With Super Bowl XLVI being hosted here in Indianapolis, we’ve had some unique insight into the time and energy it takes to plan and execute the Super Bowl experience. Similar to building a Bold and effective brand strategy, Super Bowl prep is no simple task. Here are a few similarities that the two share:

1. Planning Starts Early.
Indianapolis won the bid to host the 2012 Super Bowl in May 2008. That means it has taken roughly 45+ months of preparation. Although the game is being held in Lucas Oil Stadium, there is much more that comes into play such as hotel accommodations, way finding, parking, etc. which required the city to evaluate the impact of hosting beyond just the stadium.

Whether you’re in the early phases of hiring a branding firm, building a brand intentionally or you’re maintaining a strong, existing brand, it’s important to make time to evaluate the big picture. How is our web presence impacting our brand? Is our internal culture consistent with the brand we’re trying to establish? Every decision you make has an impact on the brand to some capacity.

2. Defining Roles is Essential
The Indianapolis Super Bowl Host committee consists of 32 staff members and 3 legacy project members. Each member has specific responsibilities that are required if the event is going to be successful. If one or two committee members slack off, it’s going to make it harder to achieve the level of success the city is aiming for.

Metaphorically speaking, your brand has a committee too. You have a number of players that, when working collectively, can maximize the perception and success of your brand. Instead of people, your committee is made of your logo, your voice, web presence, print collateral and internal culture. Defining brand elements will keep you in control of your brand rather than your brand (or lack there of) preventing you from greater success.

3. Connecting on an Emotional Level
Game day is quickly approaching and downtown Indianapolis has been transformed into Super Bowl Village. From a local perspective, excitement in Indianapolis has reached a whole new level. Now we know which two teams will be competing for the championship, and excitement is gaining momentum on a national level too.The local and national buzz regarding the Super Bowl only adds to the anticipation but also contributes the Super Bowl brand.

What are people saying about your brand? Most of what’s being said is emotionally driven—it’s positive or negative. Emotions play a role in “business decisions,” and if your prospect can’t find an emotional connection with some aspect of the brand, it’s going to be an incredibly difficult sell.

4. Commitment and Follow Through Are a Must
Not only does the Indianapolis Super Bowl Committee have specific roles but they also have commitments. Without the commitment of following through they are left with only great ideas. Unfortunately, great ideas aren’t enough to successfully host the Superbowl.

Some of the strongest and most well-known brands that exist today are successful because their companies are committed to the integrity of the brand. They understand the importance of identity and have taken time to plan, define roles, and connect emotionally with their audience. Most have extensive brand guidelines that map out exactly how to handle the visual aspects to the brand. Every decision that impacts their brand is made intentionally.

5. Always Seek Out Ways to Improve
Over the past 45+ months, I’m sure tweaks were made to the Super Bowl Planning process to enhance the experience. We are just days away from the big game, and already Indianapolis is receiving great reviews nationwide. When you plan early, you’re giving yourself time to adjust along the way. This is also true for your brand. It’s imperative in a competitive market to be continually improving your message and awareness.

We’re only 30 days into the new year, and you still have plenty of time to plan and develop your bold brand. Choosing to build your brand with these five similarities in mind will result in a brand strong enough to withstand our rapidly changing world. It’s not a quick and easy task, but it’s never too early to start the conversation.

Have you been downtown to see the Super Bowl Village? Which element had the greatest impact on your experience?

Back in December, The Indy Chamber came to us with an eagerness to revitalize their brand into one that better articulated the organization they were becoming. As the economy and business-scene has changed over time, the Indy Chamber too has evolved—becoming a crucial resource and advocate for its members. Over the past few years, they have continued to be a vital player for our city–maintaining a voice of progress and improvement, uniting businesses and community to improve the quality of life for residents of the greater Indianapolis region.

The Indy Chamber has been around for over 120 years and currently has a membership of over 4,000 businesses. With such an impressive history and large following, there is a great deal of brand equity that must be preserved when considering a redesign of any sort. With this in mind, we carefully sifted through elements of the brand to further develop the main identifiers.

