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March 29, 2012
A peek at a new brand we just launched, with more on its way.
The signal of brilliance, Votiv is a media group advancing the world’s brightest talent through music publishing/distribution, artist management, film production, venture/investment capital and strategic marketing.
Animation by the New Blank, in theaters soon.
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March 27, 2012
Fruit of our labor.
Google ‘Cherry Coke’ and see how many looks you discover. Or lemon. Vanilla. Then factor in Diet Coke. Coke Zero. See, at any given time there used to be 100+ distinct package designs globally—born of regional, cultural or political differences—that defy the character of the world’s most integrated brand. We looked at the crescents and ripples that appear around floating objects. We mimicked the wet highlights that imply lusciousness, and what emerged was a tasty, delicious look that’s making a splash—and refreshing the world.
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March 14, 2012
Doing one better.
We’re thrilled to add Michelle Vela-Murphy to the team as Project Manager. Accomplished program manager with years devoted to leadership in branding/identity marketing, public relations, and event planning, Michelle keeps everyone accountable to plans, timelines and budgets while maintaining an impossibly gracious demeanor. Perhaps it’s because in the pursuit of her MBA in Sustainable Business she’s mindful of the bigger picture. Or maybe it’s the green stuff she drinks every morning.
#li
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January 28, 2012
Here’s one for the kids.
This past week we were lucky enough to participate in “No Right Brain Left Behind” (NRBLB)—a platform for solving the creativity crisis in U.S. schools by soliciting the help of the creative industries. The challenge was issued to speed-innovate as many ideas as possible in order to instill creativity back into the classroom—because creativity spawns innovation, and innovation is our collective future.
Our simple idea, Second Story, was to re-think the first and most critical ask of schoolchildren: to write an original story. In so doing, there is an incredible opportunity to teach kids the ‘creative’ processes of focused research, exposure to and the influence of inspiring work, and the use of associative, abductive techniques of creative thinking.
In the end, this is a contest, and we want your vote…because we believe in our platform. BUT, there are an awful lot of ideas that you may feel better suited to solve this crisis in our schools. Check’em out, get inspired, and decide for yourself. Enjoy!
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August 24, 2011
Born Awesome
Earlier this year our friends at Hasbro approached us to help with brand alignment efforts around the CribLife line of products (part of the Baby Alive family of toys). Our charter was to help build the unifying platform to guide successful, brand, interactive and product design. Here is a quick look at the brand site we designed, which launched with the product last week at Kmart, Walmart, and Toys R Us.com
URL: www.criblife.com
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August 19, 2011
Big in Japan, the U.S., and now China.
We’re being featured in ‘Branding First II’ by SendPoints Book Co., China, for the Sokenbicha Brand Strategy, Identity and Package Design on behalf of the Coca Cola Company. 謝謝！
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July 21, 2011
Web (art) History: Web design inspiration from the history of art
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/07/web-design-inspiration-from-the-history-of-art/
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May 14, 2011
Words to start by: 'I have no idea what I'm doing.'
I am the CEO of Svpply, Inc., a social shopping S-Corp operating out of New York City. My company has been the recipient of over half-a-million in investor dollars, for the stated purpose of building an unknown, 3,000-member web service into a cultural phenomenon, and I truly have very little…
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February 14, 2011
Box it up.
So a Valentine for our audience: we finish our thoughts on relationships. Brands to Consumers. One to the other. Us to you. Because we saw something in each other. Proved our merit, worked through the highs and the lows, and now have a lot to show for it. And come what may, we know going forward is better together.
But together what we give back is perhaps more important than what we’ve left behind. That legacy is the ultimate goal of all of our relationships: to acknowledge being ‘gifted’ to begin with, what we do with our gifts, and how we give them back for the use and enjoyment of future generations. As truly admirable as the Gates Foundation is, you don’t have to be a billionaire to contribute…from the altruistic Tom’s One for One movement, to the updated loyalty program of Marks and Spencer’s OxFam clothing exchange, to our friends’ just plain funny attempt to “Destroy Ed Hardy for
the Homeless” there are a variety of ways to ensure a ‘loving,’
two-way relationship.So on this day we wish you the very best of Valentine’s.
