Weekend ReTweat

Let me start this post by saying I have very cool friends! Through social media I have met some really creative, really fun people with incredible, entrepreneurial spirits!

Together with a handful of my friends we embarked on a new adventure. Our latest escapade, which began this weekend, is Weekend ReTweat. Get it - a retreat meets a reTWEET. It's clever... or at least we thought so over coffee at 7:00 a.m. after staying up WAY too late the night of our first ever ReTweat! I created the logo which was inspired by the incredible sunrise we saw at Hopkins House Bed & Breakfast in Mechanicsburg, Ohio.

We love to discover new getaway spots and spread the word to our connections on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Flickr, Yelp, YouTube, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc. We're getting to stay and eat at these places for free in exchange for spreading the word. We're gonna say a lot of positive things. We might say a few negative things. Think of us as guerilla marketers. We're not critics or travel experts, we're just fun lovin' ladies exploring hidden gems near Central Ohio and reporting what we find back to you.

Here are the Weekend ReTweaters at the Hopkins House Bed & Breakfast, Michele Savoldi, Cheryl Harrison, Tiffany Eckhardt, Kelly Gingery and Rose Landon.

We even started a Facebook Page. You can become a fan and learn more about us there.

Weekend ReTweat on Facebook

So if you're a bed and breakfast, inn, or hotel that would like to invite us in for a night to help spread the word about your establishment feel free to contact me at info@columbusimpressions.com.

An Evening at Signature Wines

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending a wine tasting and food pairing event at Signature Wines.

Signature Wines specializes in designing customized and personalized labels that are placed on the six different types of wines made and bottled at Kelly Harvey's winery on the east side of Columbus.

Here is my columbus imPRessions wine label I created for my dream winery someday!

Signature Wine grapes are fermented and aged on the premises of Signature Wines from high quality California grapes. The wines we tasted last night came from the Alexander Valley.

Pairing food and wine is really a science. When pairing food with wine, always match similar flavors so they don't overpower each other. The food and wine should compliment each other. Last night we paired six different wines:

2005 Chardonnay with Robusto Gouda cheese. The light salty, nutty taste complimented the sweet fruit of the Chardonnay. Surprisingly, this was my favorite pairing!

2005 Zinfandel Blush with smoked ham and aged cheddar. The smoke and salt of the ham and cheese balanced the semi-sweet wine.

2004 Rose' with Buffalo chicken dip. The sweet Rose' helped temper the heat from the hot dip. As a side note, the Buffalo chicken dip was pretty tasty!

2005 Merlot with basil pesto pasta salad. Food flavored with basil is frequently paired with Merlot because the herb of the basil balances well with the flavors of Merlot.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon with sirloin steak and mushrooms in Merlot sauce. A hearty dish needs a hearty wine. The richness of the red meat balances with the dry red wine. This was my favorite wine!

2001 Port with dark chocolate truffles. This brandy like wine is traditionally paired with chocolate because both have a luscious, rich flavor.

After the tasting Kelly gave us a brief idea of how the wine is produced and showed us some of the equipment used in the fermenting and bottling process.

Click on collage to view larger images.

To place an order to have a personalized label created for you, email Kelly at kharvey@signaturewinesofohio.com or call 614.395.2355. There is never a minimum order or set-up charge for customized labels. In addition, Signature Wines offers a 10% discount on a case of wine with the same customized label on all 12 bottles. It make a great holiday gift!

Does one of these things look like the other?

You be the judge. What do you think?

To me, looks like the logo didn't fall too far from the tree. Hmmm.

Woolworth & Apple

Choosing Blizzard's 25th Logo

Subscribership has its privileges. Being on the Dairy Queen eblast I received an email where I was invited to help choose the Blizzard's 25th Birthday logo and the January 2010 kick-off Blizzard of the month. I like emails like this. Being part of a logo selection committee is something I really enjoy and to pick my favorite tasty treat is just a cherry on the sundae (or blizzard).