The Indy Chamber brand revitalization project included:
• Redirecting focus from the City to chamber members
• Making the primary logo read: Indy Chamber
• Redesigning print collateral
• Redesigning quarterly magazine, Catalyst
• Introducing Member-focused photography
• Establishing a bright, secondary color palette for C.A.S.E
• Introducing white as a primary brand color
• Redesigning graphs
• Creating the Indy Chamber Brand Standards Guide

Just before the New Year, I was thinking about all of the “little tweaks” I wanted to make to milesdesign.com. At that time, our current website design was only about eight months old. Although I didn’t intend to generally alter the look or feel of our site, I couldn’t help but see opportunities for improvement. A few hours later, those “little tweaks” turned into a full-scale redesign.

I moved into “rapid prototyping” mode, quickly exploring grid and layout options within the existing brand identity system, landing ultimately on a new 6-column grid.

Here’s a quick rundown of many of the design changes we made, why we made them, and some of the technical improvements achieved by redesigning our own website.

For a detailed view of the homepage changes, you can click the image below:

1. A new grid-based design: Our last site had different layouts based on which page the visitor was on. The new site adheres to a much more strict grid, which not only looks cleaner, but makes for better usability.

2. Cleaner, more consistent navigation: One such improvement was more consistent navigation elements. The old site had navigation showing up in odd places–the result of features that were added post-design.

3. New Content Management System: The new content management system (CMS) is a product of Wired Ground called Capacitor. The newest version of their CMS is written in PHP using the Zend Framework and boasts stronger SEO tools. Capacitor is a CMS that we’ve been using on some of our new client projects. A big thank you to these guys for making this project happen so quickly.

4. More clear calls to action: The new site gets users deeper into our portfolio faster with more direct calls to action. The top banner image on the homepage rotates to show highlighted projects and case studies.

5. More distinct positioning: We wanted the new site to focus more clearly on our areas of expertise: branding and design for professional services firms such as architects, consultants, and software companies. The new “Work” section focuses exclusively on these segments.

6. Blog updates: Our previous blog had undergone a moderate update late last year, but we took this opportunity to introduce the same grid as the website, tidy up individual post pages, integrate Feedburner as a subscription option, along with our other social networks.

7. Removing Flash: Our last site was very light on Adobe Flash, utilizing it only for sIFR, which opened up more options from a typography perspective. However, we’ve maintained some “Flash-like motion” throughout the site with fading transitions, sliders, and our main navigation mouse-over effect, courtesy of the jQuery JavaScript library.

8. Better integration with external services: Speaking of typography, we’re now utilizing an external service called TypeKit to securely serve up real fonts for headlines, in addition to our other external integrated services: Google Analytics, EMMA, and Feedburner.

9. Content additions: We’ve added a large amount of new work, testimonials, and other content, including a more substantial footer.

10. SEO improvements: Most of the SEO improvements are a direct benefit of the new CMS which boasts built-in 301, 404, and SEO tools, however our site has better compression, resulting in much better page speeds, which apparently Google likes. And we’re okay with that, of course.

It’s easy to delay working on your own website by putting it on the back burner, agonizing over the details, or ignoring it all together. So to combat that, we set a soft launch goal of February 1st, and managed to launch (in spite of the “icepocalypse”) only two days after our goal. Our total timeline, from concept to launch, was very accelerated–only about five weeks in total.

On any project, especially when it is for your own company, setting aside time, establishing a deadline, and making it a top priority is the only way to ensure it will get done.

What is the biggest internal challenge you have this year? Let us know how we can help or encourage you to get it done.

Branding 101 video lessons – coming soon.

We officially began production today for our new web video series, “Branding 101.”

Keep an eye out for our introductory video in the coming weeks. We’ll be addressing the keys to building a “Bold Brand,” including: positioning, competition, brand essence, and more. Stay tuned for more.

Are you considering rebranding your business, product, or service? If you’re like most business owners, you’re perplexed about when and how to go about rebranding. As business conditions improve, you’re looking for a strategic advantage. Regardless of how long you’ve pondered the idea, one thing is sure–rebranding isn’t something to go into half-hearted. You should feel great about the timing and the branding firm you select to guide you through the process.

Rebranding goes beyond updating your logo.

If you’re considering a rebrand, chances are you already understand that rebranding your firm requires more than just sprucing up your company logo. It’s a deep-dive into who your company is: your positioning, your values, and your brand essence. Any logo changes or visual updates you consider should all be outcomes of the positioning and brand essence decisions you make up-front.

