M D Anderson Rebranding Program’s Great Story – Behind the AMA Firewall.

Am I committing a faux pas? Or delivering a service?

I ask because Mary M Flory wrote a fine, descriptive article in the just-arrived issue of Marketing Health Services. Titled, “Painting the Town Red,” it’s about the M D Anderson Cancer Center rebrand. And for the moment, it’s for American Marketing Association members only – stashed behind the MarketingPower.com firewall.

This copyrighted article features the institution’s Associate Vice President of Marketing Alicia Jansen – that’s her in the publication’s photograph – and details how the institution’s stakeholder team pulled off its “comprehensive brand overhaul.”

(On a smacking-my-forehead note, I missed the chance to scoop Flory because Jansen presented the story, in person, at our AMAHouston Healthcare SIG event in June. And I did NOT blog about it.)

I am not going to reprise the article, nor take away from the hard work of brand reviewing and rebranding conducted by the MD Anderson Cancer Center team. But I think it’s worth bringing some element out from behind the firewall – the five challenges that MD Anderson had to identify before the brand could be “fixed.” Directly quoting from the Flory piece, they were:

1. Brand interpretation: MD Anderson did not have an understanding of how its brand promise was being perceived across its many stakeholders.

2. Brand asset performance: MD Anderson’s previous logo and other brand assets did not differentiate the organization nor communicate its mission as strongly. In addition, the assets were dated, fading into the current communications environment.

3. Brand voice: With the volume of communications being disseminated from the organization, MD Anderson noticed a dilution of the brand. This dilution was due, in part, to the lack of a unified design and messaging system.

4. Brand growth: Due to growth in the past 10 years and the mission to be a global leader in cancer care, several national and global relationships were established and a brand architecture and management system had not been implemented to unite or tie the strategy together.

5. Brand management: MD Anderson used a cross-functional approach to communicating its brand and did not have a strategy to manage its current approach, much less future growth.

It’s classic “Find the problems” stuff. (Gotta find ‘em before you can fix ‘em.) Well…your institution or company may be facing the need to build a stronger brand voice. So you next steps are: join the American Marketing Association, get behind its firewall and read the article. It’s a fine first guide to rebranding.

Me? I’m grateful to AMAHouston and Jansen for the chance to have heard all the newest parts of the story first-hand. (I did blog about the MD Anderson ad campaign here 18 months back.) Even more, thanks to Flory, Managing Editor of Magazines for the American Marketing Association, for the telling-in-print.

When Your City Rebrands (like Ames, IA), Don't Take Umbrage. Take Advantage.

I wouldn't have paid attention to the Ames Patch post by Jessica Miller if I hadn't stopped in this Iowa college city on Monday for supper . (Sure enough, we pulled into a parking spot opposite Olde Main Brewing Company to see Michelle Bachmann for President 2012 campaign posters in the storefront windows.)

It turns out that the City of Ames hired Des Moines's PUSH Branding & Design to revamp the existing multi-green-colored logo. The experienced agency appears to have executed its usual job of creating a completely new look and approach for the city of 60,000....that's the red version on the left.

The City Council has asked the citizens for their opinions in a posting to the Ames municipal website, where you can see other versions of the new brand, as well as a proposed theme line: Heartland's Leading Edge.

These variations present Ames's biggest challenge – change. Asking citizens to comment, well, I realize it's right out of the “Big Book of City Council Things To Do.” But perhaps they shouldn't have.

Example: one commenter to Miller's blog post notes:

It's the old “If it ain't broke don't fix it!” The current logo has more impact, straight forward, bold, and fully understandable. Why spend thousands of whose money?? [sic] on something abstract that only a few understand. I used to design logos for local small businesses and never charged a dime. The same designers may be found here in Ames that would just take pride and not laugh all the way to the bank. Also, not appreciative of the costs involved in changing letter heads and other signage. What a waste for Ames.

I do not quote “Jo” in full to be patronizing. Having reviewed a couple of dozen city-rebrand stories over the past several years, though, I suggest that these posted comments encompass most of the complaints I've seen in other civic branding challenges – nothing wrong with the existing logo; new logo costs “thousands” of taxpayers' money; design too abstract/obscure/doesn't fit the civic persona; why go out of town for a design firm...and so on.

