Holiday Branding

As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches and we’re deep into the throes of the holiday season, the topic of holiday branding or brand modification came up. Jason and I started discussing holiday/seasonal branding. Jason seemed to have a bit of a bah humbug attitude towards it. I have to say, that I’m for it when it is done well. In this case, done well means:
- it doesn’t send a competing message (devalue the core brand identity)
- it doesn’t generate noise and interrupt the desired customer experience
- it doesn’t violate “here and now” phenomena
- it provides complimentary novelty – keeping the identity and experience fresh
- it positively reinforces the brand and, wait for it… creates value.

Some examples of companies that do it well:
- Caribou Coffee – they utilize snowflakes that involve their Caribou icon and the online store has holiday lights in the header that match the rustic feel of their stores.
- Google – they do a great job of modifying their logo on special days (holidays, the Olympics, etc.) with what they refer to as Google doodles. CNN had a piece about Dennis Hwang, Google’s logo artist, last summer.
- Amazon – which may modify their header but doesn’t change their IA or target area is another good example.

I think part of the success and appeal is that it connects many of us. Alone, it won’t create community, but it is a bit of wink or a tip of the hat that says we’re in this together. In some ways this is like breweries offering seasonal beers. It's the same/comfortable brand year 'round, but there's something special to help mark the seasons. In the case of Summit, I’m a big fan of their IPA and Grand, which are available year ‘round. I really enjoy their Mai Bock, which marks the start of Spring, and their Winter Ale, which helps get you through a long Minnesota Winter. Summit modified their labeling recently and now uses a standard logo and only modifies the name banner. I was a fan of their old Winter logo (pictured above) as that met my criteria for effective holiday novelty.

Have a great Thanksgiving!