Week 3 - MBA 6601 - Analysis of Kia's New Brand Strategy

A brand strategy refers to the way a business presents itself to consumers and distinguishes itself from competitors. According to an article titled "What Is a Brand Strategy? And How to Create One" from Coursera, it is more "than just its name, logo, fonts, and colors," rather, it is the "sum of your business’s look and feel, personality, philosophy, values, and customer experiences" (1).

In 2021, Kia overhauled its branding strategy with the intention of moving its brand up market. This included changes in the company's logo, brand colors, and website. The below image is the current logo for Kia. The change resulted in much confusion as people mistaked the "KIA" letters for "KN" instead.

The video from WSJ titled "Kia’s New Branding Strategy Looks to Compete in the EV Era" shares insight into Kia's new branding strategy. As it relates to the logo specifically, the company has gone through six iterations of its logo over many years.

There are three main components to consider in terms of logo design. As mentioned in the WSJ video, this includes the shape, color, and conent. For Kia, the company completely removed the shape around its logo. Another distingion is its dramatic change in color which went from a common red to a bold black. One interesting fact I learned is that the logo's "rising strokes" actually symbolize the phrase 'to come up out of Asia.' I found this interesting as I never considered how well-thought-out small details like that could be, as well as carry such significance.

As it relates to artificial intelligence, I researched some tools that create brand logos. Wix, LogoAI, and Designs.ai are just a few AI tools I found after doing a quick Google search. They provide many different options for creating logos and can generate some very cool images. I have included some examples below.

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Week 5 - MBA 6601 - Midjourney for Creating AI Images

I recently discovered an AI-based image generator by Midjourney. As a relatively artistic person, I quickly became interested in exploring this tool's capabilities. What initally sparked my interest was the art I saw posted by Generative AI on LinkedIn. The page shares images that users had created in Midjourney including a chonky Chipmunk and "what-if" scenario if Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart had a family. It's funny that such different photos could have one thing in common, that is, artificial intelligence! AI can clearly make a wide range (if not limitless) style and type of art. Not only that, but the tool can create something factitious that appears to be real. As it continues improving, I am sure the AI-based images will fool many into thinking it produced an authentic image. According to its website, Midjourney is "an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species." You can...

Week 8 - MBA 6601 - TikTok and AI

One thing I gave up over this past Lent was watching TikTok videos. I had the app for a while but found myself watching its content more and more often. It became an addiction. It is such a powerful tool, and I know the program displayed personalized content for me in hopes it would keep me watching. That is why I decided to take some time away from it - so I could focus on other things in my life instead of just watching videos. Surprisingly, after giving up TikTok over Lent I never went back to it. And I haven't thought about it much since. However, that doesn't mean it hasn't popped up again in my life. Recently, I came across a couple interesting articles about TikTok and AI. As with many other companies, TikTok is testing AI tools and technologies. Check out this article by The Verge on the new TikTok "Tako" that is still in the testing phase. The idea is users can ask it to provide recommendations on what to watch, for example. As mentioned in the article, ...

Week 3 - MBA 6601 - Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI

I currently work in the marketing department for a small company. One of my responsibilities is creating content for our social media pages. This includes writing posts for projects, upcoming events and webinars, reposts, holidays, and anything else relevant to our industry. I have familiarized myself with the company's writing style, such as how we format posts for sharing projects and our professionalism when creating holiday posts. Recently, I discovered that I can use AI to assist in the creation of social media posts. I no longer have to come up with the content by myself each time. Rather, I can use AI to generate ideas and provide me with inspiration. I utilize Hootsuite for creating and scheduling social media content. The company recently devloped a new tool, OwlyWriter AI, that assists in the process of creating social media content. There are options for repurposing posts, getting inspiration, and generating captions, among others. It is easy to select a tool from OwlyW...

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