I was at a conference recently and had the opportunity to walk through the exhibitor hall where specific companies set up booths to showcase their offerings. We’ve all seen these type of setups before, right? Set in a strategic, high foot traffic location, organizers offer sponsors a chance for maximum visibility and attendee engagement by providing them a space to feature branded signage, digital displays, product demos and promotional materials. Each firm sets up a small interactive booth staffed by knowledgable personnel who engage with passersby to create connections and raise brand awareness. They also typically hand out flyers, buttons, stickers, and/or business cards along with logo’d pens or nail files, frisbees or mini chocolates. Some even feature a business card drop contest and pull a lucky participant on the last day who wins some upscale electronic speaker or new age headphones. Woohoo.
Anyway, I walked by one particular booth and saw that the man standing in front of his stall matched the banner he was standing in front of. Same guy. Same shirt. Same logo. Funny. So I went about my day and didn’t think anything of it. A few hours later I saw the same guy in the lobby bar where hundreds of attendees gathered prior to the conference’s opening reception.
Whereas most folks were in business attire or at least trying to look business-y with at least a blazer to hide their rebel bottom half of jeans, this guy shows up in the same logo’d button down he donned earlier at exhibitor set up. And it was getting fairly warm and crowded in the bar area. So I see him take off his outer layer… only to reveal a polo shirt (you guessed it!) with another company logo on the breast pocket! I could not stop laughing. He was like a walking billboard. Remember those Matryoshka Nesting Dolls? You opened the biggest one first only to reveal a smaller wooden one inside? Yep. He was the walk around version of this doll.
This reminded me that a few years ago in Paris I waited on a short line to enter a luxury in store boutique. It was a fancy French brand and I was interested in a handbag so waiting a few minutes to enter didn’t seem like a big deal. But a few slots behind me, a twentysomething gal sauntered up dressed to the nines. Prada hat, Gucci jacket, Chanel sneakers, Goyard bag. And she was carrying shopping bags from YSL, Celine, Dior and Louis Vuitton! I dubbed her Logomania. The reason I could identify each component of her outfit was that every item sported an identifiable logo. A big Prada triangle was placed prominently in the middle of her forehead on her bucket hat. Her Gucci outerwear had Gs everywhere! The sneakers displayed the huge double C for Chanel, and so on.
And while I’m a big fan of well made designer offerings, I loathe to advertise for them. I much prefer the quiet luxury route, or if I must, just one designer at a time against a muted color palette at the most. I don’t get the excessive display of prominent monograms or slogans. Why scream when you can whisper? But there you have it. Brands make logos to be quickly identifiable and memorable. In the case of our friend at the booth, I think maybe he drank a little too much of the company Kool-Aid. And it’s actually a shame he didn’t spill any on his shirt… or he would have had to change!
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