[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
I guess I should chime in here. I've looked at this from a number of
perspectives.
When the logo lawyers were on a rampage, I read all the posts that I could
on RAMVA (rec autos maker(s) volkswagen aircooled), and was outraged by the
way they went after small clubs and people who were obviously not making any
money off the VW name or logo. I can understand how they went after
companies like Rocky Mountain Motorworks, who, as I understand it, were
blatantly selling items with the VW logo.
Incidentally, around the same time, when I was working for adidas, we were
working on a grass roots marketing project where we built a web site that
gave small fan sites (of Kobe Bryant) all kinds of logos and imagery that
they could use on their "personal" web site.
I think that VW learned their lesson, and I believe that they fired that
firm.
I work on branding/corporate identity for a living and can see VW's need for
protecting their brand (logo, imagery). If they don't, they'll lose control
of what VW is all about. I think it is absolutely wrong for a big company to
sell anything with the VW logo without paying licensing. I do however think
it is ok for a company to sell stuff with an image of an older Volkswagen
(Beetle, Type 3, etc). The lawyers may disagree here, but since they don't
sell these cars or many of the parts any longer, it seems silly to protect
this.
I have to admit, though, that part of me loves bootleg stuff sold at swap
meets, especially t-shirts. I was recently at a swap, and one guy was
selling not just one vinyl logo, but a sheet of CAD cut logos. Most of which
were home brewed; stretched, and not drawn correctly. A sheet of 20 or so
for $10. I often wonder if anyone from VW corporate has ever been to a swap
meet.
Branding is a funny thing. You have to control all aspects of logo usage,
from advertising down to logos used on product. It is about control.
Otherwise the logo is used in ways that look unprofessional. Logos used
outside of the parameters that are directed within the corporate identity
manual, end up making the company look unpolished.
The company in VW Trends or HotVWs that has a black circle over the VW logo
on the bus/truck in their ad is a good example of a waste of time. The fact
that VW won't let them show a logo on a car is goofy. I don't see any
conflict of interest with a logo (which was controlled by VW originally) on
a vehicle. If the logo was cropped, so that the car wasn't showing, that
would be different.
Our club (SOVW) has recently gone through the process of becoming an
official club site registered with VW. I didn't take part in the process,
but it was smooth. After our application was submitted, they replied with
just one small request. We had a spinning logo within our club logo and a
logo next to "Members Wanted". They requested that the spinning VW logo be
removed and that we only use one VW logo per page. That's it, that is all
they requested.
I am however disappointed that VW doesn't list their "approved"
clubs/organizations on their web site (at least I haven't found any links).
I think that would give a boost to the amount of clubs that register with
VW. Who would turn down traffic from VW.com??
Phillip "Mr. Branding" Bradfield
--
Phillip Bradfield
Member:
southern oregon vw club: http://www.sovw.com
rose city volksters: http://www.rosecityvolksters.com
ddb: http://www.theddb.com (coming soon to a type 3 near you)
1969 Variant - Savanna beige, No engine, speedster soon to have a bus dash
1968 Variant - Granada red, No engine, with 67 euro fenders, soon to be full
automatic!
1963 1500 - Ruby red, 1600 with dual Solex carburetors
19?? Sandrail - Primer, 1835 with dual 40 Dellortos
-------------------------------------------------------------------
List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org