I’m writing an article that you’ll see here in the next few days about Stories and how they play a role in your branding. I recently had a great story created for me by Our House, an AIDS Hospice Non-profit I was doing some pro-bono work for.

As with most non-profits, they have very little “spare” money. I didn’t expect much from them in return for my work. I worked with the events director communicating by phone and e-mail up to this point, and there was a day when he wanted to meet in person at my office. To my surprise, he came with a gift in tow: a box of a dozen Saint Cupcake mini cupcakes.

Saint Cupcake is a bakery that opened here a couple of years ago, once the gourmet cupcake trend hit the West coast. Now - I’m a big design geek and a glutton for sugar so, their decision to make this gesture hit all sorts of right buttons within me. I have the photos posted here so you get the visual aspect of this.

Saint Cupcake does it’s branding right. Great logo, great service, the box for the to go orders is pretty close (here in Portland anyway) to the Tiffany box in recognition and wow… Emotional connections galore!

It brings back so many wondrous memories of childhood: The familiar colors of a retro local bakery that was a rare treat visit, scrumptious cupcakes we all loved as kids, but kicked up several notches for the adults to enjoy just as much as kids do. It’s like a Pixar movie, in a sense. they hit all the right notes.

The story? The non-profit is great to work with and I most certainly will do it again next year. That one small gesture sealed the deal even more solidly. Check out Our House and their Dinner Series, Dinner at My House for Our House, go visit and see how you can help. Our House has helped those with advanced HIV, provides room for 14 residents where they receive around the clock medical care, occupational therapy and also assists them to be healthy enough to be discharged.

Branding 101 |

Last week, I moderated a panel discussion, “Harnessing the Power of Online Social Networks.” The panel included Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!, Susan Rich of Rich Writing Creative Services, Elgé Premeau, an eMarketing Strategist, and Adrienne Fritze of Working Artists, LLC.

The discussion was lively, and very informative, covering sites such as LinkedIn, Biznik, MySpace, Flicker, Naymz, and a smattering of others.

Each panel member picked a site that made a difference in their success, and each approached the discussion from a different point of view. Jeff, for example, chose to speak as an author of books, rather than as a designer. Surprisingly, Jeff said that MySpace was pretty successful for him. “Huh?,” you might say. Well, he takes a different approach than what you’d normally find on the site. Instead of a personal lean, he has slanted the content more towards strictly business. He reported great blog traffic success from it.

Elgé Premeau spoke on Biznik, and how answering questions, and really, just participating has helped her land some articles being published in various corporate newsletters and web sites. Adrienne Fritze spoke about her success on the site Naymz, and how it has really aided in her site traffic. Susan Rich came from a writers perspective, and rightly so, since the web is made up of mostly words. She explained that (as I have said before) your story is what people want to read. It is the first door to getting to know you, and it could be the tipping point on contacting you for a job.

I will be discussing this topic further, but for now, I thought I’d introduce you to the topic. It’s an important one, and online networking is a new world that has no real boundaries.

Branding 101 |

As I have said before - No it isn’t dead, but the old rules certainly don’t apply anymore. Marketing is a new beast, and it is migrating to the web in a massive wave. Part 3 of this 4 part series is about viral marketing. I found this particular subject so interesting and helpful, I wrote an entire article on Levi’s and their efforts. This is a watered down version - you can find the full article here, And The Levi’s Project Runway Winner is… Levi’s!

Levi’s is a brand that has withstood the test of time. Providing the U.S. with jeans since 1873, it is a brand that you would think, could stay strong forever. Not so. Levi’s sales began to slip after they peaked in 1996 at $7.1 billion. In November of 2007, sales dropped to about $5.1 billion. That’s a 2 billion dollar loss! What happened? What could they do to stop the bleeding?

First - Levi’s hired Philip A. Marineau, Levi Strauss & Co.’s (new) chief executive, known for successfully giving brands a shot of caffeine. Second, they decided to withdraw all sales of Levi’s online, a struggling and expensive effort. Lastly - they got with the new marketing age, the internet.

Partnering with the cult fashion favorite cable show, Project Runway they created a tie-in website and fashion design contest. With a few viral marketing strategies, peppering the social blog and networking sphere, and the show tie-in contest content sharing among that community - they hit gold.

This my friends is the way it should be done. This is the way of the present and future. “But Levi’s has the huge budget to pull this off! I don’t have that kind of budget!” Actually anyone can do this - no matter your budget. You can start with a company blog, do a link exchange with your colleagues (or Gasp! Your competition!) and use it as a marketing tool without restrictions. You’re smart - you can come up with a great online marketing plan! If you need assistance, E-Mail ME - or post a comment and we can toss the ball together.

Branding 101 |

I am working on finishing up my conclusion to this series, so please bear with me. In the meantime - tell me what you think so far.

