Blog by DC

Forward. Backward. Standing Still.

Posted on Sep 1 by brian

Which Direction Is Your Brand Moving You?

Brands move people, so consequently brands move organizations. It’s not theory… it’s fact. One thing about the DC team that is a real strength is that we study brands. Good ones, great ones, and even a few not-so-great ones. Through our brand study, it’s easy to see brands that are moving forward versus those that are not. Every brand moves… the question is “in which direction?”

A good illustration of brand movement would be some of our established corporate brands. We could give countless illustrations of great brands facing challenges or opportunity, moving forward, backward or just simply stuck.

1.Under Armour’s Fast Forward. Under Armour’s innovation and creativity allowed them to rapidly surge ahead of established brands such as Nike and Adidas in the athletic apparel space.

2. Walmart Slipping Backward. Walmart’s brand supremacy was threatened and consequently lowered by the more fashion oriented and creative approach of Target.

3. McDonald’s Fear of Standing Still. McDonald’s understands that complacency often equates to failure. This realization is causing leadership to creatively consider what the future McDonald’s experience might look like. (Look for bold changes ahead in the McDonald’s you always knew.)

4. Starbucks… Forward. Backward. Forward Again. Starbucks’ rise as a global phenomenon, its dramatic downturn, and then its sudden resurgence as a very strong and highly relevant brand provides an amazing brand journey and success story.

A company’s ability to innovate, meet client expectations, connect their story, expand their reach, grow their leadership all factor into which direction the brand will move. We’ve found the brand “movement illustration” scales down to the local church, k-12, college, non-profit, and small business levels. Organizations face challenges and changes (and even economic earthquakes) that impact their brand’s direction. It’s a simple reality. It’s how an organization responds to these directional changes that matter most.

Corporate America is constantly investing in the health, direction, and well being of its brand. It realizes the brand has followers and needs new followers. Vital brands are always moving. A stagnant or backward-moving brand represents problems and missed opportunity. As communicators and leaders, we must have a clear understanding that investing in the brand creates positive movement, which in turn moves you forward into the future with promise.

So what direction is your brand moving? Forward? Sideways? Standstill? Backwards?

How are you investing in your brand to keep it moving forward?

Are you willing to make changes to get your brand moving in the right direction?

Filed under: Branding, Culture | Leave a Comment »

The Anti-creativity Checklist

Posted on Aug 11 by brian

The reality is true creatives represent a select minority. (Sorry people.) Maybe that’s why so many are awestruck over those that see the world with curiousity, spontaneity, and no boundaries. For some, creativity comes very natural. For others its work and often times hard work.

Here’s a practical review on how “not” to be creative: The Anti-creativity Checklist by author, Youngme Moon. Very compelling. Great excercise of introspection for any individual or organization…

Filed under: Audience, Branding, Creative, Culture | Leave a Comment »

Before the logo

Posted on Aug 3 by Mike

6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Ever Consider the Visual

Ask people to describe their favorite brands, and you’re likely to get good answers. Most people understand what a brand generally stands for, and that’s not by accident. Apple is the leader in innovative, user-friendly products that everyone wants. Volvo makes quality, safe cars. Ikea can outfit your whole house and make you a hipster for next to nothing. Habitat for Humanity serves as a model for Christian non-profits. Chick-fil-a does fast food better than anyone else, their employees are a step above, and they get praised of being closed on Sundays. Southwest Airline offers cheap fares, doesn’t charge for bags, and has funny flight attendants. And so on.

Ask those same people to equate that company or organization’s brand to something visible or tangible, and they’ll likely point to its logo or tagline, its product or packaging, its physical environment or its spokesperson.

But which of these things sum up the brand? They all do. Everything that you say, but more importantly what you do and who you are as an organization is branding. Because everything you are and do makes a statement about your mission and about what you value. Your brand reflects your soul to the world. That’s why it’s so important to recognize that branding is more about who you are and how you add value to people’s lives than about your logo. The visible brand is merely a manifestation of something else, something true and powerful.

Developing a core brand isn’t rocket science. What it takes is commitment, honesty, and passion. Here are six questions to ask yourself before ever considering a logo or anything visual.

WHY DO WE EXIST?
This is another way to say, “What do we do?” For the church, that’s going to likely reflect the mission of the church universal—to preach the gospel and make disciples. For institutions of higher ed, that means the basic task of engaging and training the minds of future generations. Try to be as specific as you can. Get existential if you want. In the end, you’re talking about the mission of your organization.

