A while back I posted about the importance of brand mystery. The ultra-accessibility of everything today begs for some buried treasure. People are intrigued by the elusive. They want to dig, to be insiders.

Just recently, an example materialized here in town – a late night eat-and-drink pop-up in the middle of East Atlanta Village.

Dubbed “Octopus Bar,” this mysterious eatery takes over the patio between the hours of 10 pm and 3 am at So Ba, a Vietnamese restaurant by day. It was created for “industry folks” – cooks and bartenders and waitstaff who want a place with good food and drink after work. The folks who find great pleasure in “uni carbonara” and “rabbit wonton soup.”

In the weeks leading up to launch, there was no press save the slightest word of mouth. There was speculation and excitement. Even upon opening, marketing has been non-existent.

“Branding” decisions seem haphazard, with a mysterious inconsistently inked “O” serving as the logo. Menus are trimmed as irregularly as the flow of one post-fusion dish to another. Is that Comic Sans (u mad)? There’s a vague spy-house theme to the cocktails, (”008,” “The Bluff,”) twists on the classic martini and Manhattan. At least it’s consistently inconsistent.

Octopus floats above the prevailing dining trends of the moment. It’s elusive, irreverent, and personal. The success of this bar could serve as an indicator of where we’re headed. Information overload and infinite accessibility have created a craving for the mysterious.

Andy and his team at GasPedal are putting on a 1 day word of mouth learning event July 20th in NYC called Word of Mouth Supergenius.

Word of Mouth Supergenius is where you'll learn to be a fantastic word of mouth marketer with 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You'll learn practical, hands-on techniques to get started, launch your program, and earn amazing word of mouth.  You'll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — and learn it all in just one day.

If you're interested in attending, use the code WELOVEMATCHSTIC and you'll receive 10% off.

No one seemed to care that I left my blog outdated. My Twitter followers weren’t asking where I was. No one on FB noticed. I was a little humbled. Guess my status updates weren’t as funny/intelligent/interesting as I thought they were. This reminded me of a common question we hear from folks engaged with us in Branding initiatives…"Should we be on Facebook?"; "Should we Tweet?".

Should Social networking be an automatic for brands?

Content is no longer a premium. Gone are the days when subscribing to a magazine provided me with an inside track to content I couldn’t find elsewhere. And if this is true of magazines and newspapers, just think what it means for SM. There are millions of people pushing millions of pieces of content everyday on FB & Twitter. What’s valuable? What matters? Who cares? Is it worth the time? The risk? The potential posing? It can be fun, educational, sometimes relational, and can actually provide good connections. We’ve even seen it result in new business. But its a new world that everyone is fast to jump onboard without totally understanding what, why, & who.

People have lost their jobs over SM. People have not gotten jobs because of SM. Companies have been hired and fired.

I believe the answer to the question of whether a brand – new or old – should quickly jump onboard the SM bandwagon is, No. My opinion is that it should be a considered decision. Here are a few questions that come to mind when I think about the decision of if & when:

- What will you say?
- How often will you say it?
- Is it something that someone else is already saying?
- Will anyone miss it if it went away?
- Is it meaningful, purposeful, helpful, insightful, funny, or entertaining?
- Should it be meaningful, purposeful, helpful, insightful, funny, or entertaining?
- Is your audience actively participating on FB & Twitter? Do they read blogs?
- Would you care to read what you’re posting?

Realize you’re entering into a large conversation that may not yet have rules, but does have influence. Make the choice with intent and purpose. Its not automatic.

Why is customer service so under valued by big faceless companies? Why is it so hard to do right? Experiences like these leave a such a bad taste in your mouth which otherwise could have been great. And it's only a matter of time before you spread the word to your friends. In this case a word of disappointment.

Marty Neumeier writes in Zag, "Every brand is built with experiences, whether the brand is a company, product or a service and whether it serves individuals or a buisness. The key is to craft those experiences so they create delight for the people who determine the meaning and value of your brand – your customers."

In the same book he also writes, "Every brand is built by a community. Not just a community of people inside the company, but it's partners, suppliers, investors, CUSTOMERS, non-customers, even competitors. It's a complete ecosystem in which there are gives and gets all around. Everyone has a role to play, and everyone should be repaid for thier efforts."

People need people, brands need people. Good will is good buisness.

When was the last time you were asked for "your card"? Or you gave one away? If you're like me it's few and far between.

It seems like today business cards are dying a slow vaporizing death (like Marty McFly in Back To The Future), along with several other print meda in our iPhone/ Crackberry age. It makes total sense. Why do I really need a small piece of paper with your contact info on it? In 1995, before the "you-twitter-face" era, I might not ever see you again. Our brief encounter lost in the passing by happen chance of the ages, but that's not necessarily the case today.

I can easily add you to my contacts, send you a FR (friend request) on facebook, follow you on twitter, or go old school and send you an email. Will I really ever meed your direct contact info?

Maybe, but lets be honest, the real value in a business card is the impression you leave in the mind of the recipient. It's a great way to build the perception you want for your brand. So the question is, what kind of impression are you leaving? Are you leaving one with 3 phone numbers, 2 faxes, a tagline, mission statement, brand promise, national accreditations, car make & model, highschool yearbook photo, and your favorite Proverb?

