Don’t Give Your Ads Away
I have created a short list of products that get free advertising without the consumer even realizing they don’t have to put up with the logo/ad placement.
Those ugly dishes: I like the service and price of a dish, but those dishes are ugly enough without the logo on it. You can purchase a cover that will at least hide their logo or replace it with the logo of your choice.
Websites: Unless you received a discount on the pricing, you don’t have to let your web designer put their logo or name on your website. Should print designers start putting their names on the bottom of every business card they design?
Fence companies: So many fences have large name plates on them. Unless they are still paying for the placement or you consider it some sort of status symbol (I hope not), then please take that logo off your fence. You paid for the fence not the logo.
Car dealerships: It may take some work, but you don’t have to keep that ugly dealership logo on the back of your car. Take that Hyundai logo off while you’re at it.
Watermarked paper: Why paper companies embed their own logo in their paper is beyond me. They should have to pay the designer or client to embed their company logo into something that we paid for.
Home repair signs: Lets say that someone is sanding your wood floors or roofing your house. Again, unless they are friends or they are giving you a discount, you don’t have to let them put their sign in front of your house. I can’t imagine how this became the norm for home repair.
What free ads have you noticed?
March 25th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
right here on this page bennett!
you’re advertising for 7 co.’s and 4 of them twice…for FREE!
i’ll keep my eyes focused for some locally around town here tho’!
mark @
ISM &
BAMmGRAPHICS
March 25th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I can’t believe how often people where clothing that has big logos on it. I like Old Navy as much as the next person, but I am not going to advertise for them by wearing a huge logo on the front of my shirt.
Another interesting thing that happens is when a company makes the jump with consumers and becomes a status symbol. I would love to take the logo off my Toyota Tercel, but if I had a Lexus, I don’t know if I would quite so eager to stop the advertising.
It goes the other diretion, too. I used to smile when I saw Apple stickers. I guess somewhere around the time the iPod got so big the stickers kind of lost their meaning. I am a huge mac fan, but I won’t give them free advertising anymore. Now, if I see one on a car it seems to cheapen the Apple brand. Bumper stickers seem to go against the clean brand image that made Apple so beautiful in the first place.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Very often I see “Site made by…” at the bottom of the webpage. Do you web guys let your clients know about that usually? An example is http://www.RoostSandwiches.com
March 26th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Should print designers start putting their names on the bottom of every business card they design?
Hey, that’s a great idea!
Actually, many companies put a credit in large brochures or annual reports. I wonder when that became commonplace.
FYI, car dealers will remove their logos if you ask them. I recently bought a new car and refused to take the car off the lot until they removed their logo. They kept ignoring me until they tried to hand me the keys and wave goodbye.
I don’t have as much problem with home contractors putting signs on my lawn while they are doing work. Most contracting work is found through word-of-mouth and personal referrals, so they need as much help as they can get.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I can’t believe someone else actually wrote about this!
I have noticed this for many years and try to avoid this happening to me, every chance I get. Actually, one of my first design professors brought this to my attention. If you showed up to class wearing a t-shirt with any sort of logo, he would blast you. “Why do you want to advertise for that company for free?” he would ask. Enough so, that I stopped wearing any clothes that showed any sort of branding what so ever.
From that point on, I have noticed this on car bumpers, tire covers, fences in my neighborhood, etc.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Cellphones: or at least flip-style, because when I open mine, the front LCD (the smaller one with the time) quickly changes to my provider’s logo so that others will see it when I’m using the phone.
Nike shoes are obvious.
Some women’s “designer” sunglasses. Mostly the ones with giant lenses and obnoxious frames.
And PC computers are the worst, in my opinion. Whether it’s a laptop or a desktop, it’ll be covered in stickers advertising the video card, the processor chip(s), and many others. Not to mention all the ‘crap’ware that comes pre-installed on the computer, with shortcuts vomited all over the desktop. Windows operating system aside, I can’t believe people pay for that kind of product right-out-of-the-box. I wouldn’t pay for a TV with cable/satellite providers, surround sound systems, and recent movie titles splashed all over it.
;o
April 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Geoff,
I think you are confusing normal “Branding” concepts with Bennett’s comments about free “Advertising”
- Robert