HOW DO WE IMPROVE LIVES?
This question gets more at the specifics you do to fulfill this mission the first question uncovered. First, do you improve lives? What do these better lives look like? What is it that you do to make them better? Can you recount specific examples?

WHO ARE WE CALLED TO SERVE?
Take a really good look at your audience. The more specific you can be and the more you can understand about their needs, desires, and habits, the better equipped you’ll be to serve those needs. “Everyone” just isn’t a realistic answer and the sooner you own that truth, the sooner you’ll be able to focus your efforts on those you can reach.

WHERE ARE WE CALLED TO SERVE?
Most organizations aren’t global. They serve people in a specific place or region. But the demographics divide up well beyond place. It’s important to identify the places and demographics among which your organization will have influence. Answering the where question is another way to underscore that you’re unique.

WHAT DO WE VALUE?
This question looks less at your audience and turns inward. It requires honesty and thoughtfulness to get an answer that separates you from others and resonates with those you’ll encounter along the way. What you value should drive all that you do and pursue as an organization.

WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE MISSING IF WE WEREN’T HERE?
It sounds a little morbid, but think about writing an epitaph. What would be said about your organization at your memorial service? What would the world be missing out on if you simply weren’t around to do what you do? There might not be a better way to clearly identify and begin pursuing your calling than to imagine your own funeral.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can confidently pursue how to best visualize this brand. You now have what we call a brand map, to measure not only the visual but also any new programming, product, partnership, or initiative against. If it doesn’t align well with your brand map, it probably shouldn’t be attempted. And a logo that looks cool but doesn’t match up with these questions will be short-lived and ultimately devalue your brand.

Happy branding. Let us know if we can help.

Filed under: Audience, Blog, Branding, Creative, Logo | Leave a Comment »

The Before and After of A Rejuvenated Brand

Posted on Jul 28 by brian

Copperfield is a very, very healthy church … numerical growth, growing congregation, zero debt, healthy budget and more importantly lives being changed. So why would the leadership of the church feel like they needed an identity overhaul… a rejuvenated brand?

Kudos to Copperfield’s leadership for not “getting comfortable” when it would be easy to do so. For Copperfield, an identity overhaul was more than doing all things with excellence. It was also about reinforcing their unabashed commitment to living their mission… with greater fervor than ever.

One of the main objectives of the Copperfield’s brand rejuvenation project was to create the “beginnings of a mission movement”. Following are more benefits resulting from their brand overhaul:

+ CLARITY IN MISSION. Redefining of mission and values in simplified voice and visual model for easy understanding and buy in.
+ GENUINENESS. Allowing people to see and hear Copperfield’s genuine commitment for knowing Christ, loving people, and changing lives.
+ CULTURE SHIFT. Building a culture that is entirely focused on God’s mission and vision of the church.
+ RETOOLED COMMUNICATIONS. Creating strategy and new methods of communicating within and beyond the church walls with value and relevance.
+ STANDING OUT. Positioning Copperfield as something very unique and special amidst the noise and busyness of a major metropolitan/suburban setting.
+ INTERNET SHIFT. Expanding Copperfield’s digital presence by integrating its internet assets of web site, facebook, twitter, blog, and video.
+ MOMENTUM. Building and sustaining momentum in Copperfield’s pursuit of God’s mission as a church.

BRAND LAUNCH SEPTEMBER, 2010. Following you’ll find a glimpse of their brand rejuvenation to be unpacked to the congregation this fall. The roll-out plan begins with a multi-week sermon series devoted to educating the congregation on the meaning and impact of living the mission. DC is quite pleased with the results of the strategy and creative behind this project. We think the visual results speak for themselves. (BTW, great job to Graham Yelton, DC Creative Director and the rest of the DC team!) Check out the before and after:

Filed under: Blog, Branding, Creative, Culture, Technology, Web | 1 Comment »

Getting Your Mind Around the Digital Shift

Posted on Jul 23 by brian

We are in the midst of an amazingly fast and comprehensive shift impacting so many aspects of our daily lives. Probably more than we care to acknowledge. This video does an incredible job in bringing the digital shift into clear focus for everyone. It definitely underscores things are moving fast and will only continue to do so… hang on for the ride.