Well, it’s been brand central around these parts lately. We’ve been busy helping several customers refresh their brands and their web sites to kick off 2010. Right now, we’re in the process of developing a web site benefitting St. Vincent’s, a service of Catholic Community Services of Northern Nevada, after refreshing their brand specifically for the site, which is being donated by the creators of LetsDoGood.org.  We’re also starting on a web site refresh for Park Place Assisted Living and finishing up a dramatic new web site for H+K Architects. And, in a sign that optimists are starting to market again, we’ve been tapped to do a brand identity refresh for Sage Financial Advisors, Inc. of Reno. And, because we’re grateful for everything on God’s green earth, we’re working with a couple of nonprofits on their branding needs as well.

One of our favorite campaigns to work on each year is the Nevada Chamber Music Festival, where amazing Classical musicians from around the world join up in Reno to share their holidays and their gift of music with eager fans. The festival is a series of eight concerts in two locations (Nightingale Concert Hall at the University of Nevada and South Reno United Methodist Church). Our theme for several years now is “It’s a Gathering of Greats,” and those are among the truest words ever written. The festival was created by Maestro Theodore Kuchar (the most recorded conductor of his generation) and includes greats like Jamie Buswell, Wendy Warner, Orion Weiss, Ruth Lenz, Ellen dePasquale, Robert Vernon, and more players from the Reno Chamber Orchestra. For this year’s campaign, we created rack cards, posters, newspaper ads, RGJ.com banner ads, web site landing page artwork, a direct mail piece, and a beautiful TV spot, which will run on broadcast and cable TV throughout northern Nevada. After a year like 2009, tucking into an afternoon or evening concert featuring these amazing players is a well-deserved respite from the cares of everyday life. It’s a challenge every year to keep the festival fresh and in front of people at a time of year when the barrage of messages is overwhelming. We went very “retail” this year with a beautiful image, strong words, and as clear a message as we could make, because I felt some of the earlier work was high concept but tended to downplay the idea that THIS IS Nevada’s Classical music festival, and it’s a big deal that players of this calibre are here the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when they arguably should be curled up in front of their respective fireplaces with hot cocoa or Cognac and giving their Stradivarii a well-deserved holiday rest. The first concert my wife and I attended last year, at S. Reno United Methodist, was packed to the rafters. And, while I’m no expert, there is something remarkably transporting about being in the same room as some of the finest musicians on the planet who are playing their hearts out simply for the sake of playing with other amazing musicians. You’ve got to hear it to believe it.

Park Place Assisted Living in Reno. Who wouldn't want to live here?

We picked up Park Place Assisted Living, a client I actually worked on in 1992 when it was first opening. We have been retained to rebrand them and create their marketing communications. It’s really an amazing place, and so to capture that, we invited our old friend Jeff Dow to shoot it in all its resplendent glory. A common phrase fell out of everyone’s mouth when they saw the photos: “Who wouldn’t want to live here?”

Pristine Green Cleaners, version 2.0.

So, the latest news on Bob’s (soon to be known as Pristine Green Cleaners — Carmen told me they registered the name with the city) is that we re-worked the color scheme and treatment on the building in Reno; we re-designed the business system (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc.); we went to the Sparks Greenbrae store and measured the windows there, took photographs, and designed what that storefront (and back) could look like; and we priced out various solutions with several different vendors to present to the client. Today, I borrowed an ICI Color Sample Book from my good friend Brad Van Woert, AIA of Sheehan Van Woert Bigotti Architects, and took it to Carmen to pick out a specific green color. It’s time to move on this; we’ve already written the press release about the name change, and the building is still painted red! (I’m threatening to paint it myself!)

A sneak peek at Dinter Engineering’s new trade show booth design for this fall.

Before I dive into my first post, let me introduce myself. I am Joey Vestal, art director, graphic designer, web designer,  and fellow blog poster at David Branby Advertising. Hopefully, I’ll offer a contrasting  perspective on our projects. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as David’s! So, here goes:

We recently rebranded Dinter Engineering Co., a Reno-based electrical, mechanical and airfield engineering firm. They’ve been around for nearly half a century and knew it was time to update their look. They wanted a new identity that, like their old, illustrated the different types of engineering they do. So, we got to work updating their mark and reworking the typography. We stuck with a fan-bolt because they didn’t want to depart too far from their well-recognized brand and because it was fairly illustrative of their different capabilities. The typography in their previous logo had some serious kerning issues and was pretty hard to read at small sizes or from far away. So, we went for something bold and clean. I designed a custom typeface, so I could get the sturdy look we were going for without using the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ font. Their secondary font is now DIN, which has a very industrial feel and complements their mark very well. I’m really pleased with it.

Old logo, left. New logo, right.

This morning, David stopped by Dinter’s office and took some pictures of the building, which was painted forest greeyawn and lavblander. It’s amazing how much of a difference colors can make.

