Nc4 smashability talk

Branding & Why it
Matters to you.

Tuesday, March 27, 12

Here’s the agenda.
Stop blending in.

Who am I.
Why are you here?
What is a brand and why should you care?
Smashing & Blending Brands.
Business Card Ninjas & How to Avoid them.
Crafting your story. (Strategy)
Deﬁning your image. (Visual appeal)
Identifying your audience. (Hook)
Roadmap.
Questions.


This is where
my story starts.


Actually lets back up.
Born & Raised in Wilmington.
Started drawing before I could talk. Or so it seemed.
Spent my youth building models and drawing houses.
Found a passion for design.
Couldn’t hack it at Pre-Calculus. Scrapped a career in Architecture.
Went to school at night, landed a my ﬁrst big gig at 17 with AOL Time Warner.
Proud Graduate of Brandywine High School.
Went to College. Worked in Printing for $11/hr. Left for Advertising.
Started teaching.
Adopted some dogs. Bought a House.
Sold my soul to direct mail.
Lost my job.
Started a Company.
Love every minute of it.


Why are you here?
• You want to stand out from everyone else.
• You want to be a rockstar.
• Your company feels like an old Christmas Sweater from Goodwill.
• Or, you’re just curious about why branding should matter to you.


What is a brand?

A brand is not a logo, not
an identity, not a product.
A brand is a person’s gut
feeling about a product,
service, or organization.


• http://youtu.be/nnsSUqgkDwU


• http://youtu.be/H1ni1lQBEXg


• http://youtu.be/e0mXHph1-gc


• http://youtu.be/AzTqvDEGg6s


• http://youtu.be/G40g9RTxurw


Is your brand “smashable”?


“smashable”

The term "smashable" dates back to 1915, when the Coca-Cola
company asked a designer in Terre Haute, Indiana, to design a
bottle that consumers could still recognize as a Coke bottle, even if
someone ﬂung it against a brick wall and it shattered into a hundred
pieces. Coke is a smashable brand. So are Guinness, Ferrari, Harley-
Davidson and, of course, Apple (take a sledgehammer to an iPad
and you'll know what I mean). Which suggests that the logo as we
once knew and loved it--from Citibank's Scowling Umbrella (I don't
know what else to call it), to Nike's Swoosh, to Starbucks's Whoever-
The-Heck-She-Is--needs to be re-considered if it's going to play
any role in future brand-building.

- Martin Lindstrom via @FastCompany


• http://youtu.be/lAl28d6tbko


Shred your marketing.
All of it.

Throw out your business cards, sales decks, tweets, emails and other
communication channels. And look at what’s left?


Starting from scratch,
List what remains.

So after you’ve tossed the tired ads, 140 character messages, bold sales copy
and red starbursts look at the heart of your message. Is it intact?


Business Card Ninjas.

They stalk every chamber
event, come to events with
their business cards rubber
banded, and love a good
speed networking session.


Top 5 Reasons to Avoid Being a
Business Card Ninja.

01 | You’re more than a ﬂimsy business card can convey.

02 | You value your time.

03 | You value my time. (Important!)

04 | You understand value is in the relationship.

05 | And Finally, you don’t have enough hand sanitizer to shake that many hands.


Small Company, Big Brand.

Insurance Broker - Piece of mind.

Wedding Photographer - Memories.

General Contractor - Vision.

Chamber of Commerce - Community.


Small Company, Big Brand.

Heating & Air Conditioning - Comfort.

Real Estate - Lifestyle.

Financial Planner - Security.


Bold & Bland Filter.

There’s a natural habit to make the logo bigger, bold the copy, add a
starburst or use your existing material. To compete small business
must be prepared to think like a Fortune 500, but with the budget of a
lemonade stand.


Crafting your story.
(Strategy)


A great brand tells a story.
And luckily we all make great stories.

Marina Willer of Wolﬀ Olins London declared, “It’s not about consistency, it’s
about creating stories that make sense.” Stories are the way we connect with
people and create relationships. If we think of brands as people or personalities,
they need to be magical storytellers. As humans, we thrive on all of the
emotional connections we have. We get passionate about them. It’s the stories
we tell and hear that trigger those connections.


