Sometimes one of the first and longest lasting brand or design decisions involves color selection. Every color has a different feel, look, or emotional resonance. Colors will evoke strong feelings towards a brand or design, so it is vital to choose a color that will represent an identity effectively.

“Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.”
- Why Color Matters

(via SwissMiss)

I was speaking with a couple of coworkers today about a client project. The client loved the marketing spin. It prompted me to talk about the marketing that is happening within the presidential campaigns. Specifically, I thought of the new McCain commercials that broke this week during the Democratic National Convention. I’m an old ad gal, so I love to watch TV commercials.

McCain is capitalizing on the split within the Democratic party between Clinton and Obama. So one spot features a Clinton supporter who has gone to the other side and is now supporting McCain. The second, which aired during Tuesday evening’s broadcast of the DMC, uses footage of Clinton stating that McCain would make a good president and Obama only made a speech.

Kudos to the creative people who worked on these commercials. I say, brilliant, regardless of political party preference. I can’t wait to see the Democratic response.

This year, Staples Business Depot in Canada continues its ongoing effort to honor teachers with a “Show Your Teacher Appreciation” contest. The contest asks students to write a 200-word essay telling Staples Business Depot why it should appreciate their teachers, and the five winning essays will garner each of the teachers a $1,000 Staples gift certificate and each of the students an iPod Nano. By recognizing excellent teachers, Staples positions itself in a market traditionally owned by large department stores. This relationship-building strategy is becoming more common and will soon be the norm rather than the exception. Kudos to Staples. This is a creative way to win the hearts of teachers — who are the main influencers of the next generation’s office product purchasers — and put their products and brand in front of young people. Staples is sure to create a level of loyalty that is not easily won. Everyone has a teacher they love and the fond memory stirred by just taking part in such a campaign is sure to make a positive connection that just might bring someone back to the store when they need, for example, a ream of paper.

Check out their news release here.

Exploiting the equity of dead or dying brands — sometimes called ghost brands, orphan brands or zombie brands — is a topic many consumer-products firms, large and small, have wrestled with for years. Here’s a NY Times story about one firm’s attempt to make a few old brands live again.