Before and after

(Once again, we interrupt this blog, usually dedicated to Streetwise Marketing, for a breath of fresh air…because we’re still waiting for feedback from our subjects, Carmen and Miguel. So, take a deep breath, relax, and let the following article I wrote for Healthy Beginnings Magazine soak into your marketing monkey brain.)

I was talking to my favorite yoga instructor recently about what constitutes healthy business in times like these, and her take on it mirrored my own belief: Business is always hard. Not surprisingly, in times like these, business is really hard. So the first rule of healthy business today is to take good care of yourself. That means eating right — because stress releases cortisol in our bodies, which makes us crave carbohydrates and fat.<1> It also means nurturing yourself with adequate exercise and fresh air. It means getting plenty of sleep, so you have the energy to stay optimistic when everything seems to be hammering you. You can also counter some of the “fight or flight” urges that stress and anxiety bring about by doing simple actions that send calming signals to your body: Driving in the slow lane instead of the fast lane. Repeating the mantra that you’re not alone; everyone is feeling the pain of this weak economy. Counting your blessings, because however pinched you feel, someone else is hurting even more. And caretaking every moment by being in it, mindfully, because modern neuro science proves you think more clearly and make better decisions<2> when you’re in the moment.

Having said all this, I’ll be the first to admit (and my employees will tell you, in five-part harmony, with feeling), that I am awful at managing stress. But the simple message is, I’m trying, and that’s my wish for you, too. Drink the chamomile tea, take a walk, say positive affirmations, commit a random act of kindness, do whatever it takes. We will climb out of this recession, and we will be stronger because of it.

Speaking of being stronger business-wise, don’t forget to market, market, market to let people know you’re running your business. Everyone in business is keeping a close watch on spending, but consumers are still buying (they’re just watching their pennies, too) and they still need to know what you’ve got, what it can do for them, and where to find it. So, do SEO, paid search, and pay-per-click for your web site. Take advantage of historically-low printing prices to re-do your brochures and sales collateral. And drive people to your web site, blog, and social media sites by advertising. It’s still the way brands are built, and a recent study shows that magazines have the highest sales per time spent ratio3 in mass media these days. I’m a big lover of magazines, for the content and for the ads, and I have a stack that I savor on the weekends with a cup of tea and my cat on my lap. I’m inclined to think — and I know from my own experience — that when I’m calm and leafing through a magazine, I spend more time really reading over the ads and collecting impressions that inform my buying decisions. Think about your own consumer behavior — calmly and serenely — and apply your intuitive knowledge of human behavior to your marketing behavior for healthy results.

1. Stress Eating and the Cortisol Connection, Jane Harrison, R.D., Staff Nutritionist, myOptumHealth, 9/8/08.
2. Oprah Magazine, May 2009.
3. MPA, Magazines Deliver Most Ad Value per Minute, June 2009.

David Branby is president of David Branby Advertising, Inc., a Reno marketing communications firm specializing in advertising, brand, web site development, and affordable, green printing at dbaprinting.com.

In every marketing initiative, there’s a number of phases: 1) The Brief, where the problem is identified and the goals determined; 2) The Strategy, where we bounce ideas and approaches around to determine which might provide an elegant solution; 3) The Flurry of Creative Activity, where we come up with ideas to show the client, and 4) The Wait, where the client mulls it over and comes back with tweaks or changes.

That’s where we are right now. Tomorrow, I meet with Carmen and her husband Miguel to hear their feedback on the designs we’ve presented. When I was younger, this was a strange sort of suspense for me, as a writer and creative director, because I invested so much in the creative process that I didn’t want anything to change. Then one day about 10 years ago, I was reading an article about Lee Clow, the famous creative director of Chiat Day in Los Angeles, and he was saying that if a client pushes back on the ideas you’ve presented, the true creative person’s job was to go back and create something even better. That’s been a balm for me ever since.

More tomorrow. DB

The author as a not-so-young man.

(Note: We interrupt this blog to bring you a whimsical look at the copywriter’s life…because we’re waiting for Carmen & Miguel to give us feedback on the designs we created for Bob’s/Pristine Green Cleaners. Enjoy!)

I am a copywriter; a wordsmith; a scribe. Working with words is how I survive. I craft, I sculpt, I make pictures with words (though I must admit, sometimes it’s just blurbs) with one goal in mind: To gently urge that reader of mine…

To take action (usually in the vicinity of a cash register); in short, to purchase, to procure, to buy my client’s wares or embrace their ideas, to know their stance or acknowledge their presence. I am a crafter of dreams and a deliverer of details. I am an advertising man. I turn words into gold.

I am neither a poet nor a prophet, and yet I deftly weave both into my potent potion so the prospect (in this case, you!) can savor the sizzle and salivate for the steak.

