AOL Un-Brands with Un-Logo
November 23, 2009 by Mike Troiano · View Comments
So AOL is going through a re-branding effort as it’s spun out of Time Warner, and a video of the CEO announcing the effort to employees has surfaced:
First … due respect … this is not “the brand,” it is “the logo.” Pet peeve of mine.
Second, while I’m not in the habit of criticizing other agencies’ work, I really think the mark itself is a mistake. On a practical level, a negative-space logo like this – particularly one that only functions on top of other content – is an Art Director’s nightmare.
On a conceptual level, it strikes me as too-clever-by-half. A great logo should add value to what it represents, not call attention to itself, as this does.
Finally, on a strategic level, I just don’t see how this non-idea could ever replace the swirly-A logo we’ve all known for so long. And it needs to.
How to Make a Logo
If you need a logo, take a piece of paper, and write down what you want it to make people think.
Got it? Great. Throw that away.
Now think of what you want your logo to make people feel. Write that down, not as a paragraph, but as a word or two. Then get someone with talent to design something that does that.
That’s what I think, anyway. How about you?
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Michael Troiano is a Principal of Holland-Mark, a leading independent advertising agency in Boston. He spent his early career at top advertising agencies including McCann-Erickson NY and Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco, defining business and marketing communications strategy for clients including AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Taco Bell. He joined WPP Group in 1994, reporting to Group chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, and became the founding CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Interactive in 1995.
Mike co-founded New York-based strategic Internet services firm Brandscape in 1996, acting as the firm's CEO and establishing client relationships with Unilever, HP, and EMC before combining assets of that firm with Primix Solutions in late 1998. He became President of the NASDAQ-listed systems integrator in late 1999, increasing annualized revenues from $5.6 to $30.8 million, doubling gross margins, and adding nearly $200 million in shareholder value before the market crash in late 2000.
He was with mobile content pioneer m-Qube from its inception in 2002, acting as the General Manager of Interactive when the company was bought by VeriSign in May, 2006 for approximately $280 Million.
Mike serves on the boards of several VC-funded technology companies, including that of Cambridge-based Crimson Hexagon. His blog, Scalable Intimacy
, is listed on both the AdAge Power150 and Alltop, and he is ranked in the top 1% of the most influential people on Twitter.
Mike is a graduate of Cornell University and the Harvard Business School.