The logo choices are below. Is there one that you like over the other? I definitely have a favorite. I won't tell you which one I chose, but on my birthday I do like to blow out candles on my chocolate cake. That should give you a hint on both of my choices. ;)

Nickelodeon Turns 30 and Gets a Facelift

MTV-owned children's cable network Nickelodeon turns 30 years young. With the milestone comes a new brand image. The logo is set in rounded lowercase type, the focal point being a stylized dot on the lowercase ‘i’—possibly resembling the outline of a child.

Sister channel Teen Nick gets a modern, updated look as well.

Being a mom of two Nick children I asked for their opinion of the new logo. Their answers might surprise Nickelodeon.

Eleven-year-old son: "I think the old logo is more exciting for kids. I like the splatter because it looks alive. The new logo is too boring and lacks detail. Being lower case it doesn't stand out on the poster examples. I do like the Teen Nick look a lot though."

Fourteen-year-old daughter: "The old logo is more kid friendly and represented who Nick is much better. The new logo is too plain, boring and not as much fun. Does that mean they are doing away with sliming? The Teen Nick logo is better than the new Nickelodeon. At least Teen Nick shows personality."

This made me wonder if Nickelodeon put the new look in front of a demographic focus group. Maybe, but my kids definitely had a strong negative reaction to the new brand image.

For more information on the new Nickelodeon image and to see how the new logo is being used on posters visit the idsgn website.

The Strategy Behind Branding

You think your brand is a little tired and you would like to freshen it up. Instead of just changing the logo put a little strategy behind branding.  

One of the first steps to freshening up a brand would be to perform a brand audit. Collect all materials. Look at the logo, messaging and collateral previously used and create an analysis. What worked, why? What didn't, why?  Is there anything you still like? Anything you could rework?  Anything you wish you never used?  

If you want to truly revive your brand, and if your budget allows, you should revamp your identity.  A few things to consider as you take on a new brand identity:

• What is your mission and how can you incorporate it's values into your brand?
• What is your purpose?
• How do you want to position your brand? (marketing and PR opportunities)
• Do you have a positioning statement?
• How will you protect your brand? (reputation management)
• Who will you align your brand with? (association, connection)
• When you communicate your brand what tone should be used 
• What is your brand character and personality?
• Do you or should you incorporate a tag line?
• What are your visual themes?  (colors, fonts, images)
• Who is your target audience? (demographic)
• What is your competition doing? Is it working?
• Are metrics in place to measure brand performance?

This will take some time, however it should be worth it in the end.  Brand strategy should produce positive results creating an identity that will make a stronger statement, as well as a long-lasting connection.

New Logo

So yesterday I was turned on to a great web site Logo of the Day.  Having a passions for strategic branding I of course, spent quite a bit of time looking at the various logos.

Logo of the Day is a site promotes, judges and rates high-profile logos.  Anyone can suggest a logo for Logo of the Day consideration.  It's also a place to go to for design inspiration.  Pretty cool!

From this site I found a link to another great site Brand New.  This site provides opinions on corporate and brand identity work for newly created images.

I pulled the Miracle Whip logo comparison to mention on my site.

Looks like Miracle Whip is going more for a cleaner simpler look.  This new logo looks really similar to the one I remember as a kid.  We were a Miracle Whip, not real mayo family.

I also found Miracle Whip's first logo (no this was NOT the logo I remember as a kid, I am no that old).

According to Brand New, Miracle Whip is targeting a younger 18-34 year old demographic. Hence the vintage look. Maybe it's because they are thrift store shoppers.

Or maybe because they are the demographic most likely to eat marshmallow fluff.  When I see this new jar and logo I am reminded of marshmallow fluff.  Just flip the lid color with the font color.  Do you see it too?

