Ant Hill Marketing

Ant Hill is thrilled for our pro-bono client, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center who recently received a $12 million federal grant to fund construction of a new Cornelius Wellness Center. The center will replace the aging Cornelius clinic and will allow Virginia Garcia to provide greater healthcare access to uninsured community members is Washington and Yamhill counties.

We started working with Virginia Garcia about 3 years ago to articulate their brand in order to further their mission in the community. If you aren’t quite familiar with the organization, Virginia Garcia provides high-quality, integrated healthcare for thousands of Oregonians who don’t otherwise have access to care. And in this economy non- profit healthcare centers like Virginia Garcia are feeling the strains of an increased number of patients coupled with a reduction in federal and state funding.

This is a huge success for the organization and we send a big congrats to the Virginia Garcia and the VG Foundation team who have worked so hard to make this new facility a reality for thousands of low income families in Oregon.

So, the Portland Timbers have apparently designed a new logo to be unveiled this Saturday as a step to help them move toward Major League Soccer. I’m interested to see what they’ve come up with. An article in today’s Oregonian about the logo mentions, “What if they unveil the new logo…and nobody cheers?” Well, if that happens, perhaps it’s because a logo doesn’t make the brand.

Below is a visual timeline that showcases the the various logos used by the Timbers, as it appeared in The Oregonian article.

What’s interesting, from a brand perspective is all the hoopla around the unveiling of a logo. If the identity used during the 2001-2004 timeframe didn’t “catch on with fans” perhaps it was less about the design and more to do with the Timbers‘ brand itself. Are the Timbers positioned well? What’s their distinction in the Portland sports market that sets them a part from other sporting options? It helps they are the only soccer team, but other than that, what’s the promise? And what does the brand stand for? I’m not sure I know and I’m a soccer fan. I do know that the Timbers along with owner and business phenom Merritt Paulson are hanging their hats on this as their step to the majors. And the development process took more than a year including research. All well and good, but that’s a lot riding on a mark. And, the questions I have for Paulson and the team? Tell me what the Timbers stand for. Tell me the experience I’ll have attending matches. Tell me what you are promising and how you’ll deliver. Then with the answers hold the new logo up in the mirror and tell me what you see.

[Added 6/12 post logo unveiling]

So the new Portland Timbers’ logo has been unveiled. See it for yourself here. Was there cheering? Don’t know. But the outcome is…just okay. Slightly uninspiring. At least the Oregon Ducks will surely enjoy the color combo.

Seattle's Best - new logo

Whatever happened to the distinct, strong brands? Will someone please tell me? It’s feeling more and more like a game of how low can you go to appeal to the masses. Granted Seattle’s Best is owned by Starbucks and the brand will be coming to a Burger King, Subway and movie theaters near you but did that mean to translate the brand’s identity in this way - oversimplified to the point of barely being recognizable? You dipped my Target into your blood bank.

So, I admit, the original Seattle’s Best logo was dated, as was the brand overall. But, at least the old logo had some history and recognition. It wasn’t in a circle. It didn’t have a tear drop. And, since when is coffee red?

What’s the consumer supposed to take away from this new and improved logo? Simple. Generic. Regular. Bland. Red coffee? And how does this reflect on the Seattle’s Best brand in general? With the shift to a broader scope of consumers and to potentially compete with the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts, positioning Seattle’s Best as the brand to go that mile versus Starbucks makes complete sense, but the way the Seattle’s Best brand is perceived is what will make or break this business decision. You might not like the coffee, but at least Dunkin’ Donuts has a huge, loyal following. Does anyone drink Seattle’s Best? Would you now?

If mediocrity was the goal then ding ding ding, we may have a winner. But brands that settle for mediocre tend to get that mediocrity reflected upon their products and consumers wind up walking on by. Hey you, Ms. Consumer. We know you want that cup right about now. How about a tall, steaming hot cup of average. Doesn’t that hit the spot? Mediocre doesn’t even get you to second best. It’s not even challenger status. It’s barely…there.

