One of our clients, who also happens to be one of the folks I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the Chesapeake Bay Foundation event was featured in an article in today’s Baltimore Business Journal today. The article was about the efforts The Brick Companies has made both at their headquarters but also at their portfolio properties to create a sustainable environment. In the article Lex Birney discusses what a great impact sustainability has had on his business–even from an employee recruitment standpoint. I’m glad to see them getting even more recognition for being what Kim Coble of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation calls “a very environmentally progressive company.”

Here’s a link for you paid subscribers:
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/05/12/focus2.html

Oh, and did I mention that one of our strategic partners, Sawmill Marketing & Public Relations, is the one responsible for getting TBC the coverage in the BBJ? Nice work! Check out Sawmill here and here!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Aaron and I were invited by our good friends at The Brick Companies to attend the sponsor’s dinner for the Akridge Save The Bay Classic to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was an absolutely amazing event, held at the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center, which is the headquarters location for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It’s just an amazing building that has set the standard for sustainable workplaces with features like geothermal walls, natural ventilation, solar panels, insulated panels, rooftop barrels, composting toilets, a bioretention system, and even more. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

This is the inaugural Save The Bay Classic, but by the looks of the event last night you would never know. The presentation was amazing, and I really learned some great things about the efforts many organizations are making to do sustainable business. Among the speakers was Will Baker, the executive director of the CBF, Ed Allenby, the director of development of the CBF, an executive from Akridge, Ron Dodson, the founder of Audobon International and Lex Birney, the CEO of The Brick Companies.

Each of these folks had a lot of great things to say, both about the role the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is playing in saving the national treasure that is the Bay, as well as how important this golf tournament is in that effort–both in raising money, but as Will Baker said it also helps to spread the word of their cause out into the public. And it’s amazingly fitting that they chose Queenstown Harbor as a location for the tournament. That is, after all one of the most sustainable golf courses in this region. It has also recently been certified by Audobon International as a cooperative sanctuary.

Unfortunately Aaron and I couldn’t be there for the tournament today due to other commitments, but we’re definitely going to play next year. Actually, if all goes well, we could even be helping CBF with their tournament marketing materials and more next year! After all, they ARE one of our dream clients!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

*Photo courtesy of the CBF Web site.

To my amazement, I happen to be the main character in this book, Search For The Shadowman. Here’s a brief description:

“What starts out as a simple family-history project turns into an obsessive hunt for the truth behind an old family feud. Andy Bonner is determined to get to the bottom of a mystery involving an ancestor who had supposedly stolen his parents’ money and been disowned.”

So there you go–and if you want to buy it, it’s available on Amazon for $5.50. Hurry–they’re going fast!

Andy

Sarah is awesome. She sent me a link yesterday that I thought was pretty cool, so I wanted to pass it along to you so that you brand lovers can check it out:

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/

Brand New is a great blog that I am sure to add to my Google Reader. It’s mainly about something that I’ve written about in the past–refreshing a company’s visual brand. The best part is that it’s a great collection of old vs. new identity examples, many from major corporate brands but also some from local and regional brands as well.

Here’s one of my favorite examples - pretty shocking departure, and I actually like it. I think Ford needs a brand refresh to change my perception of the brand! If you read the post at Brand New about it, you quickly learn that it was an April Fool’s joke. Too bad….

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Thanks to Wendy at our research & information partner Scherer Cybrarian for passing along this link: www.makemylogobiggercream.com. Oh, and if you haven’t signed up for their Research Redux 3-minute newsletter, you probably should! It’s a great read!

Makemylogobiggercream.com is a site that makes light of the fact that one of the more common knee-jerk reactions to creative concepts by clients is “my logo is too small.” Their fear is that a consumer is going to glance at the ad and not see the logo of the company that has produced the ad. To that I say, they are grossly missing the point. Allow me to explain…

The point of an ad is to communicate. But not just the company’s logo, because after all, who doesn’t have one? Instead, our goal with an ad is to drive home a message–it might be a general brand awareness message or a more specific ad message that touts a feature or service. Either way, the message comes first.

The hope is the ad quickly captures their attention with a strong visual and copy and begin to persuade them that the company offers something that they want. Once we have their attention and only THEN, will the consumer naturally look for the place they can go purchase this product or service–it’s usually at the bottom right of an ad. An oversize logo pointless and actually a bit conceited…

What I like about this site is that although it is clearly done in a humorous manner, it makes a very clear point as to why it’s so important to hire a talented group of creative professionals to communicate your brand. Otherwise, you end up with starbursts, puppies, no white space, florescent colors and a massive logo in the bottom right hand corner of your ad–and research suggests that consumers are too smart to be fooled by these tactics. I’m a true believer in this.

So if you’re looking for a Baltimore-based design + brand communications firm that supplies Make My Logo Bigger Cream, we’re probably not a great fit for you. But if you’re looking for one that considers the psyche of the consumer as they create marketing materials, Orange Element can certainly help you! Give us a shout: garret [at] orange-element [dot] com.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Thanks to Beth Brady for designing the May version of the Orange Element Insights header. It looks amazing. I never thought I’d look so dashing as an astronaut petting my dog sporting “The Jessica.”

Good work as usual, Beth!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com