Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google has taken the world by storm. Over the 13 years Google has become such an iconic brand that people all over the world recognise it, identify with it, and admire it.
Following their success at becoming universally accessible and useful, the search engine has excelled in expertise, leading in technology and innovation. Not only a practical solution to trawling the millions of web pages, but a brand to observe and acknowledge. The brand itself is familiar to all. Many regular users will have cottoned on to the whimsical twist known as the Google Doodle. Frequently, the Google logo itself transforms to incorporate important moments in time that should be honoured and remembered.
Last week took this feature to another level. Pushing the limits of technology, Google created an interactive doodle to pay homage to the guitar legend Les Paul. This day marked the day that would have been Paul’s 96th birthday.
The virtual working guitar was designed around the original logo, consisting of 10 operational strings and a recording button (!). Of course there we two skilfully positioned ‘O’s’ to associate with the brand. As you can imagine, this really did take the world by storm. Check it out for yourself…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFECQ06V7AE
The excitement around this innovation, for me, places Google as a brand beyond leadership. A brand beyond innovation. A brand beyond its time. Google aims to take things that work well and improve on them through their innovation and iteration. I think this example is a proven success!
Google regularly applies this innovation to their logo. The way Google can change their logo to represent something new and fresh, yet still hold its identity, says a lot for the strength of the brand familiarity.
It can take years to build a brand to such a level, that despite its distortion it can be identified. Check out these brands. Can you guess the modified brands? Have they lost their identity, or are they so strong that we instantly recognise them despite their change in form? Answers on a postcard (or email).
1. American Express
2. Cisco
3. BT
4. Google
5. YouTube
6. UPS
7. Red Bull
8. Toy”R”Us
9. PWC
10. Technicolor
Emma Dobson is a branding expert and Touch Point guru at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
