MarkThink

Better is Good Enough: New Walmart Logo

I'm in favor of the new logo. It's a simple, clear change that doesn't abandon their history or over promise the new commitment to being a better corporate citizen. I wish it was a little more original, but I'm not sure Walmart and customers are ready for a revolution.

And, of course, the logo and sunburst is no where near catching up with Target's red bullseye. They should have a plan for evolving the burst to something brandable, but that is easier to do from the current logo than the old star.  (Speaking of the star, when is Macy's going to update. They look really tired right now.)

From other voices:

Capsule blog's "10 ways to make your logo launch fail" has this worst practice suggestion:

"Launch the logo on the employees, instead of with the employees."

Richard Chemel's observation:

"Just think of the manufacturers that will benefit from this logo change....unless they are all owned by Wal-Mart!"

Laura Ries doesn't think it's going to change most people's perception and doesn't like the change:

In general, it’s preferable to avoid hyphens in names and to use upper and lowercase letters rather than all-caps. But for Wal-Mart, its name and its typography are so well known that changing everything at once is dangerous.

And then there's the official, blog-casual message on the corporate site. (Notice the favicon is still the sheriff's star.)

Obama's Social Media Analyzed by Edelman

PR powerhouse Edelman has put together an excellent analysis of the Obama campaigns social media strategy. Check out "The Social Pulpit: Barack Obama's Social Media Toolkit."

On social networking:

It is also important to note that Obama was not on every social network: he selected the most significant and important platforms in which to participate. While the unsuccessful Edwards campaign was on dozens of social networks, Obama limited his official presence to 15 and leveraged these platforms to direct people to the MyBO Web site, where the campaign had a greater ability to channel people to the specific activities and causes that were deemed the most important to fulfilling the campaign’s electoral strategy.

On SEO:

Additionally, when the opposition created videos criticizing Obama (e.g., Reverend Wright), the campaign released videos that used the same tags so that its positive response could be found when people searched for the original. The campaign understood that most people on YouTube use “related videos” to find what to watch.

On mobile:

A 2006 study by the New Voters Project found that text-message reminders helped increase turnout by four percent at a cost of only $1.56 per vote, much cheaper than the cost of door-to-door canvassing or phone banking, at a cost of $20 to $30 per vote....The campaign used major announcements to drive people to the mobile platform, such as Obama’s choice of Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, which Nielsen Mobile has quantified as the largest mobile marketing event in the United States to date.

Read the 10 page white paper >>.

(Via Micro Persuasion.)