Michael M:

Is Wave the new Windows and Bing the new Google?

Two exciting new product launches took place last week, Google Wave and Microsoft's Bing. These two rival companies, competing head to head against each other in the same categories, have both introduced their new brands and even though it's a bit pre-mature to determine which brand will stand the test of time there are some very interesting things to be said about their distinct branding strategies.

I'll start with Google Wave.

Wave Follows Function

Watching the Google Wave Developer Preview it seems like there's a very strong correlation between the nature of this communication and collaboration platform and the name chosen to represent it. The developers did a great job using the word 'wave' not only to describe the essence of this new tool but also as the main noun that describes a single stream of communication. This is a great strategy  because it helped to create and reinforce a common language for talking about the service and it also made it seem intuitive and familiar.

The Wave Eco-System

Another thing that makes Wave a great name is the related associations metaphors that help to establish Wave as a relevant solution in today's social media landscape. In this case, Waves are larger than conversations or exchanges of messages, they are streams of content that are constantly changing and evolving. It will be very interesting to see the how the eco-system of services and apps will 'ride the wave' and use names that expand on this theme.

The Wave Logo

The Wave logo is everything you would expect from Google: simple. A colorful wave is hovering in mid air subtly creating the letter 'W'. The logo is iconic without becoming a cliche and it works a stand alone symbol that actually makes a pretty cool T-shirt graphic. (and I hate logo t-shirts).

Now let's talk about Microsoft's Bing.

What's New Under the Sun?

Unfortunately, Microsoft did not release any video or other type of media to present or explains what is different or special about the new search engine. The name 'Bing' does very little to communicate any value. Microsoft PR states that Bing is "the sound of found" (isn't that bingo? - MM) but the common joke is that it stands recursively for "Bing Is Not Google" - so much for establishing a unique value proposition. By the way, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the name Bing was Soprano's stripper joint, The Bada Bing...I'm sure I was not alone.

You Can Bing, But you Can't Hide

This brings me to question the reasoning behind the selected name. Unlike Google who chose to link the Wave as a sub-brand Microsoft chose not to link the Bing brand with the parent brand. Why is that? Microsoft is one of the strongest brand names in the world, it may not be a synonym for 'cool' but it is definitely a house-hold name that represents one of (if not) the most successful businesses in the history of software and personal computers. I can understand why Microsoft chose not to name their portable music player MS Zune or their gaming console MS XBOX as they target specific niche markets, but in the case of introducing a new search engin, in light of the obvious competition,  one would think that Microsoft would try to make use of any existing creative asset - including their existing brand equity (think Microsoft Windows). Instead, they selected an abstract name with no affiliation to the parent company and this strategy will most likely require a great deal of marketing and advertising efforts to draw a significant enough amount of unique visitors.

The Bing Logo

 

Not surprisingly, where Microsoft really fall short is the design of the logo. In its current state, the Bing logo looks like just another logotype for a start-up web 2.0 service. You can read a good design review by Joshua Davis here. I can't help but feel that this is a huge mistake and a missed opportunity to do something different. And this ties back to the idea that the people behind Bing at Microsoft, with its amazing organizational culture and infinite resources have failed miserably.

Final Thought

The Google Wave brand is similar to what Microsoft Windows was (and still is) in form and essence. Both do a very good job linking name and product.  However, I have huge doubts if the Bing brand will be able to reach the impact that the Google brand has. I mean,  do you really see yourself 'Binging' stuff up? What do you think?

The New Tkts Brand Experience is Brilliant

I love Times Square but I also hate it.

It's a spectacular place to visit, especially after dark when the visual impact is most powerful, but I always feel as if something is fundamentally missing. I mean, what kind of a public square is it if you can't even appreciate it because there's no place to sit down, look around and absorb it's magnitude...well at least not until now.

The discount box office booth for Broadway shows - aka: Tkts, has turned the Time Square experience on its head, forever. The iconic red staircase is now the place where you can sit down, relax your fatigued legs and enjoy a nice cup of coffee surrounded with a 360 degree view of the crossroads of the world. Who could ask for more?

