Last night, Blake, Alvin, and I attended the AMY Awards (Atlanta Marketers of the Year) at the Fabulous Fox Theater, where we were honored to be one of three finalists in the Brand Identity B2C category for our work with Leadership Atlanta.

When we first began the project, we researched to find out what equity existed in the historic identity to decide whether this should be an Evolutionary or a Revolutionary rebrand.  We concluded that there was:

1. Equity in the blue but it needed consistency,

2. Equity in the triangle but it needed more meaning

3. The naming hierarchy was unbalanced.  The program focuses leaders on impacting the city of Atlanta and so priority of “Atlanta” had to be reflected in the identity.

The central idea around the brand was the concept of “BETTER LEADERS FOR A BETTER ATLANTA”

The solution led to a deeper blue, a new triangle (with locking “L” and “A”) and bringing Atlanta up to match with “Leadership”.

Next, the task was to create a flexible system that allowed for several ways it could layout as well as a seal for Alumni classes, as our research showed great pride in the leader’s year they went through the program.

There also exists sub-brands for LEAD (a program for younger professionals), Alumni, and “Class of…”  so we created a brand architecture that fits with those while keeping the primary equity in the main brand.

Bottlecap Development (who actually introduced us to Leadership Atlanta, BIG THANKS!) ran lead on the website and created a fantastic back-end system where past alumni can connect with each other and continue to stay better connected to the program and support each year’s class.  The website launched last night just in time for the AMYs, check it out here: http://leadershipatlanta.org.

Our sincere gratitude to Pat, Dan, Megan and the rest of the Leadership Atlanta staff for being so great to work with through this process.

I see niche focus as the single most important variable when it comes to what makes or a breaks an independent shop these days. Where it’s impossible to compete in terms of sheer volume, selection, or pricing, smaller businesses instead have to offer less but better.

Videodrome doesn’t have every movie. But they have a simple selection of what’s worth watching. There’s a great foreign selection (more Hong Kong and Chinese movies I’ve seen in a video store) categorized by country. There’s a new releases wall. A staff favorite section that’s sorted by director. Even with the immediate gratification of Netflix streaming, sometimes it’s just nice to walk around and browse the shelves.

What I like most about the store is their extensive collection of Criterion Collection titles. You’ve seen them — the boxes that stand out on the shelves simply because of the beautifully designed covers. While we’re on the topic of focus, Criterion has it too.

Their mission: “Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements.”

A limited selection, thoughtful design, and dedication to quality. With this film publisher and the little video store on Highland, these things come together to make for an uncommon experience in our days of “instant.”

Swift School was the winner of last year’s On The House campaign.
Check out some of the exciting things we’ve been doing for this great school.

We chose to focus on the “hope” that families dealing with dyslexia need. A star represents hope, belief, achievement and success. And a blue star is more appropriate than the school’s original hunter green. The star contains a hidden “S” inside of it communicating the idea of hidden potential.

We also developed a brochure and website around the idea of hope. The hope of getting good grades in school. The hope of academic achievement. The hope of each child reaching their fullest potential.

While driving down Memorial Drive on my way home, it just happened. I heard my scooter sputter followed by a metal ‘clink’. Looking in my rear view mirror I saw a long metal piece of my scooter bouncing down the road behind me. I stopped, picked up the muffler, bungied it to the back of my scooter, and continued my trip home…but with a little unexpected kick.

My scooter engine was now loud, commanded attention, and went about 4 mph faster. Perfection. I don’t know why they didn’t just design it that way in the first place.

I have yet to reattach the muffler.

There is joy sometimes in the chaos. Instead of trying to avoid it or control it – embracing the madness usually results in creative energy in the midst of it. The best ideas are rarely a by-product of a + b = c. Creativity needs a little unpredictability to fuel its fire.

What you see is only a small portion of the movements of my mouse over a nine hour period. The lines represent continuous movement, while the circles and their size represent periods of inactivity. What produces some truly interesting results is when multiple days are placed one over another.

This is only a taste of what this program is capable of producing. So, I encourage everyone to give the program a try and look at some of the spectacular results. The most current version of the program is IOGraphica and can be downloaded here.

Also, as it was too big for prime time, you can also view the results of my two days and two monitors in two colors here.

Language is not easy. Even with someone as close as my wife I can find myself saying something that doesn’t convey the message I set out to communicate. In business relationships this only multiplies. Many times I find myself answering what I think the solution is, even before I’ve really listened enough to fully understand what the heart of a problem might be. And that full understanding is the difference-maker between being served a normal dinner – or two entrees for one person.

Email only complicates the situation. As does defensiveness, fear, and personality differences. The world may be flat, but people are not. They are complex individuals.

More and more I am trying to ask questions first. More than listening, I want to really get it. If we start there, then trust builds. And trust is the mortar that holds relationships intact and creates opportunity for successful ventures.

Although not always easy, popular, or cheap, this is how to go about a solid branding endeavor. Meeting in person, spending time immersing oneself  in a brand, talking with customers, etc – these are all things that help us listen before acting…understand before executing.