Yet whether the new brand proposed by PUSH is awful or awesome, look back a couple of paragraphs for that magic word, “change.” Properly, the City Council of Ames has decided that the 15-year-old green logo (on the right) is...dated. It is broken. It's the Council's job to fix that problem – without even reading the city charter, I am as certain as the Straw Poll it's charged with promoting economic and cultural growth. A new brand of any flavor ought to push in that direction.

It's also the City Council's job to spend money. Not foolishly, not wastefully...but productively. Generally, we pay taxes so that our governments can get on with the job of providing for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...by spending that tax revenue on a wide variety of projects and services.

It's a recurring fallacy that governments should not spend our money...or refuse to make decisions that cause change. Transforming the Ames logo mark to RED from GREEN is, I suspect, a really big one.

I leave aside the observation that someone might design logos for businesses and never charge a dime. Any good worker is worthy of his hire. Without knowing the parameters of the RFP, maybe PUSH Design could fulfill the terms and Ames agencies could not. Or PUSH brought a level of branding experience to this project that local outfits couldn't match.

So take another look at the Des Moines design firm and decide for yourself if it has the chops for the Ames rebrand project.

Feel free to weigh in on the Ames City Council request for feedback by emailing sgwiasda@city.ames.ia.us – today's the last day the Council will accept your thoughts; or comment at the bottom of the Miller blog post.

I'll say this: the proposed Heartland's Leading Edge line (leave out the article, please) makes good sense when I read how much research and development, agricultural and otherwise, goes on around this 60,000-people city. And as with every brand change, the more you promote it, advertise it and take advantage of it, the better off you'll be.

First, though – go with it!

How Rachel and Alison Help Make Up for Missing International Pickle Week.

Keeping an advertising blog while traveling is highlighted by happenstance. Today's post is powered by the appearance of a jar of Gedney State Fair Baby Baby Dills in our rooms here in New Prague. I had forgotten that Minnesota is so much of a “pickle state.” Wisconsin gets cranberries; the Land of 10,000 Lakes gets kosher dills.

Among many other varieties and circumstances. You can eat your way through the State Fair on pickles as Baking Junkie blogger Aimee demonstrates, “...a Pickle Dog. A pickle spear wrapped in cream cheese and pastrami. Absolutely fabulous and just like eating a giant pickle roll-up (another typically midwestern appetizer)”

International Pickle Week was last May, according to Minnesota Monthly writer Marie Flanagan, who also offered the classic Deep Fried Pickle Recipe...from Gedney. Which is why it's a pleasure to note that constant exploration and food purchasing by Rachel Baron and Alison Bond is such a great payoff for a marketing blogger like Signalwriter.

Not only didn't I remember the pretty darn famous Gedney Pickle Company from up here, but I didn't know that the...pickle giant...had been marketing a perfect peck of pickle products for this part of the world: its “State Fair” line-up.

Briefly, the first Gedney pickle factory opened in Minneapolis in 1881. A hundred or so years later, as a Minnesota State Fair sponsor, the company began packing and marketing top-prize-winning pickle recipes from ribbon winners there in 1991 with the Kosher Dills of Genevieve Spano and the Bread & Butter Pickles from Nita Schemmel. (The present jar of Baby Baby Dills is a prize-winner from Kathy Earnest, Lindstrom, MN.) And the locally famous jingle, “Get me a Gedney, it's the Minnesota pickle,” created by freelancer Sandy Buckholtz, grabbed hold up here.

Gedney has grown far beyond selling pickles from the back of horse-drawn wagons – it expanded by buying brands like Cain's to capture New England; and produces pickles for both Del Monte and Target's Archer Farms brand lines. Most important: Gedney's State Fair line maintains a resolute local focus, the “pickles here” of grocery marketing and promotion. For a company like this, thinking local continues to pay off, whether local equals Massachusetts or Minnesota.

Travel broadens one's view of advertising and promotion, alongside regional foods and events. Good to pick up a little fresh knowledge (and some pickles) while on the road. We'll be trying out these at the Slavik family reunion. Maybe I can tell you how Kathy's recipe has turned out.

