Matchstic T-shirts have been a tradition at our company since 2005.  We are excited to have just received our new t-shirts yesterday, freshly printed by our friends at Zoink.

This run of t-shirts marks two firsts for our t-shirts

1. It's the first time we've printed two designs at once.
2. It's the first time we've reprinted an historic shirt design.

The first shirt is a reprint of our classic and most requested, Matchstic Flag shirt.  This shirt is based on our Matchstic flag, which showcases a color for each of our 3 core values: Harmony, Truth and Courage.

The next shirt is our new Eagle Shirt.  This was designed by the amazing talented Alana Dy.  A few months back I emailed her asking more of the meaning behind the shirt.  Since I couldn't say it any better, I'll just copy and paste her response here:

The design of the shirt, eagle w/ mstic flag, is that since early last year, we have really accentuated our flag (matchstic team flags, matchstic values designed as a flag, lots of blogs about our flag, etc). The eagle itself is not a direct correlation with any of the values since these things are already represented with the flag it carries. However, the eagle's purpose is not only to tie-in with our rebrand (w/ the new set of illustrations), but there is symbolism in its wings – one points forward and one supports or "protects" the flag. If the eagle had to represent one of our values, courage would probably be most fitting (i.e. an eagle is historically viewed as a symbol of amercian patriotism and badassness) – the purpose of the imagery is to reference iconic americana that is highly recognizable (e.g. eagle carrying american flag), while the cleverness is tying it in with the matchstic flag of values. 

Here are a few of our past t-shirt designs:

• Big Bang Shirt
• Flag Shirt
• Alphabet Shirt
• Process Shirt
• Rapping Paper Party Shirt

Customers

• Who are your customers?
• Who carries around your product?
• Who brags about being your customer?
• What other brands do they relate to?
• What are motivates and drives them?

Partnerships

• Who are your strategic partners?
• Does their logo fit with yours?
• What are their values?
• What do their customers think of them.

Employees

• Who do you hire?
• What are their personal values?
• Are they optimistic?  Pessimistic?
• Punctual or always late?
• Can you trust them?

You can have a wonderfully fabulous brand identity, but don't forget the reflection points of your brand.  Those things that you can't control, yet your relationship to them still is a part of defining you.  Any time you hire an employee, they tell all their friends where they work.  Every time you refer another company, that recommendation will come back to you, good or bad.  Each time you choose a strategic partner, they tell everyone that they work with you.  Whenever you engage a customer, they tell their colleagues and friends that you are their choice.  Each of these is a reflection of your brand.

As much I want to at times convince myself that these "behind the scenes" elements of the brand don't matter, they do.  Make every decision about your customers, partners and employees very carefully.  It will always reflect back on your brand.

So much of my inspiration for blog posts comes from our amazing clients, and this post is no different.  Last week I was in a meeting with a group of executives discussing the implementation of a new brand style guide.  As we discussed the need for rules and regulations to keep the brand consistent and coherent, one executive quietly spoke some of the wisest words I've heard in my whole career.  He said…

We need to teach them to yearn for the adventure of the sea. Not beat them into submission.

I didn't say anything at the time, but his words knocked me to the floor.  What a way of articulating the importance of not losing the heart of a brand.  What is our real reason for being in business outside of money?  What is that thing about our business that motivates employees to show up and customers to keep coming back?  If we have no sea for our employees and customers to yearn for, we must go back to the drawing board and find it.

I talk with lots of people about branding.  I mean, it's pretty much all I do all day.  And as much fun as it is for us to create a new brand identity for something, I feel like my job is often to talk people out of branding all of their new ideas.

First off, we all have to remember that the #1 principle of branding is Focus.  It's about being known for one thing in your customer's mind.  And if you have the discipline to hold to that philosophy, you'll throw away all of your ideas that deviate from that focus.  I end up in conversations with people who have no company, yet they are already asking for logos for the three companies that they are going to create and need brands for.  Stop the madness!  Do one thing and do it really really well.  Apple is one of the largest companies in the world and you can fit all of their products on one conference table.

Every product and service you have may not need it's own brand identity either.  More often we are called into a company to simplify the brand system that has gotten out of control rather than create more cool, fun stuff.  Again, Apple only has one logo and all of their products are simply names that fit into a specific font.  The iPod logo isn't unique from the MacBook logo.  The equity is all tied up in the main Apple identity.

Remember, branding is all about solving your business problem.  If you need to brand something in order to solve that problem, then definitely do that.  Make the investment.  But start by asking, “Why does this need its own brand?”

thanks to Jonathan for my great blog graphic

Part of my job at Matchstic is to handle incoming requests from companies interested in working with us.  There are different ways to go about this process, some that work well and some that can be time consuming and frustrating.  The classic way to approach a branding company is through sending out a mass RFP (request for proposal).  This is a process that is very tiring and cumbersome for all parties involved and often leaves everyone exhausted and the excitement of starting the project has been lost.  Because of this, we do not involve ourselves in the traditional RFP process.

In my experience, a much more efficient and effective approach is to start with an RFI (request for interview) process.  Decide which type of firm you are looking to work with (local, national, small, large, multi-disciplinary, focused, etc) and go searching for them.  Make a short list of firms that you'd like to interview in order to understand how they tick and how they will approach solving your problem.

In that interview, focus on the following items:

• Understand their philosophies and methodology.  This is the most under estimated aspect early on, but at the core of how they will work.
• What is their process? Does that seem to sit well with how to solve your problem?
• How do they structure a project team?  You want to know who they will be working with and who does the actual work.
• What are typical price ranges and timelines that they are comfortable working with?  You want to make sure those will fit with your needs.
• Do you like them?  You are about to engage in a long process, so you need to feel out how well you will work together.

After you have interviewed several firms, you have most of what you need from what you would have received in the RFP process and more.  Then you can begin the process of selecting 2-3 companies to dig deeper into understanding the project and they can give you a quote with timelines, etc.

It is tempting to jump to looking at deliverables and pricing, but you must first dig into a company's DNA to see if they are a match there first.

If you can't already tell, I really enjoy my job.  One of my passions is business and part of the fun of my job is getting to study all types of businesses and business models in all types of industries.  In addition to this, my role is also to lead Matchstic and navigate all of the ins and outs of trying to grow our own business and keep it a fun place to work.

A few years back, we formed an official Matchstic Advisory Board and we have two meetings per year where we have the privilege of picking the brains of some brilliant folks who have been down this road before.  Last night was one of those meetings, so it has me thinking a lot about our future plans for our business. One of the things we have been working on is a clear roadmap for what will bring us success in the future.  When working through a business model, there is a lot of work around staffing, financial modeling, etc. But one of the foundational elements of our company is the fact that we know we have to continue to have a focused brand.  Being a branding firm doesn't exclude us from the rules of branding, nor does preaching about branding make it any easier to stay focused and not get distracted with opportunities that would cause us to lose our focus.  I have made many mistakes in running this company. Some of the worst have been centered around chasing a dollar when the work was outside of our core area of expertise and what our brand is known for.

As simple as it is, the principles of branding (clarity, focus, differentiation, alignment & authenticity) will set a business up for the most success.  You can have the best systems and process and financial modeling, but without a solid brand, it will not work.  Not only does it make sense in my head, but running a business brings me to the point of knowing it in my heart.

If you have read this blog for a while, you know I'm a sports junkie and take any opportunity to talk sports and branding.  Yesterday was a day I had been anticipating for sometime as Nike unveiled its newly designed NFL uniforms.  A few years ago when it was announced that NIKE would be taking over the NFL, the news was met with a lot of skepticism and concern that the historic sports league of the NFL would be met with loads of crazy Oregon-like uniforms.  The NFL has loads of tradition and does a lot to protect that tradition.  It's leadership is also forward thinking and always careful not to rest on its own success.  So how would NIKE and the NFL manage this change?

In my opinion they did a fantastic job.  31 out of the 32 teams had very minimal changes to their uniforms.  The vast majority of the changes were merely structural and performance improvements.  But they did choose the Seattle Seahawks to showcase the future of what uniforms could be.

Here is what we can learn from this:

• We have to always keep pushing our organizations into the future.  It doesn't just come to us.
• Don't be too quick to let go of tradition.
• Give people a taste of the future.

above image supplied by NIKE and taken from ESPN.com

City Maps is a map experience designed for the person exploring options in the city, not just getting directions to where one already knows he or she wants to go.  It has only been around for a year or so, and I just came across it the other day, but I expect this concept to spread to every major city across America.

This maps serves not just the consumer, but the business looking to stand out in its city.  It's a real test of whether or not you have a great brand mark.  Does it work in a tiny space of this city map?  Or does it break down when shrunk?  Even within this image above, some work better than others.  Starbucks removing the name and just having the mermaid icon works great, while other stores don't even have a mark on the map, but just a word written in the standard City Map font.

The applications required for a brand mark will be always evolving and unpredictable, but sticking with the principles of a great mark will allow your brand to stand the test of time.

Earlier this month Starbucks announced that this fall it will begin selling its own single-cup home-brewing machine, Verismo. The day of the announcement, Starbucks stock soared to the highest point in its history and has continued to rise over the past month even closing yesterday at its highest point in history.

In contrast, Green Mountain, the creator of the industry leading home-brewery system, the Keurig, has been hit hard by this news.  The day of Starbucks' announcement, Green Mountain stock plummeted 20% and has dropped a total of 25% by the news.

Starbucks' and its stock has rose and fallen on the backs of its focus.  When it lost focus on coffee, the stock plummeted, when it regained its focus as the leader in coffee experiences, the stock rises.  And the current news proves the power of a focused brand and its effect on the bottom line.

Here is a snapshot of the journey of the Starbucks stock over its lifetime.

We can get very deep and theoretical about branding, its core principles and the process – all of which are very important aspects of building a great brand.  But at another level, branding is simply being honest.

When we talk about great brands, we often think of the big sexy brands like Apple, Starbucks, etc.  But it is my belief is that a great brand is any brand in which the inside matches the outside.  When what you say in the boardroom is what the frontline customer service reps say is what your customers tell their friends about you. It's plain integrity.  Who you are in private is who you are in public.

Sometimes it's easy to forget such a simple concept.  When all else fails, just be consistent with yourself. Tell the truth.