Starbucks has their own brand to maintain so I’ll cut some slack that adding a new brand to the mix makes their job slightly more work, but if they plan to be successful they need to look at a different brand architecture that allows the growth of the brands independently. Give Seattle’s Best the distinction that at least position’s it against the competition. Heck, make Dunkin’ Donuts run for their money.

It’s just a sad day when commonplace rules the roost. When you don’t stand for something, it makes it very difficult to compete on anything other than price. And competing on price turns the brand into a commodity. No business wants to be there. So, will all the distinct, strong brands out there please stand up? I’d like to buy you a cup of joe.

The Hood to Coast Relay is reputed to be one of the premier running events of its kind in the country. Twelve thousand runners come from nearly every corner of the U.S. and many countries around the world.  They pile in two thousand large vehicles and set out on a quest to cover 197 miles as fast as their bodies will let them.  And, to a person, they will call it one of the most fun things they have done in their lives.

I’ve run the race more than a dozen years myself and can easily say it is one of the highlights of my year. And I have always thought very highly of the management and organization of the event.  It is truly a feat to pull this off.  But the staff does not do it alone. Each team is required to provide three volunteers to man the 36 exchange points along the course at all hours of the day and night. It takes a lot of dedication for a person to get up at 2:00 a.m., drive to the middle of the Coast Range, and direct hundreds of vans and thousands of people who are sleep deprived and reaching their limits.  And for their efforts, each volunteer gets a t-shirt that just lets people know “I helped pull off one of the greatest running events around”.

The 2009 Hood To Coast volunteer t-shirt

That’s why I was more than a little disappointed in organization’s response to an obvious mistake on the volunteer t-shirts printed for this year’s event.  As reported in The Oregonian, the bright orange t-shirt proudly declares the person wearing it is a “Race Offical” rather than “Official”. It’s an honest, if not unbelievable, mistake. And our whole running team got a chuckle out of passing around the news.  But, at our final race preparation meeting last night, all we could talk about was the dismissive response of Robert Foote, Hood to Coast Relay president, who shrugged off the mistake and said it “is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.”  What does that say about the Hood-to-Coast brand?  And how must the sponsors whose logos appear under the mispelled word feel?

I can understand and sympathize with the complexity of running an event like this.  It is a huge undertaking and, yes, a t-shirt misprint must seem like a small gaffe.  But, the dismissive public comment and failure to correct the mistake indicate leadership that fails to recognize the difficulty teams have in providing volunteers and the sacrifice those people make to help pull this event off. It also sends a message to event sponsors that the organization might not be as professional as it appears.

The only possible rationale for the decision I can think of is that it was too late to reprint the shirts once the mistake was discovered or the staff felt that the extra cost would take away from the donations that will be made to the American Cancer Society, the beneficiary of the event.  If either of those is the case, just say that rather than trying to dismiss the mistake as insignificant.

It is a lesson for all organizations (and people) that make mistakes, because we all do.  Own up to it.  Correct it. And stay true to your brand. Certainly the main event sponsor, Nike, understands this. And I hope the Hood To Coast staff has spent the last few days figuring out how they can quickly reprint the t-shirts for the 3,000+ volunteers who will be setting their alarm clocks, grabbing a coffee, and heading out to a place they’ve never heard of — all in the name of fun.

In the words of Target: Our mission is to be the preferred shopping destination by delivering outstanding value and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less. brand promise. No doubt in my mind: they do deliver on this promise. Shopping the store this weekend for two advertised items, neither were in stock at the store we visited. Did they let us walk away unsatisfied? No way. A cashier went so far as to shut down her register to go check on the item we wanted; not finding it, she used her hand-held to find another store that had it in stock. And at the second store, a sales associate hiked from his register to a back-store aisle and then hiked back to his station and spent 10 minutes on the phone for us finding a second item we wanted at another store and making sure it was held for us. Granted, we had to do a bit of unanticipated driving around, but these two employees went way out of their way to make sure we came away satisfied with our Target shopping experience. It’s one thing for a store to say it will deliver on its brand; it’s another for each employee we encountered to do it willingly and happily. That’s brand done right. High five to Target.