I am sure you have all heard that Quirk eMarketing in conjunction with PR guru, Sally Falkow are holding a WebPR conference early next year - WebPR+: Reviving the Conversation.

If you haven’t seen our logo, look right – yes we went for a medical theme to convey the importance of WebPR and ORM to cure ailing online communications strategies. Check out the website to get a better idea of Andrew’s great design.

Imagine the shock when we get into work to discover that we have broken the Geneva Convention! Panic, panic, flail, flail… what exactly is the Geneva Convention, why can’t we use our logo and how exactly did they pick that up?

This is the interaction we received on the site: “Please note that the use of a red cross on your WEBPR logo is not permissible under the Geneva Conventions that protect the Red Cross Emblem from accidental or deliberate misuse. Please would you be so kind as to address this, and if you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.” Melanie Jackson from the South African Red Cross Society…

It just so happens that Melanie is an avid fan of Bizcommunity and saw our banner on the site’s home page. So Sarah (other Sarah, yes I know it gets a tad confusing) leapt into action and gave her a call. Turns out that we haven’t actually broken the convention but that the cross looked red and not pink on their side (so we’re not the rebels we thought we were after all). The Red Cross organisation keeps an eye on these things as they want people to recognise what it truly stands for and appreciate its value, not just use it willy nilly, as is often the case.

Once again I am reminded of how important it is to keep an eye on your brand; Melanie came upon our cross by chance, but can you really leave the online perception of your brand to chance? I think not. It is ironic that the conference whose logo sparked this flurry is actually being presented to assist online users in becoming more in touch with what is being said about their companies as well as how to deal with the ominous threat of an online brand attack.

Pink Power!
So to eliminate any further misunderstanding we have agreed to make our cross pinker (it is my firm belief, after all, that more pink is never a bad thing) and are encouraging any others who wish to use a cross to make sure they are familiar with the full regulations of the use of the red cross.