Aaaah, the power of interactive media. Have you seen this site?

www.barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com.

How about this one? www.hillaryismomjeans.com.

I’m thinking they were clearly done by a Barack supporter, but either way they are hilarious. The Hillary one actually allows you to submit your own versions. Here’s my favorite from the Obama site, even though unfortunately it’s not true (yet):

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Hi all -

We’re all really excited because we just recently received a new shipment of disposable cutlery from Worldcentric. But this is no ordinary disposable cutlery. What we received are disposable utensils made from corn starch that biodegrades in 180 days or less when composted. Amazing. The utensils themselves are just like normal plastic utensils, except that they’re not super bright white and they have a ‘powdery’ texture. It’s hard to explain, but it’s more of a satin finish than normal cutlery. You might be interested in knowing that Andy Bonner did a little science experiment and submerged a spoon into a cup of hot water and left it there for several days. The spoon is still going strong with no visible signs of breaking down! I’m thinking normal everyday use will be just fine for the Worldcentric product…

Speaking of ‘every little bit counts,’ have you seen the new Wal Mart ads that talk about just that? Here’s one:

I like that these ads back up the company’s brand promise of saving people money (both in the store and at home, this time) as well as talk about how each person can have an impact. It’s a great marketing message and the design of the ads is clean and simple, just how they should be…

Hey all - Check out this sweet micro site our friends/partners at Fastspot just finished for Animal Planet (Discovery Channel) to promote their new show, Groomer Has It.

http://www.pimpyourpoochgame.com/index.html

I gave my dog, Layla, “The Jessica.” Enjoy:

In marketing communications there are so many terms and buzzwords thrown around that it’s easy for even professionals in the industry to get confused from time to time. And with the advent of social media and popularity of blogging, there are even new terms being created nearly every day. As a matter of fact, HERE’s a list of words one blogger made up that you should probably get to know before they come up in a meeting and you have to pretend you know what they mean…

Two of the terms I see people get mixed up the most when discussing marketing are “branding” and “brand development.” More often than not these words are used interchangeably to describe the process involved with creating a brand, despite this being technically inaccurate.

Despite both being integral pieces to the brand puzzle, these terms actually have two different meanings. The accepted definition of branding is: ” The constant and consistent use of color, graphics, type, imagery and positioning.” Essentially, it’s making sure that all elements of a brand experience are always consistent and unique to that brand. For example the consistent use of a brand’s logo, color palette, imagery, fonts, graphics, etc. are all great examples of branding.

A good example of a brand we’re all familiar with that exemplifies great branding is Home Depot. They have developed a brand that consistently uses the same suite of fonts and typography, tagline, logo, brand icon and colors. When you go to their stores, visit their Web site or see an ad, even without looking at the store name itself you can tell it’s a piece of Home Depot communication.

While branding creates the building blocks on which brands are built, brand development typically comes even before branding in the traditional sequence of events. It is defined as the process of the discovery of a brand’s distinction and the development of a communication of that distinction-a little bit more difficult to grasp, but every bit as important as branding. In layman’s terms it is figuring out what it is about a brand that makes it unique and compelling and working to communicate that to the target audience.

Using our example from above, one can surmise that brand executives at Home Depot embarked on a brand discovery process where they hoped to uncover what unique selling point defined the brand. In doing so, they found that what made Home Depot so desirable to consumers is that they truly help ordinary people to do home projects that might traditionally be outside of their abilities. Even their Web site, with its know-how section

supports this positioning.

From that, their brilliant tagline: “You can do it. We can help” was born. This tagline encouraged homeowners to take control of their projects and assured them that Home Depot provides the help and expertise that ensures that their projects could be completed properly. They’ve been using this tagline for a number of years and it has served them well.

Now that you know the difference, here are a few more examples of branding and brand development in action:

Lowes:
Branding - Blue type, blue shield logo; sans serif fonts.

Brand Development - “Let’s build something together.” Actually similar positioning to Home Depot…Implies that they can help with your home improvement/construction needs.

UPS:
Branding - Brown, gold & white; shield logo.

Brand Development - “What can brown do for you?” Helps communicate that UPS does more than just ship packages. Makes brand seem like a ‘trusted friend.’

Energizer:
Branding - Silver, black, red and yellow.

Brand Development - Keeps going…and going, paired with the pink drumming bunny (brand icon). Implies that the batteries they produce last longer.

T.Rowe Price:
Branding: Ram logo; blue graphics and blue font; nature/landscape images.

Brand Development: “Invest with confidence.” Thus the Ram logo and strong typefaces-they project confidence. Makes people feel confident that T. Rowe Price helps them invest more safely.

Craftsman:
Branding: Rectanglular red logo with knockout “Craftsman;” Steel gray graphics; headlines, product labels and headings all in capital letters; sans serif fonts.

Brand Development: “There’s a craftsman in all of us.” Aspiration - implies that these tools can help ordinary men become true craftsman.

Toyota:
Branding: T logo; right facing arrow; red backgrounds with white knockout type.

Brand Development: “Moving Forward.” Backs up their positioning as a technological leader - not only in performance and quality, but also in energy efficiency (Prius, hybrids, etc).

BMW:
Branding: Simple sans serif type; blue, black and white colors.

Brand Development: “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” This sets BMW apart in that they cater to the true driving enthusiast. Perhaps not as plush as a Cadillac or Lexus, but every bit as performance oriented.

Verizon Wireless:
Branding: Checkmark logo; red & black; red Z.

Brand Development: “We never stop working for you” and “It’s the network.” Both drive home that it’s their network strength and coverage that make them better than the competition (less dropped calls). They then pair this with their “Can you hear me now” character to communicate that their users can talk anywhere without losing a signal.

Last night was a blast. Not only did Orange Element take home 5 Addys, including two Gold Addys, we also found out that one of our entries, Matt Mendelsohn promotional kit, won another Gold at the AAF District 2 competition! This means that it will automatically move on to the National competition!

We had a ton of fun last night - both at the show and at the after party at Lemongrass in Baltimore. Here are some pictures of our crew. Enjoy!

The office is currently abuzz about tonight’s Addy celebration, which is just a couple of hours away at this point. I’m sure you’re excited to know that I’m prepared to spend some time tomorrow giving you a full recap of the night’s events! I won’t let you down.

In the mean time, I wanted to share with you something we put together for the Addy program tonight. The theme of this year’s show is “Baltimore’s Got Talent.” The concept’s a bit hard to explain in a blog post, but essentially it’s a talent show theme. The organizers of the event, as part of this theme, wanted to get firms to submit short talent videos that will play on the big screen at MICA for the event.

I know it sounds cliche, but the truth is, we have been so busy with client work that we didn’t have much time left over to produce a video. While we would have loved to spend a ton of time concepting a great big idea and producing a professional grade video, we like the way our effort turned out. We’re hoping it gets a few laughs and let’s people know that we value our people as our greatest talent.

Enjoy the sneak peek: