Look, we know the economy is bad and times are tough and the future is unknown. And we know that a brand looks at itself, and down at the precious logo cradled in its arms, and wonders if it's doing everything it can, if it maybe isn't doing enough. After a while, we understand — the brand just feels like it has to do something. Anything.

But seriously, would brands all stop destroying the most recognizable elements of themselves. Please? Because it's starting to drive us nuts. Now we have to deal with what Comcast hath wrought with NBC Universal — sorry, NBCUniversal.Continue reading...

Comcast held a town hall meeting today at its Philadelphia HQ to welcome the thousands of NBC Universal employees worldwide it's now home to, thanks to last week's FCC/DOJ blessing — all except one.

Missing in action as America's cable giant announced its commitment to the s-word (synergy): NBC's iconic peacock.

Staffers received welcome packages emblazoned with a restyled NBCUniversal (one word) logo on a purple background.

While the colorful tail feathers have been plucked from NBCU's corporate identity, new NBCU head Steve Burke reassured everyone that it would be "a part of NBC and CNBC and MSNBC for years to come," according to Variety.

Farewell to this — let's face it, better — logo:

Żubrówka, an artisinal Polish vodka flavored with rare wild “bison grass,” has long been a hit across Europe. It’s finally stampeding its way to the U.S., with a shortened name and FDA-approved list of ingredients.

This is not just another flavored vodka. Herbal, sweet and greenish in color, Żubrówka has been part of Polish culture for centuries and its mystique is tied up with the area where the grass grows, the Bialowieza Forest, a primeval preserve. The last remaining herds of European bison (cousins to the American bison) live here and have a fondness for the grass that flavors Żubrówka.

The vodka itself is named after the bison (żubr in Polish), with an image of one on the label, and each bottle contains a stalk of the bison grass — the reason it was banned in the U.S. until recently.Continue reading...

Motorola executives realize that there may be some confusion that it's now actually two companies. The new video above aims to explain how Motorola Mobility, its new (red logo) standalone consumer brand, "delivers personalized information to meet the needs of consumers both in the home and on the go."

See the corporate branding campaign for the (blue logo) Motorola Solutions after the jump.Continue reading...

Seattle's Best Coffee rebranded in May and introduced a "level system" of categorizing products by number, based on customer feedback, in November. This week the Starbucks-owned rival to Dunkin' Donuts rolls out its first campaign, featuring a tongue-in-cheek trio of spots with the tagline, "Anywhere Great Coffee is Needed."Continue reading...

Here's a test: Is your logo so distinctive that it can be recognized upside down? We ask in light of last week's logo flap: the evolution of the Starbucks logo that will the brand's 40th anniversary in March. We challenged the wisdom of abandoning the well-known mark, with its black and green color scheme, in favor of a logo element (the two-tailed siren mermaid) that few casual observers (ie the public) connects to Starbucks.

A number of our readers posted comments cheering the new logo, with some complimenting the brand's move to "set the siren free" and others noting that the new logo will "carry this iconic brand across markets and into the future." The latter comment was built on by others who saw the redesign as a move akin to Apple, Nike, Target or Mercedes, intended to separate the logo elements from the name itself.  In fact, the comment thread from our original piece, including observations such as how the green logo will work on a green apron, was as good a look at the debate as anywhere else.

But what about anywhere else? From outside the brandchannel bubble, here's a look at the more intriguing and worthwhile aberrations about the new Starbucks logo. Plus, a reason the new logo is, and never will be, a Nike or Apple. Continue reading...

It rebranded with a lower-case 's' in MySpace, a redesign and new logo (above) in October in a bid to become a "social entertainment destination" for youths. It duly launched an iPhone app and integrated Facebook in November, and added analytics for users and incentives for musicians, its major draw for young fans, in December.

But it all, apparently, wasn't enough to turn around its sliding fortunes. Now, News Corp.'s struggling Myspace social network is expected to shed more than half its staff — an estimated 600 employees — on Tuesday, according to AllThingsD.

Update: The site indeed laid off about half of its staff, with Yahoo reportedly ready to swoop in. The culprit for Myspace's downfall, per the New York Times: Facebook.

Our headline isn't about the Starbucks logo flap, or implying that the brand's adrift — we're talking about the first Starbucks on water, with a new location just opened on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas (featured in Oprah's final "Favorite Things" brandstravaganza), above.

It's a fitting launch in a week when Starbucks' nautical mascot, the siren, is top of mind. As for the hotly debated logo redesign, Starbucks SVP Terry Davenport tells Adweek the move to "liberate" the siren from the current logo's black-and-green ring design was approached "very sensitively."Continue reading...