Last week we adventured to Maggie Valley, North Carolina (Home of Ghost Town in the Sky) for two days and three nights for our biannual retreat. This is a time for us to unload and unpack all that's going on at Matchstic, and leverage it to serve our clients better. We are built on a small ship philosophy and very much want to keep the "constantly changing for the better mentality", and our retreats are the catalyst for those conversations.

This one served to be no different, and great sessions sparked new ideas and changes to be. The session I got to lead was about our big picture internal vision, and it's simple; Be the best brand identity house in Atlanta. We don't want to own the world or even the Southeast, but we do want Atlanta. It's our home, it's where we want to raise our families, and it's where we can make the biggest impact. We spent a few hours discussing what it means to be the best, who is the current best, and what is the plan to get us there.

I like to envision Matchstic as a small, nimble, fighting force sitting on our horses looking into the vast distance and seeing the city skyline. We know the big bad branding companies are bigger, stronger, and learking in the shadows, but we charge in anyway because we know we can go toe to toe with any one of them given the right environment. We have a strong battle plan, tremendously talented people, and most importantly the  collective team motivation to be the best. I guess it's my competitive spirit that compels me to lead the charge and envision this modern day battle scene, but it's also that drive that fuels my fire for each of our clients. I want them to charge in beside us, stride for stride, galloping towards the daylight, and taking over Atlanta together.

That's our vision, Be the best brand identity house in Atlanta. If you have any ideas on how we can one step closer to becoming the best, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at takeitover@matchstic.com

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The Law of Mortality is the next to last law in The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.

The life of a brand is extremely similar to those that you and I lead, spare family cookouts and rollerblading with friends. A new generation of brands shows up on the scene, and the old generation withers and dies. There's no need to fight that for brands and people, there's a time to live and a time to die.

You would think that Kodak, standing for all that is film, would bow out gracefully from the analog to digital fight, saving funds to create a new brand that has a legitimate chance of competing in the digital market. Contrary to common sense, Kodak has launch a brand of digital cameras, even with brands we associate with digital cameras already dominating the market. They also created Kodak Advantix, a more expensive type of conventional film.

When miniature electronics became feasible, it wasn't RCA or Zenith at the head of the pack, but Sony a new brand on the scene.

It's only natural let your brand die, remembered for what it stood for in the beginning. Take that opportunity to jump in with the next generation with a new brand.

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I read a report today that said each Nintendo employee generates $1.6 million in profit each year. Nintendo employs less than 3,000 permanent employees and is able to make so much money with so few people because it relies on outsourcing. All manufacturing of the Wii is outsourced, and even high-profile games such as Mario Party are developed externally, with oversight from Nintendo producers. Once again proving the importance of finding what you are the best at and focusing on that, and then finding strategic partnerships for everything else. Bravo Nintendo.

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I have been hearing a lot about the Barack Obama website. People are saying it is so innovative in its organization and just straight up beautiful. I decided to check it out and compare it to the McCain site for overall impressions.

The Obama site is definitely easier to digest and find your way around. The overall color choice and style for the Obama site is what draws you in though. In comparison to the McCain site, McCain all of a sudden looks like 1992. Im pretty sure he is working with the Dodge Caravan colors from that year. Both websites use predominately blue which is much more hopeful color than red. On that note, certain blues are more "hopeful" than others. The Obama site has definitely chosen the right one there.

There is much more to compare. Any thoughts from the Matchstic faithful?

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Last week we spent some time in Anderson, SC in a two day kick start meeting with New Spring Church. East Gate, a production company, has brought us in on the project to develop a brand identity for the new Children's Ministry, including the brand development and environment design of the new facility. I want to share two key take-aways from my trip to Anderson.

My first is thinking of environments as a brand building tool. Physical space, an office, gallery, loft, store front, or house, might be the biggest touch point for your brand. I've seen huge disconnects between collateral, websites, and print materials with the physical operating environment. If a brand is simply boiled down to a perception in the mind, an environment carries just as much weight, if not more, than a business card. I'm really encouraged by East Gate and New Spring Church to invest into their environment as a brand identity building tool. They realize that creating irresistible environments starts with strategically designing the experience, from form to function, and using that to develop a remarkable, standout, identity.

My second takeaway is too always be prepared for payback when you leave the office for two days. Click here to see what I mean.

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I'm closing in on the end of The 22 Laws of Immutable Branding

The funny thing about this law is that it goes against all the ideas of consistency and focus talked about in the previous laws. Just keep in mind that nothing is absolute and there are exceptions to the rules.

