If You Can Crowdsource A Logo Design, You Can Crowdsource A Job Assignment, Right?

I just read a blog in MediaPost about the “Roar of Crowdsourcing,” where Thom Forbes recalls how GAP unveiled its new logo, only to fold it back up and return to its decades-old original design.

“Crowd wisdom” ruled, with a GAP spokesperson writing, “We’ve learned just how much energy there is around our brand, and after much thought, we’ve decided to go back to our iconic blue box logo.”

But GAP didn’t close the door completely.

On its Facebook page, the retailer extends this generous invitation: “We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so that we’re asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we’d like to see other ideas.”

That’s right. “We’d like to see other ideas."

Excuse me, GAP, but do you have a budget in mind?

No wonder we’re seeing more companies ask for free advice on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

They know they can get it.

One marketing employee with a large manufacturer recently posted a request for product designs on his LinkedIn page, saying it would “help a lot” with his upcoming management meeting.

He must have given a stellar presentation.

All he had to do was assemble the answers.

Finding The Christmas Spirit.

Christmas is where you find it.

And Harlequin Cat found it here.

Hope your holidays are filled with quiet moments.

Peace.

A Man's Home Is His Sandcastle.

For four days, people from around the world strolled a shimmering white beach to view sand sculptures at the Siesta Key Crystal Classic in Sarasota, FL.

On the show’s second morning, a small crowd formed around a castle of fairy-tale proportions. An older man – tanned and wearing designer swim trunks, a gold necklace and polarized Oakleys -- peered up at the castle’s winding stairs.

Next to him, a young girl contemplated scrunching her big toe into the moat.

And just a foot away, a homeless man with caked, matted hair wondered what was going on inside the sculpted fortress. His imagination squeezed into one of the tiny windows and floated over to where his mind’s eye lingered – near a massive oak table covered with a white cloth and gold coins.

Lighted iron candlesticks revealed a sumptuous banquet.

Gleaming pewter goblets reflected faces -- of a king or a knight, a jester or troubadour?

Suddenly, a blast of trumpets. The homeless man covered his ears and dropped to his knees.

Shaking, he looked up at the sky, only to see a silvery plane bound for Milwaukee.

So much for reverie.

But for a moment, he was a prince, a prince who had a home.

How A Car Brand Can Melt Your Ice Cream.

Imagine you’re approaching an intersection where two cars are waiting side by side for the light to change. You’re in a hurry with cold groceries in your trunk. Do you pull in behind the BMW Z3 or the shiny new VW Beetle?

On the one hand, the Beetle is advertised as a “thoroughly modern take on an icon” that’s ahead of its time.

But it’s a Beetle.

On the other hand, the Z3 was replaced by the Z4 in late 2002. It’s an old model and probably has some miles on it.

But it’s a roadster. James Bond drove one in GoldenEye, remember?

You know your two quarts of ice cream are beginning to melt, so you slip in behind the Z3. The light turns green, and off speeds the Beetle, while the driver of the Z3 finishes her texting.

You just based your decision on a brand.

As you unload your milkshakes into the freezer, you berate yourself for assuming that people embody the brand virtues of the cars they drive.

But that’s what car companies are hoping for. It’s what every brand hopes for.

It’s why most of us will park next to a Mercedes-Benz thinking our doors won’t get dinged. That’s the power of a brand, even in a bad economy.

Remember Mailboxes On A Pole?

“Grandma, what are these? They’re pretty.”

“They’re mailboxes. It’s how people used to get their letters, bills and junk mail. But now we get everything electronically. They look like lunchboxes, don’t they?”

“What’s a lunchbox?”

“A lunchbox is what kids used to pack their sandwiches in so they could take their lunch to school and not have to pay for 25%-nutritious cafeteria food.”

“Where did they put the lunchboxes … I mean, mailboxes?”

“At the end of our driveways. I remember having to walk almost 15 feet to get to ours. Sometimes I’d have to brave heavy winds and snow. If it rained, I’d get my hair wet. Winter was the worst. I’d have to put on my coat and gloves. You kids today don’t realize how lucky you have it. When I was your age, we didn’t have email. We had to lick a stamp and put it on an envelope, then lick the envelope flap to seal it shut. And that was for each letter and each bill! Then we’d have to put the flag up on the mailbox so the postman knew we had outgoing mail. But we weren’t afraid of hard work back then.”

“Gross, Grandma. I can’t imagine licking my emails. But getting a real letter that I had to open with my hands sounds kinda neat, as long as I could text back and save buying one of those little, uh ...”

"Stamps."

Before Apple, There Were Apples.

No deep meaning in my post this week, other than to say that autumn in New England is a wonderful, crispy-crunchy time of year as far as apples go.

I’m not talking about the Apple computer brand with the ubiquitous chomped logo.

I’m talking about an Ida Red, a Honey Crisp and a juicy Fuji.

A bright-red Rome, a sweet Liberty, a bold Jonagold!

Mom’s Apple Crisp, Hot Buttered Cider and Brown Sugar Apple Pie.

I have my aye on these apples.

Baby Carrots Are All Cheese-Puffed Up.

No telling how Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s “Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food” advertising campaign will boost sales of baby carrots.

But according to the Associated Press, the goal is to double the current $1 billion baby-carrot market within two to three years.

That’s a lot of carrots.

You can bet your beta-carotene that in the business of brand makeovers, it all depends on what consumers identify as smoke and mirrors.

Let’s admit it: The American carrot has some ancestral baggage – as in canned peas and carrots, beef stew with mushy carrots, and the ever-popular carrot-and-raisin salad – a mainstay of cafeteria lines because it can be conveniently served with an ice-cream scoop.

But you gotta give it to CP+B, because the whole goal here is to convince students that when they reach for a bag of baby carrots from their high-school vending machines, they'll forget they’re reaching for a bag of cheese puffs and instead think they’re eating a nutritional vegetable while getting their “junk-food fix.”

At the risk of sounding like I have a salty chip on my shoulder, I submit that a carrot by any other name is still a carrot.

Still, Harlequin Cat thinks CP+B’s campaign has some serious crunch to it and will be watching. But in the mean time, I couldn’t resist inviting you to visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vly7hDDHMsM

Some of us just love eating carrots naturally.