Will you be ours? -
February 09, 2011
Try as we might, we cannot predict the future (had we only known we were about to launch our business one month before the collapse of the US economy!). And in recent years—against stiffer competition and broader audiences—in spite of itself Mercedes has had to champion its social values of prestige, status, or accomplishment. But a brief study in the history of its communication reveals the depth to which it communicated its product benefits exclusively: safety, quality, and performance. Exclusively. Why is this important?
Because the immediate need to reach out doesn’t change the long-term need to reach from within. It’s simply remarkable to think that in 50+ years of modern advertising, Mercedes rejected soliciting new purchases, and spent most of its energy reassuring consumers of the purchases they’d already made. The video above reinforces this throughline—that they steward people first—and suggests that it will never go away. That perhaps protecting its passengers will always be the way to protect its future. Come what may. (glenn g.)
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January 28, 2011
Tread carefully.
‘Heritage’ comes and goes predictably in presidential-term cycles (as do most design trends), and large consumer brands will pluck from the archives on occasion to meet demand. Dictated by trend, and gone before its out, pushes like these do very little to educate, inform, or inspire an audience to its ‘core’ purpose, and ultimately harm the long-term value of its heritage items.
‘Celebrate Originality’ is Adidas’ current platform to honor its sport heritage yet “live in contemporary lifestyles.” Its Originals are protected, guarded watchfully, and updated in doses against trends that correspond to the product‘s origins. And always in support of their cultural root, be it in sports, music or fashion. Surely the current Adidas brand folks weren’t under employ when “My Adidas” hit, but are keenly aware that it was a gift—inherited—and worth sharing now and then together, rhyming forever. (glenn g.)
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January 17, 2011
Live like a king.
And on this day, it’s most fitting to plan our legacy against the ultimate role model. In all matters commercial and social, it would be good to start on Dr. King’s platform: “Life’s most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Well??
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January 10, 2011
New and Better.
A father of modern design, Charles Eames, wisely identified the grandfather of a lot of our (branded) ills. Whether through creation or culture, process or people, ‘Innovation’ will always be the rabbit everyone chases until a significant shift occurs: moving its function from “new and different” to “new and better.”
That means constant iteration. Refinement. Improvement. That’s worthy enough to claim the title—without starting over each time—for the sake of the title. Look at the Nike Pegasus: it’s on its twenty seventh year, and is as relevant as ever (newer, more resilient foams, Nike+ sensor technology, etc.). And the iPad: it does little more than build on prior innovations (iPod, iPhone), while we clamor for what’s next.
Consider the generations both fore and aft: it’s when building on former successes—and preparing for the future ones—that we accomplish what we all want from the innovative brands we love:
a remarkable pedigree. (glenn g.) -
January 06, 2011
It is your destiny.
So in the very end, what does a brand have to show for its time here…step-change innovation, cultural currency, or dusty relics? What has it done to continue to rattle our nerves, inspire our thinking, or anchor our lives?
In this chapter (our last in the series) we’ll argue that Legacy isn’t necessarily about leaving behind something, as it is about giving something back. That it is the ultimate goal of any relationship: to acknowledge being ‘gifted’ to begin with, how the gifts are handled, and how in turn they’re given back for the use and enjoyment of future generations…
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December 01, 2010
Stay out of trouble.
See Ally Bank’s confession in its role in the US foreclosure mess, and what it’s doing about it—another casestudy in a brand’s initial reaction to trouble as indicator of its long-term survival (our guess is that it will). Again, the common reactions to conflict: Avoidance. Confrontation. Negotiation.
Key for those that negotiate turmoil succesfully (Nike, Jack in the Box, Ally) is the speed with which they respond, the humility they express while doing it, and the transparency along the way. All things may not be known—and certainly not fully understood—but embracing the quick, humble, and sincere approach will always buy the support of consumers until things are; and when ready, it will ensure they buy back in. But now what to do with this pass—this act of forgiveness? (glenn g.)