And a little French might help sometimes too.

It’s an important point.

But there are some details that I would have to disagree with.

“Then they invented the factory, and we all became factory workers.”

Mr. Godin spends a great deal of energy demonizing production (factory) culture when the fact is we created this for ourselves. “Cog” jobs exist because of the demand to consume cheap goods. He strives to bring out the artisan within the reader — these jobs are the fulfilling ones, he says. Now, let’s say we all become these awesome creative indispensable “linchpins”. Will we be willing to accept owning one pair of $300 shoes versus six pairs of slave-wage sneakers? Will we be willing to eat humanely-raised eggs from the artisanal farmer at $3/dozen? I have a bad feeling that the answer is no.

“The future belongs to chefs, not cooks or bottle washers.”

Any business is essentially a symbiotic relationship between the many people who make it work. Not everyone is a chef, and that’s simply a fact of life. Whether due to talent, luck, or a myriad of other factors. But I’d be hard pressed to find a good chef in a well-respected kitchen to not be absolutely indebted for what his staff provides him.

“Given the choice, most of us, most of the time, seek out art… Hermes would assign a craftsperson to work on a saddle for as long as it might take. ‘Made in France’ came to mean something (and still does, three hundred years later).“

Mr. Godin makes it a point to emphasize the importance of artisans in every chapter. The artist job is the most fulfilling, while commodity-pushing, factory jobs are part of the system holding us back and stifling our creativity. I wonder then, how he will explain the use of an iStockPhoto image for his book cover. Why not work with a talented designer to craft a cover that is bespoke, meaningful… indispensable?

Linchpin has been an interesting read — an important topic that just lacks consistency and insight in the details. I’ll report back on the second half of the book when we finish it.

We helped them develop their theme and campaign for the 2009-2010 learning year: BACK IN BLACK. 2009 did a number on all of us and so the theme was for everyone to get back in black.  They also talk about how “Back in Black is an attitude.”  It takes a determined entrepreneur to get a company out of what 2009 brought us and back in growth mode.  There are several events each month and we did a series of posters for the different events.  It was a lot of fun as they were an interesting mix of Rock n’ Roll and business strategy.

Below is a grouping of the different posters our team developed. I’m pretty darn proud of them all.

And if you’re interested in being a part of the Atlanta Chapter, you can find out more here.

However, let’s first answer, “What exactly is a brand?” A brand can be simply defined as the perception or gut feeling someone has about a product or service. It’s what ultimately determines purchasing behavior – why you will or will not do business with a company.

And whether you like it or not, you have a personal brand, and it isn’t just determined by what you wear on your shirtsleeve. People, right now at this very moment, have a perception of you. Right or wrong, good or bad, it’s there. The way you speak, your email address (Hotmail is so 2003), the phone you have, your eye contact during a conversation, the car you drive, the posters you hang on your wall, your bumper stickers, if you’re a chronic during-meal texter (personal pet peeve) and your Twitter and Facebook updates that broadcast out to the world. Countless nuances combine to make the unique brand of YOU.

What Defines YOU?

It’s not about money, material things or even your sense of style. Once you’re conscious you do have a brand, you can then align it with your beliefs. Notice that we’re not talking about creating a false self or a façade in order to please others, rather, it’s about celebrating and embracing your true self. Defining what you stand for, what you don’t and what makes you truly unique- that is branding.

You Are What You Tweet.

What do you declare? Where do you find your Identity? Who do you represent?

We have a  saying around here- “You are what you tweet.” The understanding here is that all of us are constantly sending messages (even if we don’t literally “Tweet”), causing others to draw perceptions. So shouldn’t we be intentional about what we’re broadcasting and what this says about our brand?

Let’s say you Twitter constantly about riding roller coasters, you will be perceived as a theme park addict. Likewise, If you use Twitter as your offical complaint box, you’re probably  perceived as a ‘Negative Nancy’. So many of us don’t realize the power of broadcasting mini-messages to our family, friends and acquaintances. Each tiny character is forming your personal brand.

Following this “Tweet” rule, you begin to realize that the basis of building a brand is consistency. But it goes deeper than that.

The same is true with the brands with which we align ourselves. Do you know the nitty gritty about the brands you represent? What if your favorite t-shirt company takes advantage of shady third-world country labor laws as a means for profit? What if your car manufacturer contributes to the growing climate control issue? Again, it’s not about right or wrong, it’s about knowing what you believe in and demonstrating that.

For me, I still associate myself with brands I love (from Apples to Alligators), But I realize that my personal brand is about being who I was created to BE, embracing it, and learning how to shape it. I hope you’ll do the same.

Afterall, we do live in a branded world.

I’ve never been there but apparently this is just how their done over there. They come in a variety of designs based on locality, utility and manufacturer. They sometimes include a symbol peculiar to a region or town as part of the overall design. In Kyoto, a turtle (symbol of wisdom and longevity) is the main motif. Local landmarks, flowers or animals might also be used. Pretty cool how a seemingly insignificant item given a little love can become something beautiful. A flag for a town even. Wonder why we’ve never done that here. Here are some more: