A key Google characteristic in my mind is the long play. They do something because they believe in it, and keep on doing it for as long as it takes for it to yield.
This idealism has anchors in the real world. The pragmatic recognition that revenues come high on the list of priorities saw to it that Google Adwords got plenty of attention in the early years, since when the company has been able to power its way through numerous adventures, perhaps most notable of late being “driverless electric cars”.
Of course, key to Adwords success was the early dominance of the “free” Internet search engine space – which required focus and brilliance – so that the advertising platform could dominate “paid search” in equal measure.
So here is this leviathan, powered by incredible advertising revenues worldwide to which Infotex has paid its dues in a small way over the years. When I overheard Dan, Tim and Ollie talking about “Google Elevator”, I thought “Well, they are making cars, why not elevators?”
So imagine my surprise and delight when we were invited as a (let’s face it) rather small “Google Partner” to join their Google Elevator Partner Business Owners’ Coaching Programme.
Google have recognised that there are thousands of hard working and intelligent people out there running digital marketing agencies, which when combined generate billions in ad revenues. Often the work of a digital agency is challenging, commercially risky and just plain old hard going. To support this community and help us to do better, a handful of us were selected to join their Partner Elevator programme – these are the agencies in whom Google can see potential, and to whom Google is pleased to give back.
This programme bears all the hallmarks of other Google activity. We have been provided with access to some of the best coaching and mentoring services around. All in Google’s London HQ with the legendary supplies of food and cupcakes. Headed up by Robert Craven of The Director’s Centre, a team of his consultants and Google staff have provided us with workshops, books and one-to-one coaching sessions to use in any way we wish for the improvement of our businesses. Very Google.
For me this has come at an ideal time. Infotex is 12 years in the making, and I am 53! We have a great company that has already covered a lot of miles and has real strengths. The time is right for us to look to the future and crystalise our vision for 2020 and beyond.
Robert and his team are inspiration combined with pragmatism – just as you would expect with all things Google. Here at Infotex we look forward to sharing insights over the coming months and how this experience will help you our customer.
The golden arches in any country gives me a craving for chocolate milkshake, a small apple with a bite taken out of it implies luxury technology and a mulberry tree makes me want to sell my husband just to get my hands on a leather bag!
The past couple of years have seen a number of brands alter their logo and 2015 saw the Infotex logo evolve and develop (more on this from our Design Director Abi Fawcus next month). But why did these companies change their already well-known brand symbol?:
1. TO ADAPT TO A CHANGING MARKET:
This year we saw the Google logo had its biggest redesign since 1999. The change was based upon how people react to Google across “many different platforms, apps and devices.”1 The typeface of the new logo is ‘product sans’ which combines “the mathematical purity of geometric forms with the childlike simplicity of schoolbook letter printing”. The renowned four colour is seen across the brand even featuring in the microphone design when using voice controls on your mobile.
Thetrainline.com has also adapted to the mobile market by changing their name to simply Trainline. They launched a new mobile app to illustrate their new brand concept of ‘Smarter Journeys’, with the CEO Clare Gilmartin stating that their “mission is to help people travel smarter, and by using their phones they can enjoy the advantages of saving money by buying in advance and ensuring they have real time travel updates during their journey.”2 The #IAmTrain campaign was also launched to promote the change with a heavy emphasis on using social media to promote the new mobile friendly brand.
2. IN RESPONSE TO A MAJOR CHANGE IN THE COMPANY:
Pizzahut has recently redesigned their logo in response the their biggest menu change in years. Dubbed as the ‘Flavour of Now’ this new menu is seen as a response to their recent stagnation in the market and this logo change is used to help the transition. The Vice President of Marketing commented that “Any good flavorful pizza starts with a sauce swirl”3 which is what inspired the red swirl on the edge of the logo.
3. TO PROMOTE A NEW BRAND IDENTITY:
Airbnb completely changed their brand positioning in 2014 by promoting the sense that their customers can ‘belong’ in any of the properties rented through their website. They introduced their “Bélo” logo – “It’s an iconic mark for our windows, our doors, and our shared values. It’s a symbol that, like us, can belong wherever it happens to be”4
4. A BAD RESPONSE TO A LOGO DESIGN?
American restaurant giant IHOP (International House of Pancakes) changed their logo for the first time in decades this year. They have simplified the logo but the most major change is the red line below IHOP from a downward to an upward curve. According to the company’s Vice President of Marketing, the old logo “appeared as a person’s frown.”5 Instead he believes that the new and more positive logo will be more attractive to customers and “make them smile.”
5. FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE?
Facebook have made very slight alterations to their logo using a custom typeface to “modernise the logo to make it feel more friendly and approachable”6 (Josh Higgins, Facebook’s creative director). The most noticeable change is the “a” which is fuller and rounder.
1 Evolving the Google Identity
2. thetrainline.com Rebrands itself to Trainline
3 Inside the Pizza Hut’s Saucy Rebranding
5 IHOP Changed its Logo, says the old one looked like a frown
6. Facebook unveils new logo in stunning change for fans of the letter A
What is this?
In the advent of powerful off the shelf platforms such as WordPress, Shopify or Magento, the cost of buying a website for many businesses has been considerably reduced. This is great news. Never missing an opportunity designers and coders of all abilities have started designing templates to accommodate most types of businesses on these platforms.
Well that’s great isn’t it?
These themes look beautiful as the designer has perceived them but they don’t always look so good once your business has been shoehorned into it. Nor do you ever quite know what is under the lid; leading in some cases to problems with updating platform software or browser compatibility.
What does it mean for me?
Understanding your requirements and constraints and offering you the best solution or sharing with you the options is core to how we work. There is no doubt that done properly themes can save you time and money. So we have hand-picked a selection of themes and use them as building blocks to create a website that will fit you but is guaranteed by us.
Here is a quick check list to give you an idea of whether a pre-built or custom theme would work best for you.
A pre-designed theme is great if:
A pre-designed theme is not so great if:
Discover how our team can help you on your journey.
Talk to us today