My purpose is simple, my task is complex: Distill my client’s ninety-six copy points (so painstakingly writ) into three or four paragraphs that’re sure to make a hit; and give them a headline that’s snappy and fun; and deliver a benefit to the reader (just one) in a way that’s sexy and creative and pops; so as he or she meanders through NEWSWEEK, she stops! And reads what I’ve written and writes down the name, and writes down the phone, fax, e-mail, and then…she hops in her Audi, her Bimmer, or Geo, heads for the mall and with nothing but brio, walks into the store and with hardly a thought, whips out her VISA just as she ought, and BUYS the one item I’ve told her about, just as the merchant says, “Wow! Now, we’re sold out!”

I am an advertising man. I turn words into gold.

Now, let me illustrate the power of words in my chosen profession, which is advertising. I’m going to write a part of a phrase, and I want you to chime in—to yourself, or out loud, depending on who’s around) if you know the rest of it. Let’s try a few:

Winston tastes good…(like a cigarette should.)

You’re in good hands…(with Allstate.)

M&M’s melt in your mouth…(not in your hand.)

Nothing beats a great pair of (Legg’s.)

And one of my favorites, which I wrote for Port of Subs in 1996 (they’ve since changed it): “Fast. Fresh. And On A Roll.”

Now, some people may call these slogans, but in my line of work, they’re known as tag lines. And most companies should have a tag line, which is kind of like a mission statement for what a company does, and the way that they do it that makes them unique.

A powerful tag line melds all the marketing objectives into one cohesive thought, from positioning to brand image and personality. To put it more succinctly, in the words of my colleague Jim Jordan, “the heart and the power of advertising is…a few words so skillfully targeted, so clear in their positioning, so vivid in their articulation, and so memorable in their identification with a given brand…that they become people’s principal reason for buying the brand.”

In fact, we ad writers spend an inordinate amount of time trying to come up with the perfect tag line for a company – because once you find it, you can use it forever. To give you an example, the copywriter who came up with “Everything you always wanted in a beer. And less.” took a brand that nobody liked—Miller Lite—and sold $95 million worth a year to sports fans over the next decade and a half.

The point is, the tag line should always remind the consumer of the key benefit – what’s in it for them. For example, Silver Legacy originally used the tag line “Lucky For You” to market Sam Fairchild’s mythical silver mine in downtown Reno. When my former agency pitched that account, my partners and I came up with the tag line, “Share The Wealth,” because frankly, I’d rather be rich than lucky any day. Unfortunately, Silver Legacy didn’t see it my way. C’est la guerre.

Another example of the copywriter’s art is the use of word play or puns to make a point. The best one I’ve ever seen was an ad for Oakley Sunglasses that showed a pair of the glasses with the headline “A Shade Under $35. The copy went on to explain that the glasses retailed for $34.95. I should note that word plays have fallen out of fashion among copywriters, particularly for headlines, but you’ll still see them in use for taglines. Sometimes, a great play on words can become the principal reason for buying the brand—and some become classics. Think “When it rains, it pours.” (1914) for Morton’s salt and “A diamond is forever.” (1947) for DeBeers, the diamond giant.

Now, as you may have noticed, I used a bit of rhyme in the beginning of my article, because people tend to remember rhymes, and in fact, great literary masterpieces (such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey) were passed down from generation to generation orally, and one of the reasons they survived was because they rhymed. And so it is with the great literary traditions of our time. Who can forget:

The best part of waking up is Folger’s in your cup?

Timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking?

For all you do, this Bud’s for you?

And so, gentle reader, if you’ll permit me one last time, I will leave you with a rhyme:

If advertising’s my passion, then words are my mistress; and lest this malady cause you much distress, let me assure you as sure as I’m here, the words that I craft for your reading come dear; a hundred an hour give or take a few syllables, a bit more for those who insist on the parable that “nothing well is written once”; and so for those insufferable dunces I raise my take to one-fifty an hour, and write so slowly our relations soon sour; until, that is, they take pen in hand, and decide for themselves (and this, to a man) that writing’s for fools and nitwits and pros, and so their notebooks they quickly close, pick up the phone and ring me and plead, “How in the world do you ever write a lead?”

I am an advertising man. I turn words into gold.

(This article was originally a Toastmasters speech I gave in 1995, and though it reeks of 1990s consumerism-excess, a lot of the principles still apply in our leaner, meaner marketing times. DB)

Remember the problem with the weeds around the entrance to Bob’s/Pristine Green Cleaners? Well, I stopped by to drop off some dry cleaning with Carmen yesterday, and she said business is picking up…so “the street” is responding to the “signs of life” at Bob’s! (It could be one or more of a dozen other reasons, but I’m inclined to think it helped to eradicate the weeds, if only a little.)

I noticed that Bob’s is getting a little more organized-looking inside, too, but something was still leaving me feeling cold. In marketing, we talk about being “customer-facing, so I got to thinking about how it felt to be a customer, and my sense is the #1 thing customers want is to feel acknowledged and welcome when they walk in to a business. So, I put Joey on the task of creating graphics for this rather large fascia you see when you walk in. At the moment, it’s just painted white, but I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to “say what you need to say.” Here’s what we came up with.

Everybody wants to feel welcome in your business.