Corporate Identity Adapts To New Economic Environment

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

According to a picture posted on Flickr, corporate identity firms all over the globe are busy adapting their clients’ corporate design to the new strained financial environment. People dig it: A the time of this typing, the picture has received 4172 diggs. The current “Top in all topics” is “If Marijuana was legal” with only 1981 diggs.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Anonymous Anonymous on Dec 22, 2008

    Cute, I'd say Xerox is the most clever. Also thanks to psarhjinian for the link. I hadn't seen that poster before. That was real funny and would have a very positive influence on me if I saw it in any car salesmans cubicle/office.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Dec 22, 2008
    Logo appropriation is going to to happen. Logo parodies are usually considered fair use. The exception is when you are using the parody to compete with the owner of the logo, like putting that Nike squiggle on a tshirt or a hat.
  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Dec 22, 2008

    Pretty sure that 3M is doing okay. They made about $4B last year and have been profitable for a while.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Dec 22, 2008
    In the salesperson’s office is a printed version of the “Our shitty cars” faux poster that’s been going around. While generally I disapprove of heavy handed lawyerly actions against web sites or parodies, if I was GM, Ford or Chrysler I'd take legal action against whoever published that poster. It's pretty defamatory. The text alone is protected speech, but put it together with "our shitty cars" and the companies' logos and while IANAL, it looks actionable to me.
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