BRAND STUDY: From the Land of Beer and Cheese

Wisconsin, this week, unveiled a new tourism logo and tagline. The logo is being received in the typical way that a logo is received when the news reports on the project cost and shows the image. This branding project cost the state $50,000. Now, I can't be sure, but I feel pretty confident saying that the state got a lot more product than just the logo. Here is what my friends over at Brand New had to say about the logo: "The most common complaint is its cost, at $50,000 of tax payers’ money. The basic response is “$50,000 for that?” No, people, it’s not. $50,000 covers more than just coming up with a slogan, a typeface and an icon. But that has always been the problem of reporting costs when announcing a logo, people just assume the designers pocketed all the money. I can’t verify that the designers — in this case, Wisconsin-based Red Brown Klé — didn’t pocket all the money but I am pretty positive this was not a $50,000-fee identity job.

The other main complaint was the slogan, “Live like you mean it,” which has been used by other products, campaigns and, as has been quoted in articles, even by motivational speakers and authors. Gasp, the horror: “motivational speakers and authors” have used a common phrase before Wisconsin! What a travesty. Again, people criticizing this logo need to get a grip, the problem with the tag line isn’t that it has been used before but simply that it’s generic without any specificity to Wisconsin. But so is “I Love New York”, you can love any darn state, so why does “I Love New York” only work for New York? It’s about building that message in people’s heads and if Wisconsin wants to embed the thought of living life as if you meant it, so be it, give it a chance."Now, I am a big believer in engaging the public while creating these brand identity systems. I am Guessing that this is not really the case with this process, and seems to be the exception instead of the rule in the Tourism world, but I also believe that the greatest compliment to a brand is a parody, and within 48 hours of the brand launch, these t-shirts were available. I LOVE WISCONSIN!