Brand Central Station

Here’s something fun to work on if you have a few minutes – and interest in earning a few bucks.

On Friday, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) posted an invitation to contractors to submit designs for a new “Art Works” logo.  You can download your own copy of the RFP off our site or from the NEA’s site.  The open period for questions (best asked after you’ve reviewed the RFP) ends at 5pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 10.  All material must be summited to the NEA for review no later than 5pm (EST) on Friday, February 26, 2010.

To be honest, this release caught my eye because NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman announced the competition at a Miami-area high school for art and architecture and I immediately thought it was a student competition.  I have an 18 year-0ld, aspiring designer and thought it would be a great opportunity for him to stretch his creative muscles and maybe pick up a buck or two.

Then I saw the government’s estimated budget for this project.

$25,000.

For a logo.

Wow.  Talk about your stimulus package.

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by Mike Bawden
President & CEO; Brand Central Station

It’s funny to me how we sometimes try to make a point in the virtual world and it winds up boomerranging back and hitting us in the face here in the real one.

A few days ago, I wrote a post about how young Americans don’t buy the “Buy American” argument just because doing so will keep US greenbacks in US bank accounts (a concept that, in itself, could be debated). Instead, I suggested that the “Buy American” argument would have more sway with young people if it was presented as an evironmentally-oriented message. Buy products made here because they have a smaller carbon footprint, so even if they cost more (dollars) they cost less (environmental impact).

An old college buddy I haven’t seen in 25 years – no kidding – but recently reconnected with (via Facebook) took a look at the article and gave me an interesting perspective. (more…)

It seems like a little side article in this week’s Adweek, but it caught my attention.

Mark Dolliver reported on the findings of a “Buy American” study recently completed by AdweekMedia/Harris Research. The survey indicates that although there is an ever-present interest among US consumers for American-made products, there is a definite drop off as you get into the younger demographics. As Mark reports:

Younger consumers are less susceptible than their elders to a made-in-America sales pitch. Thirty-nine percent of the survey’s 18-34-year-olds said they’re more likely to buy a product when an ad emphasizes that it’s made in America, vs. 60 percent of the 35-44-year-olds, 68 percent of the 45-54s and 74 percent of those 55 and older.

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After posting my piece on Consumer 2.0, I received a Tweet from one of my friends on Twitter.

@BrandCentral – Consumers need to make companies stop taking us for granted.  We are your source of income – respect us, dangnabbit!

Not only did I find the Tweet to be interesting because I hadn’t seen “dangnabbit” spelled out in a while, but the sentiment of the post was indicative of a larger problem I see brewing for marketers in the future.  ”Engagement” is a big word circulating through the marketing universe at this time, but in reality, engagement requires two-way interactions between parties. Real interaction is built on a foundation of mutual respect.

And according to my informal survey of one and a just-released study of the nation’s political climate conducted by BIGresearch, Americans are feeling a little disrespected on all levels.

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As in many parts of the country, it’s been “Obamamania” here. Expectations are being set very high, despite the incoming administration’s best efforts. But if Americans are anything, they’re optimistic and President-elect Obama’s soaring rhetoric seems to reinforce that.

But what is the “upside” to an Obama administration as viewed by those people not living in the USA? We took a moment to ask some of our partners in the ECCO International Public Relations Network – all owners or managers of small and mid-sized public relations or marketing consultancies. What they told us was insightful, especially for those US-based brands who rely on exports to buoy sales revenues when the going gets tough at home.

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Blame Tina Fey if you want.  I do.

The SNL alum had the nerve (along with her cohorts) to call out the mainstream media and seriously question their objectivity on the Obama vs Clinton primary battle for the Democratic nomination for President.  It does seem the media has been taking it easy on Mr. Obama and the SNL folks don’t seem to like it much at all.  (View Fey’s editorial rant here.)

There’s more to review by visiting a blog set up to provide the video YouTube won’t show.  Give it a look (here) and let me know what you think. (more…)

Laura Ries offers some worthwhile evaluations of celebrity endorsements enjoyed by Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  You don’t have to be a political wonk to enjoy her post.

From a marketing perspective, many of the lessons taught through this endorsement excercise carry over to consumer products and services.  A celebrity endorsement isn’t worth that much if the celebrity doesn’t really understand the “what” and “why” of the brand he or she is endorsing. 

One-dimensional product pitchmen, even if they’re well-known sports or entertainment celebrities, can elicit the same response Laura has about Cheer’s star Ted Danson: “Does anyone care what Ted Danson has to say? I don’t think so.”

When I heard the news about last night’s Grammy Awards, I was shocked.  Herbie Hancock won Album of the Year for his tribute to Joni Mitchell and made a point of thanking Miles Davis, John Coltrane among others.  It was a fitting tribute and a well-deserved honor for Hancock.

I’m a jazz fan (huge) and was pleased to see us get one over on all the other genres in the musical world.  After all, two AotY Grammies in 50 years is hardly a Patriot-style dynasty now, is it? 

Hancock ended his acceptance speech with a little tip of the hat to Barack Obama by claiming “Yes, We Can” to close.  And that’s when the announcer came on and explained that Barack Obama had won his second Grammy, beating out Bill Clinton in the “spoken word” category. (more…)

In cultural terms, the American culture is unique. Given the time in history when the first European settlers came to the new world, the Americas – and the United States in particular – have developed multi-ethnic cultures that are highly adaptive, very creative and, without question, confusing. (more…)

America values creativity – it’s both a necessity and a challenge to conformity with the rest of the world. As a strength, America’s love of things creative bolsters the general optimism that we have. As a weakness, our creativity sometimes generates so many options that we’re slow and inefficient when trying to assess everything. (more…)