But how do you know when you’re ready to commit to a full rebrand of your company? The following are the ten most common indicators we’ve seen in our business–sure signs you might be ready to rebrand.

1. "Our sales team is embarrassed to show our prospects our collateral / website / business card."

This is probably the number one complaint we hear from business development professionals. If your sales team is afraid to send a prospect to your website or share your collateral with a potential business partner, how much business are you losing out on?

2. "We’re considering a name change."

This is one of the most obvious times to rebrand. A name change is a great opportunity to re-examine your entire brand from the ground up.

3. "Our brand image or reputation isn’t current."

Another great time to rebrand is when you’ve outgrown your current brand image. Whether it’s a negative issue (like BP), a positive issue (like growth in a new market), or even just a "dated" look, rebranding is an opportunity to make sure your image and message are accurate and up-to-date.

4. "We’re moving."

Moving locations is one of the single largest expenses that some firms will encounter. Oftentimes, by necessity, you’ll need to reprint all of your collateral and buy new signage. As long as you’re going to have those expenses, why not be sure your identity is as fresh as your new space?

5. "We’re taking on new partners or buying the existing owners out."

Similar to number three, as your firm’s ownership shifts, your values and priorities may as well. That’s a great time to make sure your positioning reflects the current partners’ business goals and personalities.

6. "Nobody understands exactly what we do and why we’re different."

Internally it’s not always the most pressing business issue, but this is just as important as number one. If your market doesn’t understand who you are and why you’re different, you might as well stop marketing to them. Consider a rebrand to give the market a more clear picture of why your firm matters.

7. "Nothing matches."

Have you ever met three people from the same company who all had different business cards and made their own clip-art laden sales sheets. How professional did that company appear to you? A rebrand is the right time to get all of your collateral in order as well.

8. "Our competition is getting all of the limelight."

If your competitors are getting more attention than you’d like, sometimes creating a media event can help divert some attention your way. Consider a grand re-opening event, featuring your newly refreshed brand.

9. "We need to invest in new collateral / signage / tradeshow displays."

Similar to a move, if you’re already needing to invest in new logo-related materials, be sure you’re going to be happy with those materials for a long, long time.

10. "We need to look our best for the big event."

And last, but certainly not least, consider what you have on your horizon. A big company anniversary? An open house? A trade show? Or perhaps a speaking engagement or press event? Nothing gets companies serious about rebranding like an important upcoming event.

Why are you considering a rebrand? Maybe you have different reasons. What else has to change before you’re ready to move forward? Share your opinions below.

Bradford Systems Corporation came to Miles Design earlier this year. They had a strong reputation in Chicago for selling premium architectural storage products, often used for storing paper and files on shelving. Although their reputation was historically accurate, it was only telling part of their 42-year-old story. As an exclusive Spacesaver dealer, Bradford had grown to become leaders in premium, compact storage for anyone who had any kind of valuable items to store: museums, public safety agencies, medium to large businesses, healthcare providers, academic institutions, and government agencies. In addition, their electronic records and software divisions help clients digitize valuable files and keep exacting records of where physical artifacts are located.

Their existing identity felt more dated and industrial than what the Bradford brand had grown to represent. They needed something clean and high-tech, as well as something that would appeal to architects. As Bradford Systems grows in marketshare and reach outside of Chicago (across Illinois and Indiana), they need a brand that can grow with them.

Our goal in rebranding Bradford Systems was to create a clean identity that would leverage their expertise in consultative services and software offerings, as well as represent Bradford Systems as the architect’s choice for compact storage.

“After 42 years of working side-by-side with architects, designers, and clients of all kinds, we decided it was time to take on a very important renovation project–our own brand. For months, we’ve been working behind the scenes to craft an identity that better reflects our business and our commitment to you, our clients. Today, we’re proud to unveil our new logo, tagline, and website.” – Dave Bradford.

The new Bradford Systems tagline “Smart. Storage. Solutions.” speaks to the breadth of their offerings and their approach beyond selling shelving and hardware. The elegant lines of the new identity echo rows of shelving and imply a “bridging” of data and organization. The convenient number of spaces in-between the letters of “Bradford” allow each vertical rule to line up with the letters of “Systems.” In some of the collateral pieces, the rules continue below the mark creating a pinstripe texture seen both on the website and print collateral.

