OBAMA USES ALL THE TOOLS: OLD AND NEW.

The "old" media all over the country reported on the President's new stimulus logo. What can we make of this? You've got to tell and sell your story -- and that applies to everyone. Given that opponents of the stimulus package aren't going to help, it's all the more important that the President and his supporters control the message so we get the essence of this "brand."

We said it long ago: "The brand IS the thing."

"The government is taking major steps to make the stimulus package as transparent as possible with the new recovery.gov website, but it also appears to be branching out in another area: branding." Wall Street Journal "Graphic design is supposed to communicate meaning through symbols, and the new logo does a workmanlike job of that. It suggests patriotism with its flag-shaped stars, infrastructure with its gears, health care with its red cross and green technology with its plant. The only words are "recovery.gov," the Web site where Americans can track the progress of stimulus projects." Chicago Tribune