PS: You betcha – that's Kathy right there on the label.

Wichita Ale Tales: The Brewer Polishes Old Snortin' Norton.

In Wichita, Kansas, Dan Norton is the Head Brewer at River City Brewing Company. We've been stopping here every time Barbara and I drive to Minnesota...for years. This time, though, Maria (our server) offered something different: Old Snortin' Norton, a beer created by the brewer to celebrate his 1,000^th beer. It is...fine. Said the same in an email to Norton; asked for details. And you know, sometimes you just can't beat other people's stories. Here's at least three – from the brewer's mouth.

Thank you for the nice comments on my 1,000^th batch. A lot of times for commemorative brews, I’ll brew something very big, add some crazy ingredients, age it in some kind of barrel with tons of dry hops, push the limits a little.

I have been researching my family history quite a bit this year, and I thought for my 1,000^th batch that I’d keep it simple with a straightforward style, but a style that is “all there” when it comes to flavor. My grandpa Bob taught me how to homebrew when I was 18 and stumbled upon his batch of Pale Ale that he brewed in the basement fridge.

Grandpa Bob was a strong-willed, some say stubborn guy that loved his family and grandkids very much! He was an engineer for the Grand Trunk Railroad in Battle Creek, Michigan, and was known at every bar that was on his route home from work, as Old Snortin’ Norton, or sometimes “Snort” for short. He was also on the USS Reid in Pearl Harbor, and when you look at records online of who was on that ship, it lists the crew with a column for nicknames. Sure enough, it says Snortin’ Norton next to my grandpa!

I never got to sit at a brewery with Old Snortin’ since he passed when I was 20, so I wanted to honor him with this beer, and every glass I drink of it, I raise it up for my grandpa!

Since we all hail from England, I decided on an English Old Ale. My version is on the dark end of the spectrum for this style, but within range. The 7.7% alcohol Is also towards the top range, but that’s what I wanted. I used Maris Otter as my base malt for this beer, which adds a little more grainy-biscuit flavor and a little more body than our standard 2-row Pale Malt.  Some Caramel 80, a mid-range Caramel malt adds a little toasted toffee-like flavor, Chocolate Malt and Black Malt add to the complexity by adding their dark color and sweet roast flavor.

But hold it to the light and the deep amber color of the Caramel malt will shine a nice garnet color. East Kent Goldings, and Fuggle Hops add their spicy English Hop character, then I fermented with a English yeast strain, which adds that signature flavor. All in all, I think it turned out really good. It will age nicely, so I am stowing two kegs away for a rainy day, possibly for our 18^th Anniversary Party (which is a can’t-miss event!)

If you and your wife were to only have one day a year to stop into the brewery the first Saturday in March would be it!  We pull out all the stops and release some really nice beers that day.  Plus, they are all $2.50, you can't beat that!

Cheers to you and your exploration of good beer, Richard.

Companies, brands, products (such as RCBC's handmade beers) – they're all burnished by good stories. Big-time thanks, Dan Norton, for sharing these. The photo of the brew pub (top) is from the Wichita Library, thanks very much. In the smaller photo, the glass on the right contained the Old Snortin' Norton. Barbara's Emerald City Stout – same brewer – is on the left.

Sunday Supplement Advertising: Envy is Pink on Deer Leases This Season.

I’m having a hard time with the Academy Sports + Outdoor “Hunter’s Headquarters” supplement today…putting that pink pistol under the headline STOCK UP FOR HUNTING SEASON. On the other hand…

“Dang,” Big George Ardmore pronounces to Boy-John Jones when he finally gets up to the top of the deer stand. “I do not recall ever seein’ you or anyone else I know carry a pink gun on this deer lease.”

Boy-John turns right into that. “Big George, this here is a Taurus PT 22 automatic pistol, which I have acquired for the everyday low price of $229.99 from the fine folks at Academy up in the big city.”

“That’s a mighty small hole in the front of that pee-sto-lay,” Buddy Rounds advises, sneaking in a comment from his seat on top of the beer cooler. “Still and all, that hot pink grip sure makes a statement.”

Boy-John is known for a bit of a temper but keeps his feeling damped right down. “I’ll have you know that this ain’t pink. It’s rasberry – said so right in the sales flyer.”

