If you visit the new space, you will not miss the dominant piece of office sculpture. It is red and about nine feet tall, it makes loud noises from time to time, an it has a lot of knobs. It has been given the title of "Creative Director" and will be responsible for generating most of the creative direction for DLINC accounts.

• Be inviting: the warm wood and crafted look of the screens offsets the modern tubing and creates a friendly, safe feel. With all the bustle of normal tradeshows, a calm and friendly zone has an attraction that's hard to resist.
• Be simple: even though the Areo booth had multiple height settings and configurations it's a good chance that only one or two will be predominately used. Design for the obvious.
• Be iconic: even though there is a lot of content on these three panels, the sum effect is of a unified piece of art. While people may not bend down to read the harvest schedule, it's presence adds texture and movement.

The creative director for a very famous agency had worked tirelessly on an automotive company's brand, nurturing it out of the gutter. Seeing much success, the auto company president looked at the continued cost for agency services and asked the adman, "So what am I paying you for now anyway?" The adman wryly responded, "To keep you from (screwing) it up."

Branding is not an event, it's a discipline. It's not a battle for the customer, it's a battle for a company's heart. Find your heart and you will find your customer.

Creating your brand is like creating your own language. There are many elements in this language to consider:

• Visual  - graphic style.
• Message - what and how information is communicated.
• Products - the configuration of services and products greatly influences your brand identity.
• Interaction - how a person feels after interacting with your company.

Creating and managing a consistent visual and interaction language allows great message efficiency.

click image to enlarge

A sad story and a happy story

The sad story (in outline form):

1. Company A never put much value in articulating a mission / vision / value statement.
2. Company A  "got a logo done by somebody" and used it for signage but not on emails or newsletters.
3. Documented corporate standards were viewed as nit-picky.
4. Advertising was done only when a good media deal was spotted and usually the publisher also produced the ad. The ad message depended on the business owner's current hot button.
5. Company A put little effort into understanding why customers bought products from them or chose their services.

The sad story ends with Company A never seeing consistent returns on advertising, continually needing to explain to customers what they do, and only engaging on an emotional level through their sales people. When their sales people left the company, so did the customers. What a sad story.

Now a happy story:

1. Company B realized that customers returned because of its service performance and ease of use.
   • Tailored graphics supported this strength - logo, corporate ID and imagery.
   • Ads repeatedly communicated this key message to create the service expectation.
   • Business decisions supported the company's strength of service.
   • Key copy blocks focused on customer service.
2. Company B applied these points with consistency throughout its business practice
3. Soon the simple display of the company's logo conjured a multitude of positive embedded meanings for viewers. It engaged emotions and created the right expectations whenever viewed.

The happy story is still being written by Company B with every brand-building decision they make.

The term "brand" has become a much overused buzzword and I'm of the opinion that the branding of the word "brand" has been ill-managed itself. Many businesses know they need it, talk about it, want to have it, but don't know how.

It really can be this uncomplicated:

• Find what is the heart and soul of your company.
• Create a visual and interactive language around that soul.
• Maintain consistency in using that language.

Branding is about creating a story - a narrative between you and your customer - and it can be a very happy one.

How can that be? Business leaders need realize just how deep a web site development project can be, or should be. Really, every web site built has a stack similar to the below diagram, just some of the elements have been devalued or not considered.

Click illustration to enlarge

Stacking it up.

There are really only four main layers of a typical web site:

• Technology - The hardware/software configuration which powers everything. Linux/Apache/MySQL/Php or .NET - it's a choice that effects cost, speed and reliability.
• Business - How a web site promotes what your business offers it's clients for customers.
• Framework - The layer we interact with. Choosing the right framework can open infinite possibilities and save development dollars.
• Brand Messaging - The top layer of interaction, resulting in a transaction (product, information, service) between business and customer.

Takeaway thoughts:

• Stopping the planning at Framework removes the value of the brand interaction.
  
  • example - Just "getting a web site up" without thought to brand identity and messaging removes the possibility of meaningful interaction
• Exclusion of the business layer leaves the top-level brand with nothing to really promote.
  
  • example - Without being matched to the base business purpose, a well-designed web site and solid framework is all dressed up with no where to go.
• Branding efforts are effected by the choice of framework.
  
  • example - "Can we add a user comments area?" Some frameworks allow a quick change. Others do not.

Open for thoughts and comments.