Branding a Brand New Year

For many people, 2011 was not such a good year in so many ways — natural disasters were by far the worst of it (see how 2011 broke the record of all previous years HERE), then, there was the sluggish economy (again), and lets not forget the record summer heat.
 

A Need for Better Expectations

But to be fair, 2011 was never marketed very well. People tend to see what they expect, and expectations have not been very high for a while. Perhaps a good brand identity would have helped. That is why for 2012 we thought we would start the year off right with a selection of possible branding options, things that some of us could be looking forward to, and which may help us all have better expectations. We started by making a list and then developed a logo for each. Depending on your frame of mind you might like one or two for yourself. (We have tried to provide one or more links for each topic so you can follow whatever grabs your interest.)

1. A RETURN TO MIDDLE EARTH
Many cannot wait to return to Middle Earth. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit (part one of two) will be released in U.S. theaters for the 2012 holidays. For those who missed the first trilogy in 2001, 2002, and 200, The Hobbit is the precursor to The Lord of the Rings — it is like the trilogy before Middle Earth became quite so dark and scary.) HERE is the movie site with lots of photos, articles, and production videos.

2. ECONOMIC UPTURN
But for many of us, we would just like to return to Middle Income, leaving behind a double-dip recession and deflated housing prices. Expectations remain meager at best, however. Housing prices should start to increase sloooowly. And the IMF is saying (HERE) that globally it sees danger ahead. So what is the good news? Some may just be glad we have finally turned a corner.

3. STOCK MARKET IMPROVEMENT?
With the instability in Europe you might want to invest in Lottery tickets before going to the Stock Market. But, then again, some believe that things have been down so long the only way to go is up. Goldman Sachs is predicting earnings, but they are moving their 2012 prediction down from their prior forecast.

4. THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
We were told that the Mayan calendar predicted that the end of the world was going to happen in 2012. But now we are being told that this was a mistranslation. The Washington Post reported that “According to Maya expert Sven Gronemeyer, the hieroglyphs on the 1,300-year-old tablet describe not the end of the world in 2012, but the return of the Mayan god of creation and war. “The date, therefore, marks a transition to a new era, not an end,” the AP reports.”

5. GEEK LOVE
The iPhone 5 might be released in March 2012 — (see this blog). Fans were disappointed last October when its release was delayed and the iPhone 4s came out instead. That didn’t stop sales from topping those of all previous iPhones. I-Phone lovers will celebrate version 5 for its new features “like video chat on 3g and 4g (no longer restricted to WiFi only), face recognition and extreme downloading.” (see this site).

6. HOLD THAT CALL
Of course there might be one small problem — Solar flares of epic proportions. These aren’t your normal infernos but are predicted to be much larger. They will come this next year as a result of the flipping of the sun’s magnetic poles (which happens around every 11 years). The result will be a tsunami of activity with possible large-scale destruction occurring to our communication systems. So you may want to leave your new iPhone 5 at home and go to the beach (but wear lots of sunscreen).

7. WELCOMING HOME THE TROOPS — MAYBE
Finally, whether you are a geek or a beach-lover, you will probably cheer when the U.S. troops come home. 2012 is expected to see an end to the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. “On June 22, 2011, President Obama announced that 10,000 U.S. troops would be withdrawn (from Afghanistan) by the end of 2011. An additional 23,000 troops will leave the country by the summer of 2012.” (see USA TODAY article HERE) Final troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and Afghanistan by September, 2012 (see article HERE). When our troops do leave Afghanistan it will mark the end of the longest military engagement in U.S. history — a record already set back in June 2010 (see ABC NEWS report HERE).

 
No matter what you are into, there should be something good for you in 2012 — statistically speaking. So take these logos, put them on your screen or print them out and tape them to your bathroom mirror, because 2012 is going to be good. And the more you believe that the more you might see it come true.