“Yeah, well, I saw that flyer too,” Buddy says. “First off, they done misspelled ‘rasberry.’ They’s a ‘p’ in that word and the advertiser left it out. Second pretty important point – the flyer says it’s Caliber .45 ACP which is plain wrong.”

Buddy reaches into the cooler for an early-AM beer and hands another over to Big George. “And finally, you coulda got that same firearm from Shermbob’s Guns in Pennsylvania for just $190 plus shipping.”

Without one more word, Boy-John turns his back on his buddies, clambers down the ladder and wobbles his way over to the four-wheeler which he fires up and roars off on in the direction of the cabin.

Big George turns to Buddy and says, “I am sorry he got all heated up – I was just gonna tell him how well I thought that ‘rasberry’ pistol grip matched his Jimmy Choo whipstitch ankle boots today.”

That’s it for Sunday. Don’t forget to stock up for hunting season your own self: Jimmy Choo fashion footwear available at Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

From Rome (and Signalwriter) #5: In America, Vespa Lives and Rides On…

The latest issue of “Blurb,” the electronic newsletter from PAN Advertising in Rome, was sent out in the middle of the second quarter. There are neat articles from PAN’s Dialogue affiliates in the Aprile-Maggio 2011 number.

PAN’s General Manager, Gianfranco Vallana, sent us all a nice email: “With the second issue we got a significant improvement in the opening (58%) and the number of unique visitors (+22%). About 1,000 marketers in Italy now are becoming aware of Dialogue. We are sure that this is a good first step to market Dialogue in this country.”

Here is what my contribution had to say:

It is not likely that much will change America’s gasoline consumption level (and the free-range lifestyle that goes with it) anytime soon. At least one company is trying, though – another Italian classic brand called…Vespa.

The terrific, iconic motor scooter company, part of Piaggio, opened up a new pitch in 2008, complete with fresh website and advertising. Paolo Timoni, President and CEO, Piaggio Group Americas, said at the time, “It’s the practical side of Vespa ownership, such as the ability for every consumer to save $6,000 per year by reducing their wheel count from eight to six, that this campaign focuses on.”

This push is ongoing – the current website edition stresses VESPANOMICS – THE ROAD TO SAVINGS with plenty of room left over for the snappy models. (A personal favorite would be the GTV 300 model which seems to have enough muscle to overcome my fears about looking dorky.)

It will take a Superman to change enough American minds to make a difference. Sheer numbers are a big problem. There is poor market penetration here. One overviewer, Motor Scooter Shopper, notes:

There are many reasons for the scooter market being the way it is, but for the most part it’s due to the American scooter market being but a small fraction of the overall world scooter market (as opposed to the American automobile market being a large chunk of the world automobile market). In 2007 there were only 1 million registered scooters in the US, compared to over 30 million in Europe alone. How many scooters are being used in Asia is unknown…but it’s safe to assume the total number in Asia far surpasses even the Europe number.

Also, attempting to control accident rates, state and local jurisdictions have begun strengthening motorcycle laws to include the milder-performing scooters. Vespas and other motorini used to …drive under the radar, so to speak: riding one around town was pretty casual. Now there is a growing “hassle factor” involved in owning and operating a motor scooter.

Vespa is working on these challenges and change is coming. Still, appealing to economic sense seems a less likely pathway to success than pushing harder on the neat, cool and fun aspects. Check back with us in a decade to see how Vespa’s brand share is doing here.

Thanks to my excellent PAN colleagues and their audience throughout Italy. For previous “Blurb” posts – in English and Italian – type From Rome in the search box, upper left and press Enter.

Would You Buy a Tincture from This Man? How About a Cure for the Common Cold?

Yes – that’s His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, etc. And unbeknownst to me, he’s been in the business of creating and marketing sustainable products for years. They’re sold under the name Duchy Originals from Waitrose, “A partnership preserving our heritage.”

Waitrose acquired the organic range a couple of years ago. It then relaunched the products in its own retail locations exclusively. The Duchy got additional new products and all-new packaging too. The mostly organic, “good food” products range from black pepper wheaten biscuits to Old Ruby Ale, beetroot seeds to herbal tinctures. It’s these tinctures that keep getting Duchy Originals into trouble.

