Chado-Design.com

This month John Deere introduced a series of exceptional ads that have managed to add excitement and inspiration to the otherwise relatively boring agricultural equipment industry. The new brand campaign,What will you create?, features real John Deere customers who have created what they describe as “visionary lawn art”, turning what used to be a chore into a way to express yourself. The campaign is meant to inspire customers while breathing new life into an iconic brand. Along with the print ads, they also have revamped their website to showcase more examples of lawn art created using John Deere equipment. The site also has a form where visitors can submit examples of their own lawn art to be featured on the site. The ad above features Stan Herd who creates designs seen from airplanes on his Kansas property. Another ad features Pearl Fryar from South Carolina, who has logged over 1,000 hours on his John Deere. This new campaign is very effective because instead of focusing on the products its focus is on the people and their stories creating an emotional connection with the brand.

In an interesting move last week, Xerox started running ads in the Hollywood trade publications like the Hollywood Reporter in an attempt to keep its trademarked name from being used. They are requesting that mainstream media stop referring to making a copy as “to Xerox” or copies as “Xeroxes”. Typically, having your brand name directly associated with and often used in place of the actual product would be considered an honor for the brand, demonstrating its impact on culture. Take Band Aid adhesive bandages, instead of making a shopping list and writing “adhesive bandages” people usually will refer to them as band aids by habit. Same goes for brands like Q-Tips, Kleenex, and Coke. Having your brand name interchangeable for the actual name of the product means that your brand is in the forefront of consumer’s minds increasing the chance that they will use your product. Now, there is the fear of brand dilution. They fear that by using their brand name as a noun in TV and movie scripts it will devalue the name of the brand as common usage continues. It will be interesting to see if this strategy hurts or helps the brand in the long run.

The newly redesigned website for Chado Advertising & Design has officially launched. This new site has been redesigned to have a new look similar to this blog, a flash slideshow showcasing recent work, and has additional content added. There are also links to all of Chado’s social media pages, more detailed case studies, team bios, and an added link to XCD, our cross cultural design social network. This new website is easier to navigate and has a new look more consistent with Chado Advertising & Design. Check it out at www.chado-design.com!