There are only three scenarios that allow for changing your brand.

Your brand is weak or nonexistent in the mind
In this instance, there really is no brand, so you can do anything you want with the brand to create a memorable brand.

You want to move your brand down the food chain
If you are permanently lowering the price of your brand, you can move it down the price ladder easier than moving it up. Marlboro lowered prices of it's smokes while gaining market share, although Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza has never caught on in the elite hotel area.

Your brand is in a slow-moving field and the change is going to take place over an extended period
of time.
Customers are never wrong. When you try to change your image quickly, it won't catch on. Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to take the fried out of it's name, changing it to KFC. That didn't work because we all know what KFC stands for. Even when they had healthier rotisserie chicken we all went for the fried chicken and gravy.

Before you decide to change your brand, you must first look at all the circumstances of the brand and decide if it's feasible. If it's not and you still want to change, its time to build a new brand, a standout brand.

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As some of you heard, my family and I took the last two weeks of August to go visit my in-laws in Norway.  It was one of the best trips we've had in years.  Great time to spend with that side of our family that we don't get to see too often, great trips all around the unbelievable Norwegian country-side, and for me, it was also great time to get some solid reading done. I read four books and got halfway through a fifth.

I thought I'd do a quick review of the three that apply to Matchstic.

BOOK #1: SMALL GIANTS: Companies that Choose to be Great instead of Big

The first was recommended to me by my good friend Ryan Vanni, owner of BKWLD (pronounced "bukwild"), an interactive firm in Sacramento, CA. If Ryan's recommendation alone didn't get me to read this, then the tagline sealed the deal.  Page after page telling stories of companies that viewed bottom line profits as a means, not an end.  This is the Good to Great for the private owned small business with a heart.

BOOK #2: Why WORK SUCKS and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke

This book was recommended to me by our very own Dustin Britt, and the recommendation on the cover by Tim Ferriss further proved that this was going to be a great book.  And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.  This book was written by the creaters of R.O.W.E. (Results Only Work Environment).  Here is the basic premise: We have measured the effectiveness of our work by when and where people show up (time and space) instead of focusing solely on measuring the desired Results.  When you adapt a ROWE, you remove time and space, which can be very scary.  But at the end of the day it forces you to focus on business results.  And that's why we're doing this in the first place right?  There are a lot of conversations to be had about how to adapt this mentality and we are going to start the conversation at our upcoming biannual Matchstic retreat in two weeks.

BOOK #3: THE FIVE TEMPTATIONS OF A CEO

This book I read in literally an hour and I highly recommend it.  It encourages any leader to:

1. Choose Results over Status

2. Choose Accountability over Popularity

3. Choose Clarity over Certainty

4. Choose Conflict over Harmony

5. Choose Trust over Invulnerability

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We recently completed a new brand identity for The Barnabas Way Foundation they are a Christian foundation in Raleigh, N.C., that encourages ministries and givers by multiplying gifts and promoting ministry excellence. They're basic action is to take every dollar donated and turn it in to 4. Every dollar ($1) given to Barnabas Way is directly matched by their board of directors ($1). These $2 dollars are then made available to ministries applying for a foundation grant. Upon approval of the grant proposal, the organization is charged to raise the matching amount ($2) in the form of new monies. Thus 1+1+2=4. We created a new identity system including logo, collateral, website and other promotional materials. We communicated the idea of 1 becoming 4 through the identity mark and extended that into the other materials. If you are also interested in finding out how 2 becomes 1 check out this link.

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The Bite Back campaign has been one of my favorite identities to develop. Its a great campaign with a remarkable mission; to help eradicate Malaria in Africa. We featured the Case Study before, but we haven't discussed the most recent component, the bracelets we designed.

As Compassion International teamed up with Youth Specialties to produce school rallies with students, they wanted something to fuel a movement with students. Something trendy, like the Live Strong or WWJD bracelets, as a leave behind after their purchase of a life saving mosquito net. We knew the bracelet market was saturated, but we wanted to give students something tangible and unique to the cause that would remind them of their $10 donation.

Above is what we developed. Its a bracelet made from the actual Mosquito net material that fastened with two African style beads. I'm really excited about the end result and haven't taken mine off since last Monday. It's a conversation starter. People ask me everyday what it is, and what it means. The Bite Back campaign is staying true to themselves and bringing what makes them standout to the forefront, and in doing so is saving lives one net at a time.

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Benched from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

For more information on this project click here to get the full story.

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