In 2009, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Britain forced Duchy Originals to change wording on ads for the Duchy Herbals Echina-Relief Tincture and Duchy Herbals Hyperi-Lift Tincture – the marketer couldn’t prove efficacy, yet kept promoting it. In the same period, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority was “investigating claims made on behalf of the Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture which said it can rid the body of toxins.”

Now – Extra! Extra! – Britain's leading alternative medicine researcher, Edzard Ernst, has “re-ignited a public row…by branding the Prince of Wales a ‘snake oil salesman’.” Read all about this latest brick-toss in the Guardian here.

I brought the affray to the attention of Becci Himes, Executive Director of the British-American Business Council here in Houston. She said, “I only found a few tinctures that Duchy sells. Nothing outrageous. The bulk of their products are organic foods and a portion of their sales goes to charity.”

With her note in mind, I’m re-centered about the whole, distant thing. Waitrose was much praised originally for rescuing the Prince’s product lines. More important, it has done a good fair job carrying on with the Duchy Originals brand theme overall. Whether you like the Royals or not, there’s real value in putting Prince Charles’s prestige behind “natural, organic, sustainable.”

I would buy a cold remedy from HRH. The Duchy Herbals Echina-Relief Tincture, intended to relieve “the symptoms of the common cold and influenza-type infections,” gets a pass from that same vocal critic, Ernst. He claims there’s real evidence that echinacea helps against colds.

Waitrose could even get a bump in sales Duchy-wise because of the renewed attention. Ta for the weekend.

Photos: HRH Prince Charles by Matt Dunham/AP. Duchy tincture from the company website. All rights reserved.

To Fight the Brand Bandits – in the Front Lines and Online – Become a Whistle-Blower.

“Chinese officials have found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming,” reads one article lead, in stately fashion. (Reuters has done a spectacular job of documenting the brand theft in photos like the one above.)

Isn’t it shocking. The Chinese caught stealing brands. Again. In case you missed the last time I blogged about this (“Ripped Off” here), let me remind you that there is little respect for the sanctity of brands in “Land of the Big Exports.”

There’s also little enforcement inside the country. And apparently little punishment to “evil-doers” in this connection. Not terribly surprising when news covers human tragedies on a Somalia or even Norway scale.

Still, maybe you care enough to ask yourself, “What can I do to help stop brand theft? How can I help preserve the value of a brand that I love – or at least respect?”

Well, you could start by reading the “Brand Counterfeiting” blog post by Lee Grayson. Make a new career of it by attending the next Anti-Counterfeiting & Brand ProtectionTM conference – that would be in NYC at the end of September.

Or you can simply out brand thieves by taking it to the Internet, whether you see something major like a Chinese retailer skanking the Starbucks brand or a neighborhood video dealer with a hand-painted Mickey Mouse. Drop a dime (email a photo of the offending store or label) to the legal department of the brand owning company. Do your duty as an advertising person, as a brand marketing, as a corporate communicator. Blow a whistle.

Each of the US brand names in this post is protected by one or more trademarks. All rights reserved. “Land of the Big Exports” is a favored nickname invented by Mshimwoman on Yahoo.com – other options include “The Middle Kingdom” and “Sleeping Dragon.”

Google+ and 10 Million+ Testers: Signalwriter Catches Bleeding Edge by Fingertips.

The Google+ project aims to make sharing on the web more like sharing in real life.

That’s what Google says in its new social site meta tag. Now’s my chance to offer a more public “thank you” to Rachel Parker of Resonance for inviting me onto Google+ to share in the latest social media experience. Since a marketer or advertiser can’t walk out of a fern bar or a brew pub without tweeting about it, the value of constantly advancing social media cannot be overlooked.

I will be spending the weekend learning about Circles, Sparks and Hangouts. The fact that the Google+ dashboard looks like the control panel of a spacecraft from Remulak is no excuse. I’m certain I’ll get used to it.