Instead, maybe you should simply leave someone thinking? Maybe it simply challenges? Inspires? Starts a conversation?

Maybe your message is printed on a steak (there is actually a new process to do that). Not the most sustainable message, but I guarantee pulling a rib eye out of your pocket will start a conversation.

It's hard to do something different and break the norm. Real innovation happens when you don't just accept the way things are, but challenge them.

What are some of the best business card ideas you've ever seen?

How many times do we treat our clients like this?

Maybe not as extreme as the above example, but in small ungrateful ways, especially in a service based businesses, we can all be guilty. We fail to make the connection between our paychecks and our clients. I've seen this "bothersome- stupid client" attitude in so many agencies, and I hope we never become one of those.

After a brief confrontation, I ended up thanking the "Sandwich Artist" for her time and went next door to Willy's for chimichangas and nachos.

What's the worst customer service based experience you've ever had?

*Disclaimer: All of the artwork used in this blog article does not represent failed organizations or business ideas, quite the contrary actually. It is merely an example of preliminary artwork we've created along the way to finding the right solution.

As a designer, emotional blindness to the artwork you create is common. Emotional blindness is when the artist is deeply connected and invested in his or her idea or design that any feedback, changes, or criticism falls on deaf ears. It's like tunnel vision or horse blinders with a touch of pride and stubbornness. With experience as an Art Director and a Designer (with a really hard head), I have a unique perspective on the dilemma. I've been in the trenches slaving away for days on a design, tweaking every nuance, only to be told in a two minute presentation that it's not right. On the other side, I've had designers present their hard work to me, only for me to instantly shoot it down.

The old saying, "Dont' miss the forest for the trees" is very appropriate for designers who are fixated with details. That's why a second set of objective eyes is so important, to bring, what our friend Alina Wheeler calls, "The Blinding Flash of the Obvious".

Thus, some of the artwork below. These are a few samples of when we had, self-proclaimed, brilliant ideas, but failed to either truly understand the client or properly educate the client on best practices. Visually, they are all stunning, but whether or not they would have been effective we will never know!

Now, it has started to become an ever-present condiment across the country — found everywhere from Walmart to mom-and-pop bars to Michelin-starred-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten‘s kitchens.

Aside from being boosted by the growing number of conscious culinary types, the Rooster sauce's formula for success is similar to many other strong brands:

A compelling story -> An authentic product -> Unique identity and design

David Tran, the founder, built a name for himself from making and packaging chili sauce by hand in Vietnam. After finding his way to America, Mr. Tran moved from Boston to Los Angeles in search of peppers. Within a month he started making sauce again and soon local pho shops stocked the product and the occasional American consumer began squirting it onto hot dogs.

While not having the most refined or sophisticated design, the bright red and green bottles definitely don't lack the ability to stand out on store shelves. And each one is decorated with a "logo" featuring — not peppers or flames or a fire-breathing pepper — but simply Mr. Tran's astrological sign, the rooster. As more and more new brands follow generic, accepted (ahem, "market research") formulas to build their identities, the art of story-telling and simple, honest design that isn't focus-grouped to death is quickly becoming a rare phenomenon.

Regardless of whether Rooster sauce will one day become as symbolic as a bottle of Heinz or a can of Coke, it's admirable that they've stayed true to what they love and what they believe in despite the national attention:

“We’re happy to see these chefs use our sriracha,” said Huy Fong’s president, William Tran, the 33-year-old son of its founder. “But we still sell 80 percent of our product to Asian companies, for distribution through Asian channels. That’s the market we know. That’s the market we want to serve.”

They haven't changed the quirky package design that most designers would scoff at. They haven't changed their name into something that most Americans can pronounce. They don't have a "web 2.0″, totally-awesome flash site with games featuring the rooster. And I hope they never will.

Photo: Robert Yager for the NY Times

The Tourism board released a campaign earlier this year to locate someone to fill "The Best Job in the World". Genius. "The job description? Explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef for six months and report back to Tourism Queensland and the world via blogs, a photo diary, video updates and interviews." The pay, $110,000 for six months of work.

After 34,000 video entries from some 200 countries, 34 year old Ben Southall was selected as the winner this week.

Of course the goal was not to get someone to fill a job. Rather, it was to provide a platform for people to see how amazing the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef really are and that this is one amazing place you should visit.

Perfect idea, not to mention a great use of resources.

On a side-note, they do appeared to have totally ripped-off the concept used in the Bahamas logo. At least their campaign was original.

*Quote & Picture from article as it appeared at MSNBC.com. Full Article.

When you Check It Out, submit your story (AKA – Make Your Mark). Its fun, easy, and even if you haven't been to one of the conferences before (like me) its worth being a part of. And I will say, with folks like Malcom Gladwell & Rob Bell speaking – its definitely something I'll be checking out this October.

Explore around and enjoy!

And many thanks to Toolbox No.9 – our partner on the site development and one of the best Flash shops in town.