As part of the rebranding process, we also overhauled BradfordSystems.com to create a cleaner, more simplified look that would appeal to architects as well as the end users of their products and services. Shown below is a before and after of the website design:

You can visit BradfordSystems.com for more examples of their product and service offerings.

Our design firm sees its fair share of branding and marketing emergencies. The running joke is that our conference room becomes a make-shift triage for marketing patients. And for a variety of reasons, websites seem to be the most common marketing emergency that our design firm encounters.

In fact, if I asked 100 professional services firms if their websites were “under the weather” or worse, I’d be willing to bet over two-thirds of them would say, “Yes!”

An ill-performing website (more often than not) is the symptom of a larger marketing and positioning problem, rather than the problem itself. But that doesn’t change the fact that these websites are presenting with some serious symptoms.

Does your firm’s website qualify as a
marketing emergency?

If you’re unsure, you can try your hand at a little self-diagnosis. Here’s a simple three-step check up:

1. Examine your Positioning
At a quick glance, your website visitors should be able to identify who you are, what you do, why it matters, and how they should respond. We covered this in a little more detail in a previous post on website redesigns. Your brand’s overall positioning can also be impacted by your website’s design and appearance. If you consider your brand to be a BMW but your website feels more like a rental car, you may have a positioning problem.

2. Where does it hurt?
The most common pain point we hear about is conversion; the website gets good traffic but fails to convert visitors into qualified leads. If your website traffic is strong but you’re not converting many visitors, consider testing alternate calls to action. What’s your current call to action? Is it obvious? If your call to action isn’t clear, more web traffic isn’t necessarily going to convert to more business.

3. Perform a Google Search
This last step may sound obvious, but if you can’t find your website by performing a Google search for yourself or your firm’s service offerings, how will your clients ever find you? It’s especially important that you can be found when someone searches for your industry within your market or territory–for example, “Indianapolis Architects“.

Directly related to this tip are website statistics. You need to know your web stats. If you aren’t reviewing your web stats at least monthly, you’re missing out on some valuable traffic and search data.

Did you perform all three check-ups? How did your website do? If you didn’t like some of your answers, you may have a bona fide marketing emergency on your hands. While these symptoms may actually point to a more serious problem, it sounds like your website may be due for a check-up. If you’d like to schedule an appointment, be sure to drop us a line.

Have you ever been part of a website redesign? How did your team decide it was a serious enough problem to go in for a check-up? Tell us below:

Something happened a few weeks ago that really got me thinking about the importance of networking, and more importantly, developing a solid strategy for it. I was at an event, and I was introduced to a group of college students from a local design school. I talked with them for a while, and before I left, I gave them each my business card. In design, like many fields, connections are crucial. The people you meet today can open a door for a job or project tomorrow. By giving them my card, I was offering myself as a connection and resource–knowing they will eventually graduate with the goal of finding a job.

After I left, I thought to myself whether I’d hear from any of those students. Unfortunately, I doubted it, and so far I’ve been correct in my assumption. This really made me think. What happened to the traditional rules of networking–to following up after a meeting, sticking your foot in the door, and creating a memorable connection? Are these rules obsolete in a society whose natural, everyday forms of communication, connecting, and maintaining relationships are online?

I don’t think so. I think they’re
more important than ever.

We talk with our clients about the importance of developing a solid strategy for marketing their businesses–both online and off. The same applies for marketing ourselves as individuals. Whether you’re a student about to embark into the professional world, a professional looking for new business, or a seasoned business veteran, we each need a strong, balanced strategy for networking.

So, how do we strike a balance between online and in-person networking to create a well-rounded approach? The key is to realize that there’s an appropriate place for both, and one or the other will be a better fit in certain instances. You can’t discount the value of a face-to-face meeting when it comes to making a first impression, forming a new partnership, or presenting a new idea. Conversely, your online social networking is great for staying top of mind, staying in touch, or even for generating leads.

There’s a lot of chaos in the online world these days, and it’s important and necessary to separate yourself with more personal, memorable connections. Talking in-person or even over the phone can be necessary to stand out. Successful networkers have found a balance of both–utilizing the tools available online for convenience, speed, and efficiency but relying on personal, in-person contacts in those cases where an impression must be made.

