I love the “Don’t be that guy” spots created by OLSON for Fifth Third bank. They are clever and funny at the same time without ramming the message down your throat. The problem is that I’ve never actually seen any of the spots on TV even thought Fifth Third has a presence in my town.I believe these videos are intended to be viral. With that said, it’s about time some clever spots got some air time.

The “In the dark” spot with the Snuggies is classic. They never mention the product yet the message ties beautifully back to the Fifth Third tag line at the end. Well done!

Ikea is probably one of the best known global brands. Thank god they finally built one in my neck of the woods.

Their top notch design, no nonsense approach is at the heart of their success. It’s hard to walk through, what seems like miles of aisles, and leave empty handed.

Posted from iPhone.

Walmart has changed the look of it’s website and more presumably their logo. Gone is the star that separated the “Wal” and “mart.” They are going for a hipper new look. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re trying a bit too hard to be Target. 

Let’s analyze the logo:
First off, what’s with the new symbol? It looks like a dingbat from Zaph Dingbats. (To be fair, the spacing has been adjusted and color added but come on, do they think it’s clever and nobody will notice?) The symbol looks sadly out of place. Removing the star was a good idea. (I never quite understood why it was there in the first place) Blue.. not a bad choice for the type. I really like the color blue they chose. Yellow for the dingbat just doesn’t work. It’s probably not the color as much as it is the logo.

Now for the tag line:
They ditched the old line “Always Low Prices.” I guess by this point most people know pretty much that Walmart is a deep discount/bargain store. So what do the brain trust over at Walmart come up with? “Save money. Live better. WHAT! Okay, I get the save money part. I think the whole world gets that. LIVE BETTER?? We’re supposed to live better if we shop at Walmart? Is that what they’re getting at? I don’t get it.

It no mystery that Walmart’s market share is declining. It’s not a bad idea to reinvent and reshape the brand. In this case it’s a total miscue. It’s obviously a decision made by a bunch of suits at Walmart.

Target:
Target is an ever evolving brand name. They have great products at reasonable prices. And many cool designers to boot. Also, when a new Target comes to town, the community is actually happy about it. You don’t see anyone protesting or showing up at city board meetings attempting to block a new Target. The same cannot be said of Walmart.

Target has since dropped the “Target” name from the logo. Anyone can easily recognize the brand sans the actual name beside it. Now that’s clever.