Branding

Branded Life

We create an online interactive brand tracking and visualization tool.

1) Be aware of what's our there. (Google yourself) Depending on how common your name is, other people may be mixed in with your results. Increasingly potential employers, and other people looking to check your references, turn to Google. It's an honest representation of who you are much more than a closely tailored CV. 2) Reserve your digital touch points. Even if you don't have the desire to micro-blog to Twitter or post photos to Flickr it's important to reserve these names. You might know that the Twitter account with your name isn't yours, but will others? Take this a step further and register your name as a domain even if you don't think you're going to need it. And while you're registering domain names, get rid of that old Hotmail address you've been using forever (I'm talking to you [email protected]!) and make use of a professional email address. 3) Use and standardize an avatar. Avatars are the logo of your digital brand. Whether you're twittering, or commenting on a blog, it is important to have a uniform 'face' to your online persona. Standardize the photo you use for all online services, and don't change it. While the effects of rebranding your digital persona are significantly less than rebranding your company, the principals are the same. People that you interact with on a daily or weekly basis, will not recognize your new avatar and it will take time to build that recognition up again. Register for Gravatar (a service that ties an avatar to your email address) and make sure that the same avatar is being used for your Twitter account, Flickr page etc. Take what you know about the importance of Brand Consistency and apply it to yourself. 4) Increase Search Engine Visibility. If you're serious about developing a digital shadow and online visibility you need to be involved. This means creating and using as many digital touchpoints as you can. Become a thought leader in your industry and start publishing original content that people will want to read. (side note: starting a blog with content that people will want to read is very different from simply starting a blog). Start Twittering, posting pictures to Flickr, videos to Vimeo, bookmarks to del.icio.us and cross promote. Participate and interact with other twitter-ers and bloggers in your areas of interest and start conversations with them. 5) Set Facebook Privacy Settings. We're all on Facebook, well most of us at least. But how many of you have altered the privacy settings on your account and locked it down? Familiarize yourself with the options under Settings -> Privacy. The major ones to check are the Public Search listing (Under Search Options) and making sure that Beacon Websites is checked (Under Applications). One final stop under section and you should be significantly more secure then before. (though with Facebook, nothing is entirely secure!) More information available on articles from Wired Magazine here and here. [post_title] => Managing Your Digital Shadow [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => managing-your-digital-shadow [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2009-03-02 10:42:49 [post_modified_gmt] => 2009-03-02 17:42:49 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3273 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 2 [filter] => raw ) -->

Managing Your Digital Shadow

Personal Branding is not a new concept (see Tom Peters’ great primer called The Brand Called You). As personal identities move online, managing them becomes increasingly important. As online personal identities evolve they leave a tra [...]

Posted by: Steve Mynett on Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Categories: Articles | 2 Comments »

I like the idea of being open and transparent with creative process—especially if they have a network of experienced creative professionals to elicit input from—but I'm surprised their client allowed them to do this publicly, exposing their new brand—pre-launch mind you—in this ad hoc online focus group. There's no mention of brand attributes, positioning, demographics, messaging or really anything other than "beer" to base a judgment on, so I have to wonder what real value there is in this exercise. Are the comments and votes being registered even from beer drinkers in the tartget audience? And doesn't posting six early concepts imply this firm is struggling to make an informed recommendation based on an effective design methodology? Isn't that what they were hired to provide? Yikes. What do you think? Do you show your unfinished work publicly and poll friends as a way of selecting the most appropriate design solution? [post_title] => Public Opinion Polls for Design Concepts? [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => public-opinion-polls-for-design-concepts [to_ping] => [pinged] => http://www.artistechnewmedia.com/blog/around-the-artistech-newmedia-office/beer-branding-concept-work/ [post_modified] => 2009-02-04 16:05:55 [post_modified_gmt] => 2009-02-04 23:05:55 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3221 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 7 [filter] => raw ) -->

Public Opinion Polls for Design Concepts?

Today I received an email from an old friend who is a beverage marketing consultant who has been working on a beer brand identity with a design firm in Kelowna. I’d not heard of them, but their online portfolio contains some good work [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Categories: Branding, Design | 7 Comments »

Industrial Brand

Branding for others is simple when compared to doing it for yourself. We re-launch Industrial Brand.

SFU Community Trust / UniverCity

Building the brand of a burgeoning university community and international model of sustainability.

Mercury Filmworks

From deep space to exploring the potential, dreams, aspiration, creativity and imagination of an entertainment company.

Yaaway Media Inc.

We ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" for this online social network site identity.

Kanto AV Systems

Titan beats Monster. Equipping a start up with the right stuff to blow away the competition.

Trinity Western University Spartans

Reviving a historic brand for a top collegiate athletic department brings on a win.

Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL)

Bringing a regional library system into the 21st century. Looking beyond books and exploring semaphores.

Stornoway Diamonds

Canadian diamonds are renowned the world over. We leave no facet of this exploration company unpolished.

Marceau Evans Johnson Architects (MEJA)

A brand evolution leads to a website as unique as the buildings this architecture firm designs.

Kirk Integrated Marketing Services

Overcoming ubiquitous postal imagery and brand confusion with a little green ball.

Hemlock Printers, Metal FX Promotion

The latest in printing technology piggy backs on rock posters by legend Bob Masse.

Waterstone Law Group Brand Identity & Website

It started with giving this law firm an actual name, not just a long list of partners' names.