Branding 101 |

The Advertising and Marketing tactics of yesterday are definitely not working today. If they are working for you, you are lucky, but I can wager that it won’t be the same a year or two from now. I told you that I would be giving examples of how big-boy brands were starting to use the new way of marketing and advertising. Here they are:

Big Budget Movie Studios - Sony for example, released the movie Vantage Point, a movie that plays on about 10 different characters’ point of view of an assassination attempt of the President. The T.V. spot they ran during prime-time was pretty good, interesting, and looked like a good movie with some unusual casting. But then at the end, they splashed across the screen a web site address and asked, “Can You Solve The Puzzle?”

With that, they suck their audience in, people go to the web address, and what do they find? A chance to win one of 8 Sony HD Camcorders and 8 Tivo DVR’s. The prize list goes on from there. The real clincher is that in order to win, you have to find the 2 coordinates that are hidden in the T.V. spot!
Their target market (probably 18 - 40 yr. olds) are tech and web savvy, and more than likely would like to win something. Imagine - how many times would one have to watch the T.V. spot to get the clues to the puzzle? Twice? 10 times? Boom - you have them captured!

The key here is to offer something your audience can do to interact with you in some fashion. If you do it right, and it is valuable, you have captured them.

Branding 101 |

At least in the traditional, TV revolution sense. Advertising doesn’t have the same punch it used to, and we, the audience are not as eager to hear the message anymore. A new day in advertising and marketing is dawning and as a business owner, you best be ready. The old system doesn’t work, and the act of placing a print or TV ad, crossing your fingers and hoping it works, doesn’t bode well with your bottom line. Why?

Saturation and the Internet.

Let’s look at saturation: We are bombarded with thousands of messages everyday, companies begging and pleading for our attention. Ads have taken over bus stop benches, favorite baseball parks, restrooms in your favorite night club, and the ceilings of mass transit systems. Pretty soon, even the parking lot at the grocery store won’t be safe!

From The Denver Post: “Imagine stepping out of your car in a grocery store parking lot. You look down and see that Pepsi has sponsored your parking spot. As you start walking, you see the same Pepsi ad on several parking stripes along the way. By the time you get inside the store, you’re really thirsty for a Pepsi. Either that or you’ve subliminally associated this delightfully fizzy beverage with cigarette butts, chewed wads of gum and motor-oil spills on the asphalt.”

Now, the internet. Would you waste your money on an advertising campaign you couldn’t track?

With ads on the internet, you can track your results in real time, you can get in front of an audience that is enormous, and if you optimize your web site right - your visibility is massive, because you are at the top of Google searches.

I say advertising is dead to get my point across about the changing of the guard. Traditional advertising and marketing is dying and on its way out. It had a long life of 50 years, which is extraordinary.

How do I know? How do you know I’m not full of bull?

In Part 2, I’ll continue this series and give you examples of Big-Boy brands that acknowledge the shifting tide and how they are successfully adjusting.

Branding 101 |

Many people actually don’t quite understand what branding is. The definition isn’t too complicated but, it can depend on whom you talk to get that definition.

Today I offer you my definition: Your brand is the most prized real estate in the business world - it resides in the corner of your prospective and current client’s mind. It is the connection they have with you, everything they know about you or perceive about your company - this is your brand.

Every phone conversation, word of mouth action, good or bad, every ad you place, e-mail you send, lunch meeting you have. Which means that you should care for it, nourish it, and do your best to make sure it is representing you at your best.

An easy way to remember this: Your brand is about perception - How everyone perceives your business. This includes everything, good and bad. Once you have this principle in place and make it a priority, you’re on your way to start knocking out your competition.

I’ll be writing about branding in this blog many times and now you have a clear definition of what it is I’ll be writing about. Until next time - Make it a Great Day!

Branding 101 |

An Identity Crisis for The Greater Good

I am one of the lucky people who has been able to meet some of my role models in my industry. Jeff Fisher is one of them. His second book is hot off the presses, and is a book that isn’t preaching to the choir, like some design books. The book is filled with many great examples of successful branding, that everyone can learn from.

A logo is the first step in a successful branding strategy. Without a mark that is dynamic, memorable and can be recognized consistently, a brand doesn’t stand a chance. Jeff got the idea to write the book after he was contacted to comment on some new corporate logo updates. Some of them were good, but others were not so much. These were big fortune 500 companies, and they fizzled.

Identity Crisis is a book full of case studies that explain where the logo was, what the the client wanted and how they arrived at the final outcome. The examples are medium to small businesses that were done on an affordable budget, a rarity, as suggested by Chuck Green of Pageplane.com I agree with his comments, “In reality, most graphic designers work with clients who simply want a smart solution at a reasonable price. Identity Crisis is a book about real organizations and realistic solutions.”

When I say, “The book is filled with many great examples of successful branding, that everyone can learn from” I truly mean everyone! If you are getting your BA in business, head of a law firm that’s expanding, own a new business or entering into design school, this book is great resource.

Branding 101 |