson has helped Applebee’s reposition its image as a special place for people to come together.

Here’s a quick rundown of the process:

Research. McCann conducted a survey among 400 casual dining customers for better understanding. Overall results show people want to reconnect with their family, friends and coworkers in today’s fast-paced world.

Implementation. Using the insights gathered, Applebee’s has made the following changes:

1. New logo design to make it more modern and identifiable. You will also notice the use of a more emotional tagline from a simple “Neighborhood Grill & Bar” to “Together is Good”.
2. Casual Uniforms. Using black collared or button-down shirt and denim jeans or black pants helps create a casual and fun ambiance.
3. Better Menu. Aside from enhancing the photos in the menu, Applebee’s also added new categories and improved its current offerings to add more value to customers.
4. Funny Ad Campaign. Leveraging on its financial resources, Applebee’s has placed ads in different media from TV, newspapers, and Websites.

Although it is too early to tell if these efforts will pay off, what is important is you have an idea how re-branding really works.

Via Brand New

Sony to Pay $5 Million over Logo Dispute
For not displaying the logo of a small record company, a U.S. federal court has ordered Sony Music to pay $5 million. The logo of Cleveland International Records must be included on reissues of Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” album but it did not happen.

In defense, Sony claimed it was an unintentional mistake and some corrections were already made. According to BBC, it even accused the small record company of fabricating the logo agreement just to get more money from the company. Too late, the verdict was already handed down.

South African Hates the Official 2010 FIFA World Cup logo

As early as now, the 2010 World Cup fever has already started. In a year-long poll conducted among South Africans in the site not the 2010 logo, 75 percent of the voters do not like the official 2010 FIFA World Cup logo.

Many designers feel the logo is way below standard. Instead of complaining, they created a site and invited other designers to create their own version of the World Cup logo and let the public decide which unofficial logo is more appropriate through online voting.

Although this contest is not sanctioned by the FIFA, many designers created more attractive logos reflecting the South African culture. They intend to submit poster and mascot designs to FIFA, hoping it will be considered. This creative way of showing discontent has opened opportunities to many aspiring designers since their logo designs are exposed to more than 300,000 online visitors.

Via AllAfrica.com

Super Bowl XLII official mascot Spike the Super Ball needs to change its name to avoid any possible trademark infringement. This human football mascot designed with snazzy mirrored sunglasses is now known as Team Captain Spike.

Why? There are two issues with regard to its name. Although there is no problem with the name Spike, Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee president Bob Sullivan said the NFL is quite bothered that “Super Ball” is confusingly similar with “Super Bowl”.

An NFL spokesman also emphasized their utmost concern to protect the NFL brand and it will muscle every company who do not adhere to their policies. Super Bowl has been around for 42 years and already a very commanding brand in the sports industry. As expected, it will do everything to guard its brand against any business “capitalizing on an intimated affiliation with the game.” To date, there are only 100 companies allowed to promote this brand.

Another bigger issue with “Super Ball” is with California-based toy maker Wham-O. Aside from its very popular Frisbee brand, it is also marketing “Super Ball” – a ball with the incredible super high bounce. A cease and desist letter was already sent to the committee to stop using this name.

Although there is a strong legal argument for using “Super Ball”, why risk confronting these two big companies if you can create a new name, right?

Via The Arizona Republic

If you want to build your customer database, using an online registration in your Website is a big help. Of course we want to get as much information as possible to make our marketing approach more effective.

Here lies the problem. With privacy a very big deal these days combined with numerous identity theft cases, it is very hard to convince online users to provide their personal information to any Web site, particularly startup companies.

According to a survey last 2005, ninety percent of online users want to be anonymous when they are searching and almost all hate unsolicited information.

If what you’re offering for free is really tempting, some online visitors are willing to give their personal information. Unfortunately, most online registration pages are quite long that many visitors dare not continue.

Marketing Hipster has a good experiment you may want to try. Just get ask for basic information in your online registration: first name, e-mail address, and Zip code.

With that information, I can contact this person again, I can personalize that next communication with his or her first name and I know what part of the country they live in. Now if I created a site that offers people something of value they will want to come back time and time again and as they come back again and again, I can ask them further questions about themselves.

The key here is providing something that is very useful or valuable to your target market. Moreover, explain the reasons why you want to get hold of their personal information. Believe me this can lower their defenses if you do it correctly. Otherwise, you will be stuck with just that 3 info and it will be a matter days before they unsubscribe.

Word-of-mouth marketing is all about encouraging your target customers to share their thoughts and engage in a meaningful dialogue about your products or services.

Most small business owners agree that word-of-mouth marketing is a very effective way to promote products or services. It is rooted on our habits to ask our family or friends every time we like to buy something. In fact, more than 80% of consumers trust recommendations coming from family, friends, and other influential people over other forms of marketing

So, it’s not really surprising to know spending on word-of-mouth marketing is growing at a very fast pace. According to a research company PQ Media, spending on word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing jumped 35.9% in 2006 to $981.0 million and is expected to top $1 billion in 2007. It is also predicted to reach $3.7 billion by 2011.

Thanks to new media alternatives like blogs, social networking sites, and other Web 2.0 technologies, many big and small businesses are allotting more money in these campaigns.

It’s a wake up call for many small business owners to pay more attention to word-of-mouth marketing and learn to integrate it to their overall campaigns. Although online activities like blogging is a popular choice, about 90% of word-of-mouth still take place offline or in the community.