This is  a great example of a fantastic brand experience.

Think about it, Tkts is all about getting you seats to the best shows in New York and now its new retail presence reflects exactly that, the best seats in town - for free. But it goes beyond just communicating the core of the brand, what the people over at Perkins Eastman, the designers of this new spectacular glass installation, achieved is to solve a real problem that people had when visiting Times Square and they did it with style. That is truly great design and another classic case for how brands can benefit from giving something valuable to people.

Tkts may have been an icon of New York with its long lines of tourists waiting to get last minute tickets at a good price. But now, whether the theater development fund realizes it or not, they have become a global brand overnight. They have not only made it impossible for a tourist in the city to avoid it, it's also impossible not to take a picture of it, so you do the math. I am certain the Tkts staircase  will become one of the most popular, well-known meeting spots in the world. I can't wait to see how it shows up in films, TV, music videos (it's right next door to the MTV studios..) etc.

So, I personally thank the Theater Development Fund, the Times Square Alliance and the Coalition for Father Duffy for developing this extraordinary new public space and the designers for creating it is such a clever and innovative fashion. And Mayor Bloomberg also deserves credit for picking up a big chunk of the check. thanks for making Times Square accessible and visitor friendly.

Read more about it in the New York Times

The commoditization of branding

Branding is a great tool for creating value by (A) differentiation and (B) emotional appeal. But when all the products in the world are using the same exact methods and techniques to achieve this (so called) added value then what we end up getting is a world where nothing is differentiated and everything feels the same. This is what I refer to as the commoditization of branding.

The solution? Some are yelling innovation is the answer, others call it transformational design...I'm not sure I have the answer myself but I know that whether we like it or not, everything is branded - by design of by default and the name of the game is relevance, experience and authenticity.

Here is a Hilarious clip of Steven Colbert interviewing Lucas Conley, author of OBD (Obsessive Branding Disorder) on the issue of too many brands.

Whatever Is The Enemy

In preparation for an article that i'm writing about brand innovation for Globes Magazine's branding annual, I came across the following paragraph that I find insightful and disturbing:

"Whatever" is a word you hear everywhere in response to all type of questions. "You want to go to the movies?" "whatever." "You want to have pizza tonight?" "Whatever." "You want to get married?" "Whatever." It's become an all purpose, generic response to, well, whatever. This ambivalent reaction, dispassionately voiced and accompanied by a Seinfeld-like shrug, is an overt symptom of our cluttered commercial world. From restaurants to movie channels, airlines to reality shows, SUVs to VCRs, there are too many choices and far too many distinctions between them. We all suffer from brand attention deficit disorder in some form or another.

- Allen Adamson, Brand Simple.

After reading this passage I tried to think about my general default response to the things around me. I mean, how else could I explain my lack of excitement towards the upcoming new Indiana Jones film or my indifference to the release of the new Coldplay album. Have I fallen victim to the whatever syndrome as well?

What are the kind of stimuli that manages to break or disrupt this default "whatever" response? I must admit that the things that evoke a real emotional reaction are, for the most part, the real life experiences. Experiences such as looking at a sonogram monitor and seeing my unborn child give me a 'thumbs up' signal, THAT was a good day. And after experiencing this, I'm not even sure if any brand experience can match this kind of excitement or thrill. One thing was made clear to me, if brands wish to break through the 'whatever' barrier they have to learn how to get up close and personal, very personal.

What kind experiences break through your "whatever" barriers?

Quote of the day

"Advertising is the price that companies pay for being un-original"

- Ives Behar @ TED

An Idea Worth Spreading

What happens when a brain scientist experiences a stroke?

Phillip Starck is Dead

"Everything I designed was unnecessary".