Sponsoring Jockey Pants

Saturday evening while eating dinner at the Liberty Tavern in Powell, I watched the Kentucky Derby and all its excitement.  Among the thrills I couldn't help but notice the jockeys wearing the NetJets logo on top of each thigh.  This led me to wonder if jockeys would become like race car drivers having their uniforms covered in corporate brands. Curious, I looked into why this happened. This is what I found out .  .  . 

The jockeys in the Kentucky Derby wore the NetJet's logo in exchange for the jet leasing company making a donation to the riders that will in turn donate the money to two equine charities, Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. It also looks like they did this last year raising over $500,000.  NetJets hopes to raise awareness for the many charities in the horsing industry.  I sure they also hope to raise awareness for their brand as well.  After all, the Hollywood jet setters might actually need a jet to fly them across the country for next year's race or any other event for that matter.

Phasing Out the Pontiac Brand

It's no secret that GM has had its share of financial hardships.  But yesterday the economic noose got even tighter.  GM announced that by 2010 Pontiac, one of GMs longest running brands, will become history. 

Introduced by GM in 1926, the Series 6-27  marketed Pontiac as the

 athletic brand which specialized in mainstream performance vehicles.  However, the brand actually existed before its public introduction and dates back to 1893 when the Pontiac Bugging Company in Pontiac, Michigan was established.

It's sad to see Pontiac close its doors because a big part of America's history will be closing its doors right along with it.

Philanthropy Friday and Philanthropy Friday Behind the Scenes

This week I will be busy writing my debut feature column for the Philanthropy Friday on Columbus Underground.  

In order to provide more information on featured non-profit, I will end the article with a link to my site for some behind the scenes information, as well as additional photos.  I've made a logo to brand that as well.  Take a sneak peak.  What do you think?

I Like Cream in My Coffee

I enjoy a good cup of coffee (or two) everyday.  I like to add flavored cream, and try various types but my staple seems to be French Vanilla.  Over the years, I have gone back and forth between International Delight and Coffee-mate.  But lately, I have been buying more Coffee-mate.  It's not because of the taste, when mixed into my coffee I really can't tell that much of a difference between the two because they both taste good.  It's actually more because of the packaging. 

While both bottles are tall and almost a slender pear shape, the pour tops are very different. International Delight's pour tends to be messy, the cream catches in the cap so when you open it your hit by a slight squirt, and the cream usually glops instead of pours out smoothly.

But to my delight (international delight), I just learned that International Delight just redesigned their bottle addressing and fixing all the concerns I just mentioned and making it look more Euro-modern.  Reports say the redesign will save the $1 million a year in production costs. Hey, maybe they will lower the cost of their cream now. They listened to their consumers on the redesign.  Any chance they'll listen to a consumer on the price? One can only dream.

With the redesign I will buy International Design and give it another try.  

Before

After

Looks like during the product redesign a little logo redesign occurred.  The G swirling into a coffee cup on the old product seems not to have transferred onto the new product.

Diabetic Friendly Logo

Last night I had a bowl of the new Kellogg's Special K Blueberry cereal.  Yes, I like cereal for dinner, call me crazy.

Looking at the new product box I noticed a logo I've never seen before - Diabetic friendly.  I've seen products with the American Heart Association stamp of approval, but never anything for Diabetes.

My curiosity lead me to a Google search and I came across this.  Looks like Kellogg's, with the guidelines of ADA, is going diabetic friendly and the new logo is a marker for easier identification.

Great idea.  Brand recognition for causes and healthy choices will make shopping for products even easier.  I would also bet sales will increase.  With Diabetes in my family I am more cautious in my food choices and Kellogg's found a great way to market to me.

Brown Bag Marketing and a Free Burrito

This Sunday's Dispatch included a Chipotle brown paper bag.  

The bag simply says - "How 'Bout A Burrito?"

Bring in this bag by March 21st and we'll fill it with one of our giant, gourmet burritos FREE!

Chipotle

Looks like Chipotle is doing this in select markets across the country. A quick Google search showed that they recently did this in the Dayton, OH and Phoenix, AZ markets.  Possibly a new market research study?

