The Publisher writes...

The blogosphere is where it's at you know. In every issue we recommend recent entries on PR-based blogs from around the world. Today, a good little bit of publicity for a car rental firm that capitalised on the recent tube strike, plus some ponderings on the importance of colour in a brand's identity

From Fake Plastic Noodles: Tube strike means Zipcar strikes into action

“Got a very timely e-mail message from Zipcar today. For those who don’t know, there may be a tube strike tomorrow and Wednesday, which will upset millions of commuters all over London (except for me because I walk. Exercise FTW). Assuming the strike is still on, they’re holding a promotion where if you rent a Zipcar, they’ll pay for your parking.

We all know how much I love Zipcar for giving me my first driving experience in London, so I figured I’d pass [the message] on…

It makes sense in this city of ours to hop on the tube to work and back again. It’s fast, convenient and all in all, there when you need it. Occasionally when it’s taken away from us, though, it spells trouble. Case in point, if you haven’t already heard there are planned strikes on all tube lines next Wednesday and Thursday (10 and 11 June) so we thought we’d make life a little easier for you.

If the strike goes ahead, don’t stand there waiting for a bus (that will take 4 hours). Take a Zipcar and we’ll pay for you to park it near your office! So, no need to stress or miss meetings. Just share the journey with colleagues or friends, and park your favourite Zipcar outside of your office (in the nearest legal car park please). All you need to do is send the receipt for your parking costs for that day… and we’ll add the cost onto your Zipcar account as driving credit for your next reservation (we’ll credit up to 30 pounds for your day’s parking).

So, if the strike’s on, just reserve, drive, park and enjoy your day. Have fun in comfort Zipsters!”

Read more form this blog here

From LitmanLive.co.uk: What do your brand colours say about you?

“Is there an art or a science to choosing the ‘right’ brand colours? Well, it’s generally not just something that is based on guess work. More often than not, expert consultation would have been sought and an incomprehensible amount of hours spent on choosing the right identity for a brand. Colour is massively important but each has a different feel, identity and number of associations.

There are also cultural differences when using colours, something that will always need to be thought about when doing global campaigns transcending different regions. For example, a lesser known fact may be that in China, red is the colour of happiness and central to the wedding theme, signifying joy, love and prosperity. However, interestingly enough, the very same colour should never be used for text as when written it signifies death.

Let’s take the colour orange. It’s famously used by easyJet, Orange and… the dutch.

A few years ago now, Orange objected to easyMobile (easyJet’s attempt at dominating the mobile market, and failing) Stelios’s answer to that was, “I’ll see you in court” and “it is our right to use our own corporate colour for which we have become famous during the last 10 years. We have nothing to be afraid of in this court case. They are clearly worried about the competition”. At the time, they also planned to add a disclaimer on the website saying that EasyMobile is not connected to Orange Personal Communications, arguing that the colour is an essential part of their iconic brand. More here.

How did it get to that stage? Who owns the colour? Is that even possible? Here’s a great article on the topic from back in 2005. Can you own a colour?”

Michael Litman’s discussion of a company’s relationship with its corporate brand’s colour, including some chat on T Mobile’s claim to magenta and a useful diagram of what each colour might really suggest about a firm, can be found in the full blog here.

Posted Saturday June 20 2009