Dismal New Design for DNC Deemed Defective
The Brief: Political season is upon us and although it’s a bit late, I thought I’d start this season’s political branding blunders with the introduction of the Democrats new logo. While I’m still a holdout for the President to pull something out of his hat and save our Economy, I can’t imagine from where DNC Chairman, Tim Kaine pulled out the idea for the new DNC logo. If you follow Branding Blunders at all, you know that far too often, not long before a defeat or period of poor performance, a hack marketer will push to create a new logo, thinking somehow it will fix everything.
You also know it’s a sign of desperation to engage in such a practice without having something new to offer. The Democrats are no exception to make mistakes in this manner. The new “D” logo was introduced two months before the Dems had their rear-ends handed to them by Republicans and Tea Party candidates in November of last year, who were able to tell a more compelling story and differentiate themselves more effectively.
NYC company SS+K designed the logo, but I’m hard-pressed to think that they came up with this on their own, it’s just so “nothing.” More likely than not, they dealt with lots of folks who were unqualified to make such decisions. If you’re a small business owner, never risk your company’s future to the whims of staff members who are not professional marketers or designers. If you're a professional marketing or designer, politicians and small businesses need you to be courageous and lead them to success. if you cave in to be a people pleaser, than you have nobody to blame but you for your failure.
I can guess what kind of marching orders they received, something to the effect of, “Hey, we want something that looks like the Obama logo, that was so cool! Can you do that, but tie in something that says Democrat?” I’m sure SS+K got way more than they bargained for on this project, because politicians are not designed to be creative, they are designed to be consensus builders and great heart wrenching, life changing design is not built by consensus.
Is it a blunder? Oh yes! The new logo lacks any hint of America or patriotism. It lacks any hint at legacy. It lacks any hint for a vision of the future. Overall the new DNC logo is simply lacking and it's a horrible reflection upon the Democratic Party.
How to avoid this blunder: Do not allow your staffers to insert themselves to drive the development of your new brand. A great designer will tell you if you’re better off keeping what you’ve got, but staffers will be unable to make such a recommendation. The attraction of working on a project where they can pretend to be an artist and have no true responsibility will be far too enticing for them to reject.
Instead of creating a new logo, I suggest you create a new value proposition. Then afterwards, invest in producing a professional video that illustrates your value proposition to the masses in the clearest manner you’re able. More often than not, you’ll be far better served by refining your reason for being rather than simply changing what logo you’re seeing. I might not win the popular vote with this opinion, but my job is to get your customers to elect you and not your competition.