This is great marketing for so many reasons:

1. It had to be cheap - small lunch size brown paper bags (for 32 packs of 500 it only cost $12.60 each through Fetpak Inc.)
2. Printing in black ink is very inexpensive
3. Visitors getting a free burrito will most likely purchase other items - drink, chips and guac, or other food entrees
4. Creates awareness for Chipotle
5. Putting brown bag in paper is cheaper than paying a mail house to deliver promotional piece

Office Max is another brown bag marketer offering 15% off of everything in the larger brown shopping bag in the past.

The amazing realization for me though was when I pulled the bag out of the paper I immediately knew it was Chipotle even though the Chipotle logo was hidden by the fold in the bag.  Now that is great brand recognition!

Hope you found yours in the paper before you threw it in the recycling pile.  Enjoy!  All those calories don't seem as bad when you are eating for free!  Hey @CherylHarrison, maybe we can use the bags when we meet for lunch this week!

Make Today Delicious

To the left is the new tag and brand identity of Kraft foods.  Yesterday Kraft unveiled their new look.  A move that Kraft hopes will help them against their private label competitors by capturing the essence of Kraft Foods.

The red banner is supposed to represent a smile (didn't another brand just do that).  However, this smile explodes into seven flavor bursts.  Each burst represents the different divisions of Kraft.  Looks like another lower case logo - following the footsteps of some other big logo revamps like Wal-mart and Pepsi. 

Looking at Kraft's website you will quickly notice they've incorporated making today delicious into who they are.  Their brand values are apparent in what they do, their approach with consumers, how they behave, their reach, how they grow and who they employ.

This reminds me of another big company - Procter & Gamble.  Like Kraft, P&G live their brand values which you can easily see when you visit their offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and on their brand web sites.  Also like P&G, Kraft has quite a history dating back to the late 1800's.

I like the logo and the direction Kraft is taking.  It's modern, you can relate to it, and it really looks happy. Food for most people, makes you feel happy.  O.K. I have to end this now because I have really worked up an appetite writing this.

Time For a Fresh Look

Over the course of the next few weeks, columbus imPRessions will be giving its site a new look. This weekend the header was changed.   Wanted to give it a more professional look, letting the visitors know what columbus imPRessions is while still being creative.

 What do you think?  Hope you like it.

Brand Advertising on Tees

This week was my daughter's 14th birthday.  It was no surprise to me that some of the hot items on both her birthday and Christmas lists was apparel from some of her favorite stores. It's crazy to think how popular t-shirts labeled with store names are.  

I wondered how, what started out as an undergarment, became such a broadcasting fashion statement.  I did a little research on how and when t-shirt advertising started.  It appears t-shirt advertising started with rock n' roll.  In the 1960's and 1970's rock and roll bands realized they could make quite a bit of extra money selling t-shirts with their bands name on them while further promoting their band.  It wasn't until the 1980's that designers and stores started placing their brands on t-shirts as a status symbol.  

T-shirt status symbol is still important to teens.  More than half of my daughter's closet is filled with Pink, Abercrombie, Hollister, and American Eagle.  All the kids proudly display them daily.  Pretty smart idea, people are actually buying clothes from your store (for a pretty hefty price too) and then wearing it all over.  Teens are actually paying to advertise for their favorite stores.  What a good gig!

Any idea what store was the first to advertise on their t-shirts?  My guess is Gap but not sure. Feel free to comment any ideas.

Some of our favorite rock t-shirts.

Too Good Not To Share

All your favorites in one place.

No need to search when you have All in One Place.  Click here to see what I mean.  

Bet you'll bookmark it just like I did.

Now they need to make one just like this but for all the different nonprofit organizations categorized by genre.

Obama Brand Ideas

Came across this today following someone on Twitter.  Thought is was cool and wanted to share.  Sol Sender was the lead creative director for Obama's '08 campaign logo.  Below are all the brand ideas submitted for consideration.  

To see Sol's interview on the subject click here.