BRAND IDENTITY
Curtis adds that they’re most attractive to fast- moving industries where brand image is crucial, such as consumer goods, media and sports.
The ‘Google doodle’
Since its launch in 1998, search engine Google has ornamented the company logo on its landing page in different ways to mark national holidays or significant anniversaries. Its ‘Google doodles’ have become increasingly elaborate and interactive through the years, with some versions featuring moving parts and even embedding playable games.
As one of the world’s most recognisable brands, Google can afford to adapt and scramble its logo on a regular basis; it uses its fame to its advantage.
Lisa Pearson, a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in New York, says there are at least two reasons the fluid mark works particularly well for Google. Te first—the “homepage advantage”—exists because people visiting the Google home page at expect to see the Google logo in a particular place on the site, and they know Google is the source of the page they are visiting, even if it displays a variant of the usual Google logo, she says.
Te doodle also makes a statement about the brand, she says. “Google has always had an exuberant and innovative brand identity, so playing with its logo reinforces the identity of the company.”
Teir prime position in countless high-profile locations makes some established logos attractive advertising real estate for other brands, presenting cobranding opportunities, where one brand’s logo may provide the ‘frame’ for another.
Logos as billboards
Swedish vodka brand Absolut has long used its distinctive bottle shape as a canvas for different designs and concepts. In 2009 it took part in London department store Selfridges’ 100th birthday celebrations by creating a bottle in the store’s signature yellow.
Meanwhile, US-based organisation (RED) is using the power of well-known brands as a force for good. (RED) has partnerships with companies including Apple, Starbucks and Coca-Cola, which donate up to 50 percent of the proceeds from any (RED)-branded products they sell towards efforts to fight AIDS.
Although introducing other companies’
well-known imagery into an existing mark is a popular strategy for refreshing an old trademark while reaping commercial benefits, it isn’t without its risks.
14 Trademarks & Brands Online
“IF THE ‘USE’ OF THE TRADEMARK DEPARTS TOO FAR FROM THE ‘REGISTRATION’ OF THE MARK, THEN THE REGISTRATIONS CAN BECOME VULNERABLE TO ATTACK.”
Curtis says it’s crucial to get consent from
whoever holds rights to the imagery. “Tere is no real alternative to consent if you are to incorporate another company’s well-known imagery into your fluid trademark.
“It is likely that such imagery will be protected by copyright law, and potentially under design and trademark law.”
However, Pearson adds, before drawing up any agreements, brand owners should consider for how long they want to use their fluid mark. In many cases, it can be difficult to obtain exclusive or perpetual rights, and a simple consent may suffice for short-term use.
“Te tension is that trademarks are theoretically perpetual in duration for as long as they’re in use,” she says.
“Under US copyright law the author has the right to terminate a transfer or exclusive licence aſter a period of time, so if your trademark is based on a copyrighted work and you don’t own the copyright in that work, that can pose real problems if the trademark remains in use for a long time.”
Risky business Part of
the fluid trademark’s appeal comes
from its playful departure from the reference trademark. In fact, it’s this willing departure from
Volume 3, Issue 2
the recognisable mark that signals the strength of the brand, so it’s not a strategy for everyone.
“It’s a potentially dangerous thing to do if your trademark is weak or not well known because you’re walking away from the basic registered trademark which requires use to enhance its protection,” says Petillion.
“You really must have a very strong basic trademark before you should consider it.”
Channel 4’s distinctive ‘4’ logo has undergone dozens of reincarnations in the broadcaster’s 31-year history. In possibly one of the boldest experiments in trademark fluidity, in the short films that are screened before every Channel 4 programme,
it deconstructs the ‘4’ into
imperceptible pieces that are scattered across a landscape, which could be a city centre, shipyard or country field.
Ten, a sweeping shot takes in all this scenery as the ‘4’ pieces come into view, and for an instant the pieces are reassembled into the recognisable ‘4’ shape before disappearing again.
It’s a subtle but bold move that could only be pulled off by a confident brand. Tere is always the risk that the logo’s reincarnation simply won’t be as recognisable as the standard mark and lead to confusion.
Other brands have faced similar problems.
Capitalising on its homepage advantage and licence to experiment, Google perhaps pushed the boundaries of its mark too far when it marked artist Jackson Pollock’s birthday in 2009, offering a barely recognisable ‘Google’ rendered in the abstract expressionist’s paint drips.
“Te goal of the fluid mark is to boost the fame of the original, not undermine it,” says McDonnell.
“Fluid trademarks flout conventional best
practices—a trademark identifies a brand and must be used consistently or else you risk diluting the brand’s distinctiveness and confusing the customer,” he adds.
“Fluid trademarks should never be random, but follow a deliberate brand strategy.”
Brand owners also need to be wary that their fluid mark is not copied, and that it doesn’t itself infringe third-party IP rights.
Protecting the mark
Petillion says it’s not always necessary to protect a fluid mark, and that it should be done only if it has gained significant added value to the brand and has been used frequently.
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