A good designer knows an effective logo conveys the essence of a brand to its audience, without the clutter of too many components attempting to encompass the entire company.

The earlier iterations, especially, of a logo design are often the most literal and complex—take for example Apple’s logo, as shown below—while as the logo evolves it usually transforms to symbolize the philosophy of a company as a whole. In an interview from the blog Creative Bits with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo, he states regarding the logo, “I feel great that it’s still the same basic silhouette even though it went through lots and lots of changes. The apple shape changed slightly from my original design in the early 80’s. The design firm Landor & Associates made the changes. They brightened the colors, they made the shapes much more symmetrical, much more geometric. When I designed it I pretty much did it freehand. I often think to myself why didn’t I do that. It’s because it wasn’t where I was coming from at the time. I think they did a great job and it will be fascinating to see the next iteration and how it works out.”

The most powerful brands often have the simplest logos; those that have changed over time from being overly complicated to a more straightforward design. See, for example, the evolution of Ford’s logo below. Remaining uncomplicated allows the brand’s image to be more likely remembered as well as easier for its audience to associate the logo with that company.

Take a look at Gap’s logo design, as shown below; as the President of Gap, North America Marka Hensen stated in the Huffington Post, “The natural step for us on this journey is to see how our logo—one that we’ve had for more than 20 years—should evolve. Our brand and our clothes are changing and rethinking our logo is part of aligning with that.” The new logo was not eagerly accepted, therefore the Gap decided to revert back to its most recent, time-tested version of their logo.

A recent case study done on the Pepsi brand’s newest logo demonstrates that trying to complicate a design results in a confusing representation of the brand’s identity. For a reported fee of several millions of dollars, the Arnell Group created a painstakingly detailed 27-page document that attempts to connect the simple design of the Pepsi logo to a multitude of epic universal theories—some even biblical—including the Parthenon, the solar system and the Gutenberg Bible.

You can attribute all of the universal explanations to a company’s logo that you want, but the message is clear: make a brand’s logo simple and it will be successful.

Ask Burst Marketing about our vast logo design experience; we can design you a clean logo that portrays your company’s core values—and for a whole lot cheaper than a few million dollars. Guaranteed.

First Netflix announced that they were slamming their customers with a huge price increase and providing less services. Nice combo. And oh by the way they made it more complicated to use their services.

Idiots.

Then they even bungled their apology. Their CEO letter explained that Netflix had to punish their customers with higher prices and poorer service, it’s just that they did a poor job of communicating the situation.

Hey it’s just 5 bucks.

Then it was Bank Of America. It’s not enough that banks like B of A can borrow from the government at zero interest and make money on our backs. Nope, the big banks are annoyed that new consumer protection laws going into effect won’t permit them to continue fleecing customers to support the enormous profits they’ve been racking up.

Free money. Onerous interest rates and fees. Nice gig those banks have.

Faced with the prospect of losing some of those nickels and dimes, banks got an idea. Charge customers $5 a month to use their debit card

Debit card transaction are an excellent alternative to credit cards. They don’t carry interest charges orlate fees, and you can’t spend more than you have. It’s responsible money management for many.

Got to punish good behavior right?

Bank of America was the first to grab hold of the idea in a big way. They announced the new fees figuring that customers would just get used to them. Then came the revolt.

Congressmen, the President and other big mouthpieces ripped the new fees. Feeling empowered, customers sprang into action to find competitors without the fee. And of course, many seized the opportunity to steal unhappy customers. Credit Unions gained tremendously, in goodwill and new customers.

B of A announced they were abandoning the new fee at the end of last week. A spokesperson said they’d listened to their customers and so they took action.

In both of these case-study worthy examples, customers forced a change in plans in a very public way. And in the process the company’s they attacked took a big hit to their reputations and their stock prices. Ouch!

Its easy (and kinda fun) to talk about these bonehead moves, but some serious issues arise.

Words and momentum travel fast. People mobilize and opinions are broadcast. Therefore, businesses must somehow involve their customers in the decision-making process.

Today it’s Netflix and Bank of America. Tomorrow it could be you. Large and small are both subject to the same reality.

There are critical questions to be answered:

How much power should you give your customers?

How would you want them to express it?

The answers are different in each circumstance. And, they will change over time.

But they need to be addressed in your marketing plans…or else.

Chew on this:

When it comes to online video, YouTube and other Google video sites are still king.

A comScore Video Metrix report found that 180 million Americans watched an average of 18 hours of online video content in August. That’s what the company called “a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions.”

Not surprising, Google sites and Hulu logged the longest viewership – with an average user watching 5.7 hours on YouTube and 3.2 hours on Hulu.

That means video ads aren’t going away anytime soon.   In fact, just watch them grow.

Americans watched more than 5.6 billion video ads last month — 996 million on Hulu, according to comScore.

More than 85 percent of Americans using the Internet watched some form of video online last month. The average length of video – whether viral or favorite TV show – was 5.3 minutes.

So what does this mean to you – dear business owner and marketer?

It confirms the ongoing conditioning of Americans away from the written word.  While it pains me to say that, there’s no getting around it.  Attention spans are shorter than ever and getting shorter.  Our audiences want you to get to the point, entertain them…video does that.  Even mediocre video can do that.

And before you say that it’s all the fault of those Millenials (read kids to some), think again.  On-demand video – live, podcasted, streaming – whatever – is in demand by all age groups.

So adjust your web sites and emails.  Your group presentations.  Replace words with video.  Be careful and remember, we haven’t even mentioned where video is being watched (think tablets and mobile).  Where the video is watched also affects the dynamics.

iPad and iPhone don’t play flash.  But that’s another story.

All this video is having an effect on how we communicate at home.  The other day I took my son out to dinner and I asked him the typical fatherly question – so how’s school?  “Watch my video”, he said.

I guess I’d better upload my talk about the birds and the bees to YouTube.

Now you have to engage your followers to take action and turn those 1,500 fans into 1,500 repeat customers.

Everyone says “engage,” but what does that actually mean? It means give someone a reason to act on your Facebook post.

Give them a reason to respond — usually it’s because they will get your feedback or feedback from fellow Facebook users.

Incentive goes a long way online.

Engage also means give people a reason to come back and don’t give them a reason to not come back.

Ever had a non-responsive run-of-the-mill waiter at a restaurant or bad food at a so-called great restaurant? How many times did you go back? The same is true for social media. If you give someone a great experience or at least are trying to give them an experience — heck if you even show them you’re paying attention, you’re ahead of most.

And remember, like you do with your current customers, treat your online friends or fans like actual people and not just their representation in zeros and ones — aka digital code.

While traditional coupons work, think of social media as a way to get to the forefront of your customer’s their mind and stay there.

Fast food chains don’t have to advertise to let you know they’re out there, part of why they advertise is to keep their brand and associated products, words, etc. in your head so when you get hungry you associate that feeling with their food.

Social media can work like that as well.

Just make sure you’re being yourself so your Facebook posts don’t come across as fake and contrived.

The infamous Baby Boomer generation just reached another important milestone… retirement.  The first Boomer turned 65 at the beginning of 2011 and for the next 19 years, 10,000 Boomers will retire every day.

Every generation has specific characteristics that define it. Millennials are growing up with the Internet, which some blame for their short attention spans and need for instant gratification.  The Great Generation (parents of Baby Boomers) grew up during the Great Depression and learned to save their money and be resourceful in their everyday life.

In their prime, Baby Boomers were big spenders.  Generally speaking, Boomers felt entitled to buy nice things and not worry as much about retirement, hoping to inherit their parents’ money and rely on Social Security when the time came.

But the world is a completely different place than it was 40 years ago.  Economically, socially and politically – things have changed.  These unexpected changes have knocked the baby boomers off their feet and they are now coping with the side effects of becoming what many call the “sandwich generation.”

