Our more permanent lecterns are available in Wood, Acrylic or Metal all have similar functions but look very different so check them out here – lecterns

Our in house printing department can customised several of the podium designs with you company logo

This topic is food for thought for another day, for now we will be looking at the problem of logos becoming outdated and how companies have evolved their logo over time to stay relevant. Another point to consider is the recent revival of retro branding, that is companies using their original logo to show they are an established brand and to let the customer connect with their history.

Generally speaking iconic logos tend to be simple. They need to be used in all situations from a business card to an advertising banner, sports hoarding or even the tail fin of a plane. Below are some examples of iconic logos and how they have evolved.

Microsoft Xbox – here is the first example of brands ditching their name in the logo. Obviously it would be hard to do this for a start up company, but once the format, style and colour of the logo is associated with a brand, they are able to remove the text while it still being recognisable to the general public.

Shell – well the use of the shell is obviously a mainstay of their logo, which is clever in itself as not many brands can get away with using the visual representation of their company name as their logo, and to be honest it hasn’t changed too much over the decades. The red and yellow colours are important to their business as you will see the majority of their forecourts whislt driving, and most drivers can tell a petrol station from the colours of the roof before they even see the sign. Again they have lost the name from their logo.

Starbucks – this logo has managed to not stray too far from the original but also stays current and up to date.

Ford – this is a classic logo and is the first one that uses a unique font combined with the blue and white colours to make a brand that is synonymous with tradition and reliability. Again they have made use of advances in graphic design to make their logo stay fresh with use of metallic effects.

Adidas – their clothing is known for the three stripes, and they have cleverly used this in both versions of their logo. In the clothing market branding is everything, and I believe that the Adidas one is instantly recognisable, yet simplistic in its design and colour.

BP – the last logo on the list incorporates many of the factors already seen; losing text, symbolic colours, fresh redesign, but also is perhaps the most different in terms of the starting point to the current one. A brand like BP can get away with it as their logos are seen often and the colour combination isn’t as common as some used by other companies.

Let us know if you can think of any other iconic logos that have changed considerably but always stayed on trend and relevant.

The new adverts, which were launched last week, show the brunette in nothing but a pair of Reebok’s new ‘Reetone’ trainers. The poster has filled billboards at busy junctions and traffic hot spots around the UK and has been labelled as a ‘deadly distraction’ by campaigners.

Driving safety experts at the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) have blasted the posters, arguing that the billboards will certainly cause serious and possibly even fatal accidents, as male drivers take their eyes off the road to get a better look.

Reebok advertisers appear to be undeterred by a previous poster printing scandal, which angered road safety campaigners, in 1994. When Wonderbra launched the infamous ‘Hello Boys’ billboard campaign, dozens of road accidents were attributed to male drivers, who had been distracted by underwear model Eva Herzigova.

Research carried out by Canadian scientists found that the number of accidents rise by nearly 50 per cent, after advertising billboards were erected at busy junctions, which highlights the dangers of roadside distractions.

Peter Rodger, Head of Driving Standards at IAM told The Daily Mail: “The fact that most men remember the “Hello boys” Wonderbra advert indicates how distracting roadside adverts can be. Some will be more distracting than others and some will be placed where the effect is particularly significant.

“They all add to the clutter pulling your visual attention away from the road and adding to the information you need to process as you drive along,” he added.

Social media networks have become an excellent way to gather real-time feedback from customers and prospects and the good news for companies is it can all be done online for free.

Here are some of the most popular social networks and what they have to offer:

Facebook – if you have a Facebook Fan page for your business (and you should), you can add a polling application that allows you to ask questions and gather data via fan votes. Fans can also share the poll with their friends, thereby extending the reach of your brand.

Twitter – Twitter has an application called TwtPoll that lets you set up a question and then tweets it to all your followers, who can also retweet it to theirs as well. TwtPoll gives you options for question formats, including multiple choice, ranking, rating, image choices, comments, and more. You can also extend your TwtPoll to other social media sites, including Facebook.

Twitter also has great conversation tracking tools to monitor what people are saying about you. Monitter lets you track in real-time via keywords. Tweetbeep sends you an email every time your brand is mentioned, with links to the conversation.

LinkedIn – get feedback from your LinkedIn business connections by going to LinkedIn Answers and posting a question.

Blog – you can create a poll on your blog by utilising free polling applications like SurveyMonkey, PollDaddy or WuFoo.

Website – using one of the free polling services to host a poll on the home page of your website not only can furnish you with good information about how you’re serving customers, it can also help you create a dialog with your customers and draw them in to your online community.

Social media monitoring tools also allow you to respond quickly to any customer service problems as well. So it’s important to not only monitor, but also respond when problems arise and people are talking about it online.

Keywords are the words that people type into a search engine (e.g Google or Bing) to find what they want. If you want a purple pen, you don’t type in “pen” because that will get you lots of listings that don’t necessarily contain a purple pen. You would logically type in “purple pen”, and the search results you would get are sites that contain these words in their content.

Start your keyword research by listing every word or phrase you can think of that customers might use to find what you are selling. To find the optimal phrases for that search – words that you want to be sure appear often in your web content – use research tools like Google Adwords or WordTracker to compile lists of the most relevant phrases for your website.

