South Wales Pullman - a real brand

Imagine the sight of the mysterious, shining, all silver South Wales Pullman gliding, almost silently, into Cardiff General Station en route for London Paddington. The doors are already open before it comes to a halt and a uniformed steward is standing at each one, a freshly laundered white linen cloth draped over their arms welcoming on board only the most important of first-class passengers for a silver-serviced breakfast. The likes of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Baker, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Honourable Members of Parliament traveling back to London after a weekend with family.

That really was a BRAND, a mystery to the holders of second-class tickets, and one to which they may wish to aspire. As a humble, lowly-ticketed student I waited patiently for the next, dowdy, over-heated diesel train.

Which company ran the South Wales Pullman? What was the symbol on the side of the carriages? It really didn't matter. Silver, mystery, the efficiency of the staff, white linen - they were the brand experience to the outsider. In reality, the operating company was the only one in the UK - British Rail and the symbol was probably the Design Research Unit's excellent there-and-back rail mark (still used to tell the UK where a railway station is, a testament to the power of that long-gone brand).

Years later I used the (non-sliver) Lancashire Pullman regularly from Crewe to London Euston, but the reality of sitting with overweight and pinstriped Mancunians eating huge fried breakfasts in one long, first-class tickets only restaurant-car train came nowhere near the unattainable, silver South Wales Pullman brand I'd conjured up in mind.

If it ain't broke

Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking (Milton Glaser).

When Saul Bass designed the AT&T mark in 1984 he did a pretty good job (could he ever have done a bad job?)

AT&T says of its mark (in a 2005 statement):

Today's shift to a new brand and a new look symbolizes the strategic transformation under way at the new AT&T. It also reflects the fact that, while our brand has a long and proud heritage, the attributes that bring it to life for our customers are as fresh and new as ever," said Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc.

The revitalized mark symbolizes these attributes — innovation, integrity, quality, reliability and unsurpassed customer care," Whitacre added. "Our customers know that we're focused on keeping our promises, committed to operating honestly, and dedicated to bringing them new products that make a difference in their lives.

Lowercase type is now used for the AT&T characters because it projects a more welcoming and accessible image.

Nearly quarter of a century on, could it be that AT&T was wrong? Does the verbal description match the picture?

Was it really broke? No, of course it wasn't.

The most beautiful car in the World

And why? The DS was a huge leap in car design, functionally and visually. Is there any wonder that the crowds were impressed at the 1955 Paris Motor Show?

I rode in a DS just once (in the mid 1970s) and do you know what impressed me the most?

Well, the external shape was one thing, the bench seats another, but it had to be the steering wheel. Amazing.

The power of design.

Staycation

The second image by Cheryl Jenkins underlines the thin veneer of the brand of the British seaside. While Butlins opens a £20m hotel in Bognor Regis and the Midland Hotel in Morecambe is returned to its Art Deco splendour woe betide those who take a stroll outside the confines of their accomodation.

Mind you, £1.50 for a jug of tea is a real bargain. Come on you American tourists - buy in to a piece of the brand that is old England. A real English tea room.

Had the government thought it through it would have subsidised holidays on bargain airlines to warm places where chilled beer is available to the recession-hit British public instead of suggesting hot BBQ weather and stay-at-home vacations. A staycation tonic to the nation bolstered by the belief that HM Government is looking after us by stockpiling Tamiflu simply has not worked.

The first image is what one experiences at the height of the summer season in Saltburn by the Sea in Cleveland. Empty beaches, a wet day and very little else in the way of fun (although the machines in the arcade for taking huge numbers of twopenny pieces from us were a bit of light relief, as was the Funicular railway up to the town, twinned with any desolate Eastern European town that you can imagine). That evening we stayed inn over-priced 4-star country inn and had the experience of sending back an entire meal for the first time in our lives!

The brand of Britain that is mass tourism sits firmly in the cities where galleries, cafés that are open and serve edible food, hotels etc exist! There is a long way to go before we can compete. We venture in search of £1.50 jugs of tea in the belief that we should do for the good of the country

Catching the bus

Pirelli Slippers. The sheer vitality of this 1962 bus-side ad by Fletcher / Forbes / Gill remains unmatched in the history of graphic design.

The design by Alan Fletcher is brilliantly seen, enlisting the passengers on the Routemaster as live extras in the humour.

The work of Fletcher / Forbes / Gill was closely aligned with the culture of the time and its simplicity belied the high level of creativity that these influential men brought to the visual vocabulary of the 1960s.

The Hidden Persuaders

Vance Packard warned us what was going to happen. Reading this 1950s book again today provides the chilling view that we were falling into a brand chasm 50 years ago, and we knew it.

The Hidden Persuaders was published in 1957 and has sold over a million copies. It addresses the immediate post-war consumer situation, the beginnings of motivational research, subliminal activities in marketing and the manipulation of expectation and desire for new products.

These techniques were also applied to politics.

The early naivety of Packard's views have been discredited as marketing manipulation has advanced. What is important to bear in mind is that Packard was flagging the activities for the first time.

Looking back, the whole issue of mass market motivation, the development of new consumer product desire and the ability to see the 'state we're in' in hindsight, the book is well worth revisiting for all of you who have not read it.

Ugliness does not sell. RAYMOND LOEWY

Say it again Raymond.

Ugliness does not sell.
RAYMOND LOEWY

The vagaries of language

Whenever two languages meet there will be a double meaning that is noticed by someone. Thanks to Kev Coatman for noticing this on the way to Tokyo.

MIN2U

MIN2U: why pretend to be text-cool with a business name that makes brand sense only to a rap singer? Have we lost the will to read real words? Sry - hv we lst the wl 2 rd rl wds? :(

Pru Freida

How many times do we have to remind ourselves that the outward face of a brand can say different things to different readers. Is there anyone in MultiYork who has seen this and made the decision that accuracy is so yesterday? At least the sheet of paper fits in the display unit - or will that not matter when it happens?