One thing I’d like to experiment with is making my Google+ appearance a Signalwrite Marketing presence now, instead of waiting a few months. Writing on SiteTrail.com, another Parker (Debbie Parker) says:

Google hopes to make Google+ available for enterprise users later this year. It will feature rich analytics and the capability to connect a Google+ identity to other services that businesses use, such as AdWords. Google ask businesses not to create consumer Profiles for Google+.

First, though, I’m going to do what “my” Parker’s already done: work through the ins and outs of this new thing. If I’m not back by Monday morning, you guys can have my Starbucks card.

Photo adapted from SiteTrail.com – thank you.

Celebrate (and Support) Texas Film Production with TXMPA This Week.

You do know that “The Alamo” is not the only movie ever filmed in Texas? We’ve got all kinds of movies in production here, plus commercials, industrial films, interactive and digital projects. You name it, we do it right here. Don’t you want to keep on doing it? I sure do.

A lot of the industry people who make this happen will be in Houston starting tomorrow, lining up for the annual meeting of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance on July 23rd.

This TXMPA is an advocacy group that supports our film, video, interactive and digital media. It lobbies the Lege in Austin. It’s been pretty successful in getting incentives passed by state legislators that’ll bring even more production to Texas, including funding for the Texas Moving Image Incentive Program.

Why’s this get-together important enough to warrant a Signalwriter blog post? Not to mention events and parties here in the Bayou City all week long? Because video media production means work. That counts my own.

Working for and with Locke Bryan Productions I have had the chance to do video and TV projects like this. I’ve worked on client audio projects with Audio Bob. I’ve worked with Zephyr Salvo on website creation and content development. Participants in the TXMPA are an integral part of my work-life.

When colleagues like Locke Bryan, Bob Vance and John Phillippe (among others) tell me they’re hosting a party for the industry and TXMPA attendees on Friday, July 22, I’d kinda like to be there to say “I appreciate your work.”

Becci Himes, Executive Director of the British-American Business Council Houston, also sent the TXMPA schedule over – she wants me to attend the luau the following evening, after the membership meeting. She noted, “Richard, I see a new Hawaiian shirt in your future!”

I’ll start by wearing an extra-loud one to this Margarita Madness lash-up on Friday. I’ll try to drop some memorable lines like, “You shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, believe me, Texas is not the place you wanna get caught.”

That’s from “Thelma and Louise,” 1991. Not filmed here. Maybe one of those TXMPA-ers will be able to use it in marketing.

Let There be a Sonic in Sonic’s Future and Vice-Versa: A Made-in-Detroit Promo Dream.

The upcoming new Chevrolet Sonic is the only real subcompact that’s being built in America – says so right here in The New York Times…the first since the Chevette back when Gerald Ford was President. Including “destination charges,” the 2012 Sonic will start around $14K with the most standard safety equipment in the sub-compact class, according to General Motors.

So attention, GM: What could be better than putting the new car together with America’s Drive-In: Sonic® restaurants. Look – it’s America’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants, more than 3,500 of them in 43 states. It touts that some 3 million customers eat at its stores every day. And it has a powerful local base of franchisers to support all kinds of coop initiatives with Chevy dealers and fan clubs.

(I am kinda partial to the new Baja Dog myself right now – not that I’m busting my South Beach Diet for ‘em.)

Shucks, it’s even got the old “…hot dogs…and Chevrolet” jingle ready-to-serve. Remember, you heard it from Signalwriter first. So I hope to receive a new Chevy Sonic – the hatchback, I think; or a year’s worth of free eating at America’s Drive-In. Or both.

Set the Wayback Machine (Again): “Celebrating 50 Space Travel Yrs.”

In new advertising for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, by Creative Director Kim Bloedorn, you can see the difference between satire (bad) and homage (really, really good):

When I was asked to create ads to run in the anniversary section of the Houston Chronicle Space Shuttle tribute, my immediate inspiration was retro-styled art. What better way to celebrate 50 years in space.

Our hometown paper’s made room for major efforts commemorating NASA, the last shuttle launch and the milestones of space flight. The museum’s strong connections with NASA via its education and planetarium programs spurred its participation in the special Chronicle section published today.