Nearly 85 percent of 2010 college grads (and children of Boomers) planned to move back home with their parents because they either wanted to save money or they had no choice, according to an article by CNN Money. The recession and unemployment have hit recent college grads especially hard.

To make matters worse, nearly one out of every eight boomers is caring for their own family while providing some type of financial assistance to an elderly parent.

The sad reality is that 20 years ago, Boomers thought they would be taken care of by Social Security and their parents’ money; but today things are the complete opposite.  Social security has an uncertain future and many statistics show that inherited money is spent too quickly to provide stability.

This leaves Baby Boomers with an uncertain future.  Although the official retirement age is 65, nearly 75% of Boomers plan to continue working full or part time well past that age.

And your marketing plan needs to reflect that. Let Burst Marketing help you adjust to current and future trends.

30 years ago today, MTV launched a revolution on cable. In those early days it was sort of a novelty. But by the next year when I got to college, it was on in dorms and frat houses 24/7. Suddenly, every song was a stylized mini concert.

MTV took Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” into the stratosphere and made the “moon walk” a worldwide step. Those who knew how to use the new medium had a huge edge. Madonna pushed the envelope and became an icon.

MTV was a new way for artists to connect with their audiences. Much in the same way that Twitter has become…only more immediate. In today’s narcissistic culture, it’s not enough just to be a fan…we need to feel like we’re a friend. And MTV started it all. It began the personalized social connection that continues today.

As a marketing guy, I have a passion for the partnership shared between marketing and sales. However, I’m not sure the feeling is always mutual.

As a former head of marketing for a big investment firm, I was one of the top 12 executives at a $7 billion company. Depending on the day, I was either number 11 or 12, taking turns with the head of HR in the pecking order.

Such is often the feeling of many salespeople – and business owners I’m afraid – toward marketers (and marketing). We are a cost center.  A consumer of resources with no real way to measure our contribution to the business.

Wasted time and money

The reality is, many marketers haven’t taken enough responsibility for pulling their weight in the sales process.  Fortune 500 and other large concerns have already made marketing more accountable to revenue generation. One of the ways they’ve done this is expect leads to be better qualified before handing them off to sales.

Lead qualification is an area that presents great opportunity for B2B marketers. As represented in the accompanying chart, not many organizations go past simply getting a form with basic contact information submitted on their website. Few attempt to verify that there is a valid business need or real interest for their products or services before passing the lead on to sales.

This marketing “fail” can cause a number of issues including that Sales hates Marketing!

Utilizing email qualification. Conversion layers with video and/or other interactive tactics. Even a qualifying telephone call can improve the quality of a lead. Salespeople and your bottom line will love you for it.

If you think there are too many people surfing the web on their phones at restaurants or checking their e-mail in movie theaters now — just wait. By 2015, nearly 45 percent (yes, almost half) of all Americans will own a smartphone.

That’s an almost 50 percent jump from where we are now, according to the technology research company Gartner, making Smartphones the highest selling consumer electronic device category.

So don’t worry if you haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon — there are many new trends businesses large and small can leverage to stand out in the mobile marketplace.

What’s old is still old. Banner advertisements have been translated from traditional websites to mobile, but the same problem exists: no one pays attention to them.

These days, web surfers are using search engines to find exactly what they are looking for and smartphone users top the list.

Instead of waiting for an ad to attract their attention, they’ll use location-based services to find local businesses and restaurants right around the corner.

If your company doesn’t appear on search engines, review websites or maps — you don’t exist!

And just as easy as it is to find a company, it is getting even easier to find reviews and offer incentives.

Yelp.com users can search and leave reviews for their favorite (and not so favorite) businesses.

Applications like Facebook Places and foursquare allow users to “check in” when they visit a business so all their friends can see where they are/were. Businesses connected to foursquare can offer coupons and other incentives to frequent visitors.

So why do you need to move on mobile? Think of life before the Internet. This is Internet at your fingertips.

Still not convinced that mobile marketing is the way of the future?

This video by Google sums it up perfectly. The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Consumers.