That's what Starck tells a German weekly newspaper. And so you have it, the ultimate icon of contemporary design, the "Starchitect", in his own words admits that design is dead. The only thing I fear, is that Starck is not going to live up to his word and never retire. Personally, I never really liked Starck's design anyway, in my opinion he represents everything that can go wrong by worshiping design for the sake of design. I mean, his Puma shoes are really ugly, his lemon squeezer seems like a three legged alien. Starck creates objects that some people admire and others (like myself) simply don't get.

My question is, how can such a successful designer reach a point in his career when he cannot see the value in his creations, that's pretty sad isn't it?  Think about it, if you had to write a design brief that describes what Starck design must accomplish the brief would read something like: "Make unnecessary, thought provoking, expensive objects, that don't really solve any problem but makes anyone who buys them look really cool". Starck has definitely fulfilled the objectives of his own design brief.

Now, if Starck want to retire, so be it. But there is another option: Phillip, re-write your own design brief and start using your amazing creativity, design skills and celebrity to solve some real problems and do some good.

How the iPhone is changing everything

Here is a brief summery of my day:

1.  Today was my parents last day visiting in town and the only thing left on their shopping list was to get the iPhone for my brother and sister, back in Israel. Naturally we headed down to the new Apple store in the meatpacking district but surprisingly, they were out of stock (??? you have got to be kidding me). The guys at the Apple store suggested that we try online because apparently all the NY stores are out of iPhones...so, my parents left empty handed and disappointed: goodbye retail, hello e-tail.

2. After a full day of walking we decided to have a nice quiet dinner at home so we used www.seamlessweb.com to order in from our favorite Chinese place (The Cottage...yummy). I placed everyones' order online and 30 minutes later dinner was served.

3. After my folks left, I tuned in to my blog feeds to see what's up. A new image by David Armano, another fascinating vlog post by Tom about questioning authority, and an interesting post from the head of Zeus Jones about the necessary skills for being a strategic planner...this is something I've been interested in for a long time. cool.

4. In Zeus Jones's post he pointed out how brand strategy has moved to a new kind of model and shared a link to John Grant's book on Amazon.com, so I checked it out and decided to buy it - from my bed, using my iPhone. After I placed the order and received the confirmation I realized that I've just made my first mobile purchase (hip-hip-hooray).

5. Now, It's 2:09am....I'm still awake because I felt compelled to share all of these experiences on my blog - by writing this post using my iPhone.

6. and to think that this is just the beginning.

On Transformation

I've been enjoying Leland Maschmeyer's blog which is dedicated to the concept of Transformation Design. I must admit, I'm not in love with the name 'Transformation Design' but I  do believe that what Leland is trying to convey is extremely important. Here's a link to a post where he tries to define Transformation Design. The way I see it, the word Design is enough as it already carries the idea of transformation inherently...I mean, can there be design without transformation?

Embracing Chaos

Change is happening.

After graduating in May of last year, I needed some time off to let everything settle down. So many ideas and thoughts were floating in my head and it was hard to see clearly where I want to go and what I want to do. Phases like these can be intimidating, but I've learned that sometimes the best thing to do is to just stay the course and do nothing until the next big thing hits you in the head. A good friend of mine (who's also a very talented designer) once told me that "as designers we need to learn to love living in chaos". Every design process begins with complete chaos, the questions out number the answers and it seems as if they keep piling up. But good designers are people who are able to embrace this state of chaos and learn to swim in it. So that's what I've been doing, embracing chaos.

In the past two weeks something began to happen. It isn't tangible, it has no physical presence and no visual manifestation, but I can feel its presence. The best way to describe it is using the idea of temperature. It might be the Spring that's starting to show first signs...or it's the fact that I was sick and had a fever for the past week, I'm not sure. Whatever it is, the rise in temperature is causing some kind of reaction.

Now, we all know that changes in temperature change the state of things, this change can influence matter and has the ability to transform things. And my job is to make sure that this change or transformation is channeled in the right direction. I'm not sure how this is done but I'm pretty sure that design (as a process) is the key to successful transformation.