Is it my logo or theirs?

One of my favorite industry debates is “Who owns a brand?” Is it the company providing the service or product, is it the agency that guides it and shapes it, or is it the consumer. Early on (before 1950’s ?) it was the company itself, then it became the agencies as mass market advertising/marketing started to happen, but in the last 10 years (especially with the advent of social media) it has become the consumer.

Brand experiences have become very personal truly live in the mind of the individual.

I just discovered the logo for Dopplr.com. They embrace the fact that consumers own the brand and have created a logo supporting it. By itself the logo is recognizable as 6 color filled squares lined up horizontally. Simple. Clean. Memorable, Brilliant. But wait there is more. The logo colors changes for each member of dopplr.com, depending on your travels. Learn more here. So, my dopplr logo looks different than yours, but both are clearly recognizable as the dopplr logo. If you look at my dopplr logo, you immediately know something about me and my interactions with the dopplr brand. Too cool.