• http://youtu.be/R55e-uHQna0


So, who are you?
Senior Vice President, Principal,
Junior Lackey, Intern, Gofer,
Sales Representative, Customer
Service Specialist, Graphic
Designer, General Contractor,
Nurse Practitioner, Consultant,
HR Genius, Director of
Something Awesome, President,
Dishwasher, Bartender...


Luckily, you’re none of them.
A title gives little meaning to who you actually are, or what you do well. Sure
it looks nice on a resume or business card, but why should I care?

I used to be a Graphic Designer, an
Art Director, a Creative Director, a
Barista, and a Lawn Care Specialist.


What makes you tick?
Are you an organizer? Do you like to lead groups? Walk Dogs? Play Sports?
Write? Kill time on the internet? Think of 5 things you do really well, and
write them down.

I’m an artist, a dog walker, a coﬀee
enthusiast, a community activist and
a traveler.


So what does that mean?
It turns out all the things I like to do, and do well correspond to a few core
principles that guide both my personal and professional life. When I talk to
people I relate the things I love to how I do them well. They are:

Problem Solving, Collaboration,
Project Management, a Constant
Desire to Learn, and to see the World
through Various Lenses.


Be Real &
Don’t Lie.
Step One


Lesson’s
Learned.
Step Two


List 5 things
you Love.
Step Three


Clear & Concise
Step Four


Leave out the
sales copy.
Step Five


We want emotion.
I’m not talking about an episode of The Wire, but you’ve got to draw in your
audience bit by bit. You’re not a robot, or list of titles, you have great strengths,
so highlight them.


• http://youtu.be/p916yeFa2Xk


• http://youtu.be/vr3x_RRJdd4


Deﬁning your image.
(Visual Appeal)


When you know your story, you have to start to compile visual
elements that tie to it. This can be everything from clothing, shoes,
cars, skateboards, to music. These are the elements that deﬁne your
personal style.


Think about the signiﬁcance of these items, why do they
describe you and your brand?


What common or shared attributes do they have?

(Color, Type, Texture, etc.)


How can you articulate their value in a verbal and written way?

Clean san-serifs, elegant scripts, bold
colors, reﬁned negative spaces and
crisp imagery.


Audience?
(Hook) Who are you talking to. B2B / B2C, Peers, etc.


Your brand is built by experience.
This experience starts with your personal
appearance, attitude and manner. To build a
successful brand you have to start at the core
of who you are, how you interact with others
and work outward to your physical and digital
footprint.


How am I perceived by my audience?


What diﬀerences in experience do segments of my audience have?
(B2B vs. B2C, Peers, Clients, Managers,etc.)


Is their perception accurate to my brand?


• http://youtu.be/G5lTTaPeglg


• http://youtu.be/7skPnJOZYdA


• http://youtu.be/Y4MnpzG5Sqc


Roadmap.


Build a survey & Ask Questions.


What to ask?

1. How do you explain your brand to new customers?
2. What do your current customers think of your brand? And Why?
3. How do your employees describe your brand? What keywords or
attributes are important when they talk about the brand?
4. What are the diﬀerences in your brand through a customers
perspective and an employees? And Why?


SWOT

5. List your Strengths and why.
6. List your Weaknesses and why.
7. What are your Opportunities?
8. What do you consider your Threats?


Read your responses and take an honest look under the hood. Do you
consider your brand to be a business asset or an afterthought?


Put your experience into writing. Reﬁne.


Deﬁne your brand umbrella. Visual, copy, strategy, channel
development, etc.


Take it for a test drive. Ask for feedback.


Smash it. What do you have now?


Invest in Your brand.
Remember brands take work, now and then you have to do some maintenance,
take a class, buy some new clothes, travel, etc. Don’t let what deﬁnes you be
what you do at work. Work is very small part of your brand.


Question
& Answer


Thanks.
Bradford Wason
brad@23rd5th.com
@bradwason


Nc4 smashability talk

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