Belief Number Nine is about our duty to be responsible citizens of our city by supporting connections between people and working with the community to improve the conditions of where we live.

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I was blown away yesterday. Blown away by our 2009 On The House winner. Swift School hosted us to a thank you better than I could have possibly imagined - excited kids telling us how much their new brand meant to them.

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We are incredibly proud and excited to give you a special matchblog sneak peak of our 2010 On The House recipient rebrand, the all new Atlanta Mission.

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We believe in making a difference in the city we call home. Atlanta has a vast array of noteworthy organizations primed for a movement of incredible feats, but like a fuel doused pile of tender they simply need a flame. Thus, On The House, Matchstic's annual pro-bono campaign giving one deserving non-profit an entire brand makeover, was inspired.

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We are incredibly excited to announce the generosity of Battle Axe, a broadcast design studio specializing in motion, joining the On The House 2010 team to help transform the Atlanta Union Mission! They are not only our dear friends, but also a recent client.

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This year for our On The House campaign, I will be announcing our talented and incredibly generous partners, who are coming along side us to help ignite the Atlanta Union Mission brand, which leads me to my conversation with the talented Mr. Stephen Hunton...

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Laura Ries is a world-renowned branding strategist, speaker, and author.  She is also a neighbor of ours here in Atlanta.  As a partner in the On the House project, I recently asked Laura if she wouldn't mind being a guest blogger and talk a little bit about what she does and what her involvement will be for The Swift School.

Pop on over to her blog for more great insights and don't forget to pick up her newest book just released, War in the Boardroom.

So, without further ado, here is Laura Ries.

CRAIG JOHNSON: How did you hear about On The House?

LAURA RIES: Blake, Craig and I were all chosen as Top 40 Under 40 award winners by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in the Fall of 2008.

Few of the winners were in branding (a lot of lawyers and real estate executives), so we gravitated towards each other. They guys had read some of my books and I was intrigued by Matchstic.

Sometimes you just click with people and that is what happened with me and the guys. After spending an hour or so having coffee with Craig talking about branding and life he mentioned the On The House project. I instantly signed up.

CRAIG JOHNSON: Why did you want to be a part of On The House?

LAURA RIES: I wanted to work with Matchstic. I wanted to give something back to the local community. And I wanted to keep busy during this recession.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What makes The Swift School a perfect candidate for On The House?

LAURA RIES: The Swift School is the perfect candidate because they have everything but a brand. They have a wonderful school that nobody knows about with marketing materials that don’t do it justice.

The school is well respected by experts, lead by fantastic teachers, filled with thriving children and supported by loyal parents. But nobody has heard of it, the logo is dated, the positioning unclear and marketing materials in need of investment.

Like many non-profits all the money has gone into running the place. Many see the investment in branding frivolous. But nothing could be further from the truth.

After the On The House team gets finished with Swift, I think it will serve as a great example of how a focused brand well executed can succeed. Branding means owning something in the mind.  And for Swift strengthening and defining its brand will allow them to sell less and teach more, by making it easier attract students, teachers and donors.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What types of clients do you normally work with?

LAURA RIES: We work with a wide variety of clients from Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Frito-Lay and Disney to entrepreneurial companies like The Republic of Tea and Papa John’s Pizza. We don’t specialize in any industry or company size. Our specialty is branding. We help companies to focus. A focus is the key to building a brand in the mind.

You are going to be providing a brand strategy session for the Swift School. Tell us about what you’ll be doing during the session.

My partner/father Al Ries and I are going to lead one of our brand strategy sessions. This is the core of what we do. We don’t have long term clients we only work on a one-day basis. This is the opposite of the way most consultants work. Most consultants study the situation, figure out the solution and present it to the client. We work together with the client to find the answer. That way everybody has ownership of the idea and understands how we got there. Many times there is internal conflict about what the brand is or should be, we help to resolve conflicts and get everyone focused and enthusiastic about the strategy.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What will The Swift School walk away with from that session?

LAURA RIES: The Swift School will walk about from the session with a marketing plan. Swift will have nailed down its brand focus and the exact verbalization of the idea.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What do you think is the most important rule in branding?

LAURA RIES: The most important Law of Branding is the Law of Focus. The way to build a strong brand is by having a narrow focus and owning a word in the mind. Ex. BMW owns driving. Volvo owns safety. Red Bull owns energy drinks. Target owns cheap chic. Zara owns fast-fashion. Nordstrom owns service. FedEx owns overnight.

CRAIG JOHNSON: How can non-profits organizations benefit from a well thought out branding strategy?

LAURA RIES: Non-profits benefit the same as for-profit companies from a strong brand. Strong brands are more successful. They have the ability to generate donations/support/volunteers/PR easier.

Even if you are doing good work it isn’t easy to get attention for it these days. We live in an over-communicated society. We are bombarded daily with thousands of images, sales pitches and charity requests. The only way to get above the clutter is with a focused brand and message. It is the same whether you are selling cars or curing cancer.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What’s your favorite thing about what you do?

LAURA RIES: My favorite thing is being able to work with my Dad. We have been working together since 1994 and he has taught me so much about branding and life. I love being able to travel around the world, meeting new people, learning about different business and helping them to succeed.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What’s the one piece of advice would you give a non-profit that doesn’t have resources to hire a brand strategist?

LAURA RIES: Many companies especially non-profits hesitate to focus their brand and message. They want to make there message as wide as possible. But this is a mistake. Your message and brand needs to be focused in order to get into the mind. You don’t have to include everything you do in your message.

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The bar has been raised! Last week we concluded our Top Ten Finalist interviews with five more in-office interviews. They are all GREAT organizations and narrowing to the final 3 will be a real tough decision. Check out the highlight video below and see for yourself! The Final 3 will be announced this Wednesday April 8th, here on the matchstic blog.

On The House Finalists Interviews 6- 10 from matchstic on Vimeo.
The ministries featured in this video are:

#6. AIGA Atlanta: aiga-atl.org
#7. Redeemed Ministries: redeemedlove.org
#8. Ministry Ventures: ministryventures.org
#9. Essential 2 Life: e2lonline.org
#10. Myles Apart: mylesapart.org

To see the first five interviews click here.

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Its the last big push before the On the House application period comes to a close. We've all heard about the economic hit that non-profits have taken in the last several months. I'm sure you know of a worthy 501(c)3 in the Atlanta area that not only needs a boost right now, but also needs some assistance with their brand strategy and brand presence.

Here's your chance…send ‘em to www.matchstic.com/onthehouse to apply before EOD this upcoming Mon, March 23. You'll be giving them the opportunity for a chance to make an even larger impact.

Its the next best thing to giving them actual cash (meaning that doesn't excuse you from still supporting them financially…come on).

Do it. Right Now.

www.matchstic.com/onthehouse

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One of our partners for On the House is the focused marketing consultants of Ries & Ries.  We are incredibly honored that they wanted to join us and can't wait to work together with them.

Last week, I attended the Atlanta Ad Club‘s event, where Laura Ries was discussing her and Al's new book, War in the Boardroom.  Take my word for it and go ahead and get your own copy and enjoy.

I was kinda going nuts on Twitter during the event, trying to keep up with all the great insights.  Here is a quick sampling of my tweets:

• Sony 1.8% profit margin. Nintendo 15.5% profit margin. Focus wins

• Narrow focus wins. Motorolla 1.6% profit margin. Nokia 11.9% profit margin.

• Mgmt thinks verbally. Mktg thinks visually.

• Boston Chicken wanted to diversify to grow so they changed to Boston Market & went bankrupt. No longer owning anything in the mind.

• Kodak profit margin went from 7% to 0.4% when they failed to adjust to the digital revolution by launching a NEW brand.

• Truly revolutionary ideas with strong brands take time to get to the point where they take off. Patience is key.

If you're interested in seeing the whole presentation, here you go.

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