I’m strugging to understand why everyone is making such a big deal about the new Gap logo. Sure, it looks like someone without any creativity designed it, but let’s be real – so did the original logo. So why, then, is everyone all up in arms about this?

A few people DM’d me on Twitter asking me my thoughts and during the weekend I read what other bloggers and journalists have to say about it. I think what it comes down to is that most people think a logo is design, just like the iPad and the iPhone are design. I disagree. Sure, a logo is design. And sure the iPad and the iPhone are design, but in different definitions of the word.

If you’re a reader of this blog, you know I’m a huge fan of Harvard Business Review. But their bloggers got it totally wrong. Umair Haque makes it sound like, because he doesn’t like the look of it, he thinks it looks like it was designed by “bean counters,” and he is confusing logo design with technology design, that Gap will lose customers and new customers won’t consider them as a shopping venue any longer. Give me a break. Continue Reading »

Guest post by Len Kendall, co-founder of the3six5 project.

For years now, since the concept of user-generated content has become commonplace in the marketing and PR world, companies have thought of crowdsourcing as a shortcut to building community that will mean less work for them.

Here’s how the conversation usually goes:

“Let’s put together a contest where target X can create Y content and upload it to our community. The best contributor will win a prize and gain status amongst their peers. We can just sit back and watch the community build upon itself.”

The challenge I would like to address is the misconception that the above is an actionable idea for most parties undertaking it.

The intentions are positive, of course, but the execution can appear lazy or short-sited if the proper investment of time and people isn’t applied. Continue Reading »

Last night I went to write today’s blog post and ended up with writer’s block. As I told Nancy Myrland, the only thing I really wanted to do is snuggle in my flannel sheets with the down comforter and the remote control.

Instead, however, I asked my Twitter friends what they would like me to write about and I got some great ideas!

* Brad Farris suggested how to feel like you’re in control of the business while traveling.

* From Bruce Smith: Trust.

* Scott Yurashek had an attention-grabbing idea: How the lack of public commentary has been lacking and how social media has made it interesting again.

* Troy Costlowhttp recommended how the intended message can’t be directly stated modestly.

* Several people suggested I write about how to get past writer’s block, which I guess I’m kind of doing by writing this blog post, even though I called them all smarty pants.

* And, God love her, Nancy tried to create a topic out of my wanting to veg out.

All of these are great ideas and you’ll see them as blog posts in the next few days. But this made me think…what would YOU like to see me write about?

* What kinds of conversations do you want to join?
* Is there someone you’d like me to interview?
* Is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask a CEO?
* Is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask a business owner?
* Is there anything you don’t understand about social media and need help?

The parameters are to stay within the PR industry, social media, or what it’s like to run a business.

If your idea is chosen as one of the blog posts, you’ll receive about 30 seconds of fame. And a fun surprise (which means I haven’t yet figured out what it is).