There are a lot of us whose awareness of “the final frontier” predated Sputnik. We grew up with Double Star (Robert Heinlein, 1956), “Forbidden Planet” (MGM, same year) and the omnipresent rocket engineer of the 20th Century (Wernher von Braun, 1912-1977). For hundreds of thousands of us, manned space exploration was a no-brainer; has been, in fact, a constant presence in our lives.

For some of us, it has fueled careers that have lasted through today – in media broadly, in PR and advertising specifically. From campaigns for companies like MBDA to ongoing enthusiasm for the imagery of old Soviet rocket programs in modern marketing illustration, there’s an undying meme that feels distinctly American but has spent half a century transcending borders.

Today here’s Bloedorn in full (funky) color, spacing me out with her finned rocket ships and scuffed planetary rings and the bucktoothed kid in the zip-up spaceship suit.

For her, it’s a…jubilee of memory: I hoped it would spark an emotional connection with those of us that remember the days when the space program began and celebrate the fun that can still be had from learning and exploring space right here at HMNS.

Culture infects advertising. Advertising infects culture. In case you don’t believe that the new HMNS ads aren’t channeling meme-makers like Kelly Freas, take a quick visual peek at one month in one year of fantasy and science fiction: January 1954. Better yet, drive by the Planet Ford dealership in Humble. Or the Flying Saucer shop on Crosstimbers: “Our Pies Are Out of This World!”

So are Bloedorn’s adverts.*

*I bet Bloedorn would like me to note, 2011 © HMNS. All rights reserved.

What Will Really Happen to Signalwriter’s Blogging Platform?

The word’s out – Google will “probably” rebrand the Blogger platform it bought along with previous owner Pyra Labs in 2003. Reader comments to one CNet report are mixed, but generally positive…some respondents rightly see the value in concentrating more attention in the overall Google brand.

That’s important to me because Blogger is where Signalwriter has been since I began writing it in 2005…it’s a long time in Internet years. I have been grateful to Blogger for a long time for enabling me to practice my craft (writing) and promote my brand (Signalwrite Marketing) in such a well-supported way. And did I mention, without cost?

The universe of blogging has grown so complex since I began, it’s unlikely if not impossible to have it neatly summed up. I won’t try, though I am considering a raucous beer bash for my blog’s 10th Anniversary. So just you stick around to see what happens in the next four years…it looks as though Google is going to keep changing everything, but I’ll keep the beer cold.

The Civil War’s First July 4th: Lincoln and Congress.

In his message to an extraordinary session of Congress 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln built his administration’s case for going to war against his own countrymen. Presenting these words – if you haven’t read them in a long time, you ought to read them now, today – is no different than other American Presidents in other national crises. This, however, was the first time.

Lincoln reviewed the circumstances leading up to his post-Inaugural decisions. He recapped the surrender of Fort Sumter to elements of the rebellious states. He pointed out: In this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country, the distinct issue: "Immediate dissolution, or blood.’’

He said to the US Congress:

This issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic, or a democracy – a government of the people, by the same people – can, or cannot, maintain its territorial integrity, against its own domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control administration, according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or on any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence, break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth.

He said to the US Congress, and to the free people of this nation, that the war is:

…a People’s contest...a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men...”

Although much has been written about this message, the great commanders and the great battles have gotten far more ink. Also, 6,500 words long…it’s not going to be recapitulated here, on this 4^th of July.

Yet Lincoln’s message is as detailed and layered a presentation of US government aims as has ever been presented. Never let the fact that this message is a century and a half old blind you to the facts of its sophistication, its nuance and its sheer argumentative force.

The President calls for the enlistment of 500,000 men – Congress authorizes that call. Seventeen days later, Confederate troops defeat the Union Army under Irvin McDowell at First Manassas southwest of Washington. Federal troops fall back into Washington and Lincoln realizes the war will be a long one: “It’s damned bad,” he comments.

This brief series of initiating events is hard to think about today. In wishing you the best possible 4^th of July, after a tumultuous year in our country (and a redeeming one, in my opinion), I ask you again to read Lincoln’s 6, 500 words. They are about freedom, about the preservation of our way of life. They are about (in Lincoln’s fine turn of phrase), “the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers, and common sailors.”

The message is, most of all, about “the patriotic instinct of the plain people” of America. Happy Independence Day.