Companies spent millions to promote their brands. And many brands have logos that practically sell itself eg. Mc Donald's, BMW, Haagen Dazs just to name a few. Be it for their performance, appearance, taste, etc. Famous brands have remained competitive and always strive to remain at the top of their game. Some even change their logo to befit their new vision or rebranding or whatever their reasons may be. Wouldn't it be amusing to know, hear or see how these logos impact consumers. Here, I share what is heard, witnessed and observed by me.
Just today I learnt something funny from a friend. A blue & white windmill equates to a.......wait for it....... BMW!!! What a quirky way to describe my affordable dream car!! Yet another congratulated me on driving a beamer! I sure hope it is typo error but then again, alphabet 'a' and 'e' are two spaces away and at different levels. Hmmmm.......And someone I spoke to recently don't even know what a beemer is? And I know of a few ladies who genuinely doesn't know the difference between different branding cars, to them - its just a car! Yet, there are others like me who would scour for info on cars! How queer.
I had an former colleague who was in a supervisory position in a F&B manufacturer. One day he asked if my team has visited Gorilla Jeans outlet to sell in our new product? Knowing my business well, I was surprised we missed out this particular outlet. I asked for added info so that I can get one of my team member to visit it. After 5 minutes explanation, I finally knew what he meant - GLORIA JEAN!! OMG!!! Incidentally, he is also one to write emails telling his team to sell XX number of cartoons into the eateries!!! Well, I could go on and on but let's stick to the main topic, ya. YA!
And the same "BMW" friend also told me of *3 point star*!!! It boggled me to bits what kind of a make or brand of vehicle (2 or 4 wheeler?!?!) when he first mentioned it. After he clarified, I had a good laugh. Are you still cracking your brain matter? DON'T! Let me tell you....its MERCEDES BENZ!!!
That reminds me of the 5 finger watch. Errrr.....still puzzled? Duh...its the ROLEX! That was a give away wasn't it?
When my son was about 6-7 years of age, he asked me how to pronounce the name of a car with 4 holes! 4 holes? HUH? Then, he said "like Olympics logo but in a straight row" Aaaahhhh....you mean AUDI, is it?? Yes! Yes! Yes! *grinning aren't you?* I guessed as much. LOL.
I remember decades ago, when SCHWEPPES wanted to penetrate into the Malaysian market, they literally had to first teach their potential consumers how to pronounce the brand. Quite a tongue twister for those who aren't English educated. Sometime back, VOLVO in Malaysia did a radio advertisement 'teaching' consumers how to enunciated their brand name. It's VOL-VO not Whoa-whoa as most Chinese educated would enunciate them! Seriously.
In doing so, I'm sure Schweppes & Volvo are listening to their consumers because they care therefore they share. Personally, I think it is a good move on both these companies to boldly acknowledge that it maybe a mouthful for some, hence 'let's come up with an ad to teach our consumers how to say our brand name'. Frankly, I too found it difficult to pronounce Schweppes until I saw the ad. Now, I can say it confidently.
This is another interesting logo. Firstly, it is a mouthful to say it out loud. I learned some 5-6 years ago how to pronounce it in Cantonese (one of the Chinese Dialect widely spoken in Hong Kong and many parts of China). I was presented a Ferragamo EDT for my birthday. It was then that my friend told me its a "Fei-lat-kai-mo' EDT. Errr....what?? What did you say again?? She repeated. Ooohhh...HAHHAHAA....in Cantonese, she has translated it into "flying dropping chicken feathers!!!!" It sure is funny and I'll remember it for as long as I live.
Something may mean something to someone yet another thing to someone else. Its really intriguing and peculiar what goes through a human mind. Well, perhaps that makes us more creative, more competitive and in the process, allow human to progressively reinvent & better ourselves in everything that we do.
To all the brand builders out there...WELL DONE and keep up the good work. And to my readers out there, if you find my article interesting & fun to read....as the saying goes "SHARING IS CARING"...so go ahead & share with your friends & family my blog. The more readers I have the more motivated I am to write, else my ENERGISER battery may run loooow. So, please help re-charge me regularly. Thank you in advance.
Until the next blog, take care, stay healthy & stay happy. Live life to the fullest & with fun...as my 'BMW' friend quoted. Adious!
2 comments:
hahaha u can cook up something from little things. actually the more common term used is "blue & white propellar"....just that the word propellar went missing that day and only the windmill came. have you figured out which car i was saying.... engine at the back... have you checked where is your engine? hehehe
Hey Sam, I didn't cook it up. U know where I came from ;)
It looks more like a shield to me :)
Aiyooo..VW loh..The beetle.
My engine is in front but battery is at the back! Correct?
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