eROI NYC Interactive Agency

Of the millions and millions of brands out there one thing remains true…all of them evolve in some way. A brand is a living and breathing animal constantly in search of definition and growth. Perhaps the easiest way to visually see this growth is by looking at the logo. Logo’s act as a visual metaphor or in some cases the actual representation of the brand in our minds. I would contend that when you mention “Nike” the first thing in your mind is the swoosh not necessarily a pair of shoes. But more important than the image is the story it tells the consumer. The brands success is dependent on telling the story in a way that people can relate to.

My wife, who currently is attending Parson’s in NYC, shared this article with me that addresses this topic and isolates several popular food brands and explores their logo evolution. How does your logo tell your story?

NYC is the land of the Doppelganger. Andy is that you?

A while back I kept noticing an ad on the tops of cabs around NYC. The campaign was for the brand ESPRIT. The ad was simple and plugged a celebration of the brand. I took a quick flip of it:

I think I first noticed it around Halloween. At any rate, it peaked my curiosity so I wanted to check out the campaign and see how they did. I remember looking it up but not giving it my best effort and telling myself I would get to it. Enter January 09….

As I was cleaning out my 08 Media folder I came across the video above and remembered that I was supposed to check that out. Now here is the web lesson….the promo is over! Because I pushed it off in the fall I missed it and because I missed it I got left behind. I am no longer relevant.  The lesson learned is that the world is constantly moving forward…in the sea of media and competition the relevant and the current win out. The same goes for your site or your email campaign….now is the time. Don’t let people forget.

In my defense…there were a couple easy things ESPRIT could have done to ensure they were on my mind. There was no email sign up when I first checked it out in October. I would have signed up to receive updates  and thus I wouldn’t have been as likely to forget. If you notice the ad doesn’t have a URL on it. Now I am not sure I can say that would have made me remember but it certainly would have helped. The accompanying site is pretty cool….there is a e-book of their history that is fun to play with. The FLASH movie is not my cup of tea though. Check it. I couldn’t find much about the party online so I don’t think it went off, here is a pic I found off of someone’s album though:

The final thought: Be relevant, Be Current, Act now…..Don’t let them forget

In any industry or vertical there are terms and nomenclature that become second nature to those immersed in it but might as well be Chinese to those who aren’t. For instance, I can tell you how a saving account works but I’ll be damned if I try to explain what a hedge fund is. But a banker would immediately be able to run it down for you. Too often I think we over look the meaning of terms we use with clients. We all know the glazed over look someone gets when you try to explain what an RSS feed or what Twitter is if they have never heard of it. That being said I wanted to share a great email from one of our designers. In the email she takes the time to define what a WIREFRAME is so that we can effectively execute and collaborate. With out spelling out the meaning of something before hand how can we expect a client to automatically know what it is? The internet is very esoteric so in the spirit of education here is one eROI designer’s explanation of what exactly a wireframe is. She might have gotten these definitions off of a site but I am not sure where. This is verbatim:

What are wireframes?

Web site wireframes are blue prints that define a Web page’s content and functionality. They do not convey design – e.g. colors, graphics, or fonts.

-they are a visualization tool for presenting proposed functions, structure and content 

-wireframes convey hierarchy. what things are more important than others?

-separating look at feel so we can focus on the content and function. 

-conveys the very general layout 

-information architecture-focused 

They are NOT…

- Meant for an external audience without an explanation of context

- Meant to be the design of a page

- To portray any graphic elements

- To convey the brand of a website

If you have read my blog before then you know that I love using video to tell the story. Internet video has been an interest of mine since I started in this biz and even before (Remember the early days when 10 people would crowd around the smallest screen ever to watch a 10 second clip of a Vince Carter dunk).  When I put together a video its like I am writing or speaking in my minds eye. Its a cool thing to communicate with words and images as it creates layers of interpretation and meaning beyond what they would do alone. But I digress….given my pension for video I was stoked when I was asked by the team to head up an internal video project the details of which you will find out soon. The depth of what I aim to accomplish goes a bit beyond my rough abilities to piece together clips so I partnered with Miko Media, a multi-media shop run by video pimp Casey Goldberg. I can’t wait to show you guys what we come up with. Here is a sample of his work. Check out his transitions…killer stuff.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time the New York Times ran an ad on the front page. This serves as yet another sign of the News industry’s downturn. CBS Corp. was the Times’ debut front-page advertiser. Its rectangular ad is about 2 1/2 inches high and runs across the entire bottom of the front page. There was no word on the price of the spot, but the Huffington Post reports…”A 2-inch color ad in USA Today _ slightly smaller than the CBS ad Monday in the Times _ costs $65,000 most days and $79,600 on Fridays.”  In a letter to the Internet…Newspaper’s all across the country say….”Thank you.”

So much is made every year about new year’ resolutions. It seems crazy that people make unreal promises to themselves only to be set up for failure. I read a great article on the Huff Post yesterday that really provides some great insight. Kira Craft questions the timing of these resolutions…she says, “The coldest, darkest month of the year seems like an odd moment to confront major life changes. In fact, statistics show that 75% of those who make resolutions at New Year’s fail on their first attempt to keep them, and is it any wonder? I can barely rouse myself to clean my bathroom much less make an ambitious behavioral U-turn smack dab in the middle of winter.”

I totally agree. Why make promises you know you cannot keep at a time when they are the hardest to keep? While anyone will tell you that I am a shiny optimist, I do feel really bad about myself when I don’t do something I say I am going to do. That is why this year I resolve to not make any resolutions. Instead I am seeking to learn from my first year in New York and improve. Craft makes the perfect closing statement….

“Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I am planning a year of steeping in self-indulgence, I’ve just simply decided that being okay with where I’m at is a calmer approach to eventually arriving at where I want to go. Who needs the arbitrary date of January 1st as pressure to aim for perfection? And who really likes perfection anyway? As Abraham Lincoln said, “It has been my experience that folks with no vices have very few virtues.” So I think I will stay interesting and complex as I dawdle in my vices for a few more months, at least.”