Unsure where to start on either front? Here are a few tips for standing out both online and in-person:

In-person networking:
Aim for real connections. Form real, memorable connections by remembering details from past conversations and meetings.

Mind your P’s and Q’s. Always ere on the side of etiquette and politeness. You only get one first impression, so use it wisely.

Remember that it’s a small world. Don’t talk poorly about your colleagues or company. It only reflects poorly on you.

Be prompt with your actions. If information is exchanged, don’t wait too long to respond with a “nice to meet you” email or phone call.

Be proactive. Unless it’s specifically discussed, always aim to make the first contact after meeting someone new.

Online presence:
Carefully select your outlets. Online networking can take off quickly, so choose your tools and determine your strategy in advance.

Be proactive with your online presence. Stay top of mind with someone by following them on Twitter, commenting on their blog articles, etc.

Audit your content daily. Make sure your content is appropriate and relevant to your personal and professional image and goals you’re trying to achieve.

Be dependable. Online networking tools are most effective when you actively maintain, respond, and post fresh content.

Use online tools to your advantage. Online tools are great for finding new connections and can provide an excellent transition to an in-person meeting.

Tuesday night, a bazillion viewers and I were watching American Idol. This was the first “live” episode of the season, which featured the show’s top 12 female vocalists.

Performance after performance, Simon Cowell and the rest of the show’s judges shared with the contestants how they had simply failed to “stand out” among their peers. I was struck especially by the judges’ recommendations.

“You’re trying too hard to mimic Adelle or Duffy.”

“It’s all about song choice. You need to find the right song for you.”

And for me, one of my favorite Simon quotes is always…

“That was just… forgettable.”

The bottom line is, these contestants are trying to position their personal brands in front of millions of viewers. It’s similar to branding a business.

Originality, personality, and individuality matter, whether you’re competing on American Idol, or running an enterprise-class business. Too many of both – Idol contestants and businesses – suffer from the boring, uninspired sameness of “me too” positioning.

When it comes to being original and memorable this year, who are your favorites? Who is the most unique contestant (or brand) in your mind, and why?

Last month I attended Pecha Kucha 20×20 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The theme was ‘The Next Indianapolis’ and the winning presenter would walk away with $10,000 to help jump start their proposed project. For those of you unfamiliar with Pecha Kucha, let me provide a basic context.

“Pecha Kucha” is Japanese for ‘chit-chat’ and was the name of a 2003 event in Tokyo for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. This concept has expanded globally and PK20x20 events are held in more than 230 cities. The format of the event is that each presenter must share their work in 20 images with 20 seconds of presentation time per image.

As I sat listening, I noticed some distinct correlations between the12 presentations and the struggle to create impactful brands.

1. If it isn’t strategic branding, it’s noise.

In the book The Brand Gap, a “brand” is described as being a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It’s an emotional process implying first impressions are crucial. Let me explain.

In any given presentation, it took about 20 seconds (1 image) before the audience began to create their own perception of the proposed project. As the presentation continued it became more challenging to listen because other audience members were ‘chit-chat’-ing with their neighbors due to confusion, skepticism, or event complete disinterest in the project.

The room was a microcosm of our branding world, – and brands were being established. Voices were struggling to be heard, but only the best broke through.

2. Know your next move – and get there before the audience does.

The presenters that struggled the most weren’t keeping up with the audience. It was easy to see where the presentation was headed and to choose whether or not it was interesting enough to stay seated. As soon as a few members of the audience starting chit chatting, it became a chain reaction. It was clear that if the presenter wasn’t compelling, the audience decided amongst themselves if it was a worthy enough cause. A few presenters, including the winner, received vocal cheering, standing ovations and even support via twitter. It’s safe to say they probably left with a stronger brand than when they arrived. So what was the difference? Guidance.

First impressions are crucial but it doesn’t end there. If you make a good first impression, excellent — but know your next move and when to make it.

————–

Hooked on Pecha Kucha 20×20

The event was a blast and the concept is brilliant. Several of us at Miles Design fully expect to attend the next Pecha Kucha 20×20 event and would highly recommend going to anyone interested in seeing design’s influence in your community. More details for upcoming events can be found at Pechakucha.com.

Related Information:
PKindy
Laura Henderson – $10,000 winner.