In doing your research, you should also look for niche keywords or markets that others haven’t found yet. These are keywords that are popular search terms with little competition – Google Adwords and Wordtracker both have measurements for keyword effectiveness that you can scrutinize to find these hidden gems. They are few and far between, so if you find one, use it!!

Once you have a list of keywords, you need to design your site based on your research. For example, if you are selling art supplies, then be sure your site is laid out by category – paints, canvasses, pencils, pens – and even subcategories (remember that purple pen!) to make your products easy to find via search. Add your keywords and phrases to your on page content, and when trying to build links use anchor text with these keywords.

As reported by Road.cc, the London Borough of Lambeth commissioned a report which has resulted in a draft cycling strategy that suggests the ban should be enforced more firmly with the use of signs and other measures.

“Opinions volunteered were fairly evenly divided between local residents and their representatives who wish to see cycling on the riverside prohibited and London-wide cyclists who wish to see it permitted,” said the report’s authors. “The River Walk is not a designated cycle route and private landowners in the study area recommended that a ban on cycling in this location be enforced.”

The draft strategy suggests that, if no enforcement support can be agreed with police, landowners should support the council in implementing a signage plan which would encourage cyclists away from the River Walk onto a nearby designated cycle route.

The authors were representing businesses and organisations including the British Film Institute, Guy & St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust, ITV and Shell. It was suggested that these, and other landowners, should “support enforcement of a no cycling rule on the River Walk between Oxo Tower Wharf and London Eye.

“With the Mayor’s cycle hire scheme and cycle superhighways being launched, an increasing drive towards sustainable travel, and rising cycle theft, it should represent part of an ongoing conversation with key stakeholders about how to deliver services to encourage people to take to their bikes,” said councillor Nigel Haselden, Lambeth’s deputy cabinet member for sustainability and transport.

According to the London Evening Standard, hundreds of parties, concerts, events and similar spectacles will take place across the city throughout the Games and in the build up to the international sporting extravaganza. Huge events have been planned, from spectacular light shows at famous landmarks to live musical performances on the Thames.

During the events themselves, those unable to attend the games in person will be able to view the competition at several massive venues throughout the city. In addition to a 40,000 capacity viewing venue in Hackney and a site for 6,000 people near City Hall there will be locations at Jubilee Gardens and Kings Cross, as well as a huge 60,000 multi-screen venue in the middle of Hyde Park.

Yet these centrally organised celebrations are just the tip of the iceberg. Over the next two years, the Evening Standard says that companies, organisations and individuals based in London will be encouraged to host their own parties.

Enthusiasm for the landmark sporting event was evident earlier this week, as London Mayor Boris Johnson and Sebastian Coe, the London 2012 chairman, launched the official two-year countdown for the event. Mayor Johnson told Britons to start making their plans for a unique celebration.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Coe said: “There are two years to go until the Olympic Games begin and we want everyone to start planning their once in a lifetime experience in 2012.”

The first thing to do is find which exhibitions are coming up for your industry and you can do this either via a search engine e.g ‘Video Game Exhibition Event’ or by asking your suppliers what the popular exhibitions of the moment are.

Once you have found a few choices make sure you visit their websites and get a general feel to see if it’s the right type of show for you. Ask the following questions when scouting:

● What are the visitor demographics? Do they match yours?
● How is the show going to be promoted?
● What have past attendance been?
● Do you see the names of any of you competitors?

Obviously the exhibition organisers web site is a sales pitch so you need to look at their websites through cynical eyes. Look for exhibition and event review sites or speak to companies who have attended in the past for an independent view. Usually event websites list last years exhibitors list and if you’re lucky you may also see this years exhibitors. If you do find both lists then the following comparisons and tasks can help determine if this is a successful event:

● Are the same companies coming back from last year?
● Is the number of exhibitors up or down from last year?
● Call up companies who don’t compete directly with you and ask them how they found the show.

Once you’re happy that the show is popular and attracts the right people for your business, i.e. ones you could convert into customers, you need to look at costs. Is it worth attending? Have a look at our article ‘the cost of exhibiting’, which gives a rundown of costs you will incur when exhibiting, and then compare this with how many potential customers you will reach and how much this is worth to your company. Remember that as well as customers who will sign up or buy products at the exhibition itself you are also building brand awareness, which may result in sales in the future.
One big tip to keep costs down is to book late as you will often get a better price, although beware as this might be the result of an under-attended event.

One final point is that for first time exhibitors bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to exhibitions. There may be lots of traffic at a big show but you might meet stiffer competition. Also big shows often last several days so the costs of keeping your stand manned will be higher.
Maybe consider a smaller local exhibition to test the water as there is less risk involved with outlay of money and time.

Crucially you must make sure you have a monitoring system in place that enables you to determine if the show was a success and if it will be worth attending next year. Keep goals such as; break even, get X amount of people to sign up to my mailing list, make X amount of leads. The more data points you use the better your post-show analysis will be.

Hopefully you will now be in the position to choose an exhibition to attend and have rough costings worked out. Make sure you check out our other articles and tips for successful exhibiting.