The Story

With bank branding, it’s never about winning or losing. In fact, there is no losing. There is always much to gain even when you don’t fully achieve what you set out to achieve. The thing gained when you don’t win is a learning lesson.
Why is that valuable? Because you can improve on your branding […]

Photo from The Consumerist
I recently read a cute little blurb about a BC Credit Union’s unique apology style. More importantly though, it was an excellent example of multi-sensory bank marketing, and showed the importance of conversing with your “talkers” (see more on word of mouth marketing).
Paula, a member of this particular credit union, was […]

On a recent trip to Vancouver BC, I went to Vancity Savings Credit Union to exchange my American dollars for Canadian dollars. Although the experience was slow because the computers were down and tellers don’t carry money at teller row, the colors in the branch and the kindness of the employees made me want to […]

As we know, making improvements to your service and overall brand experience can’t be done overnight. It’s far easier to make smaller changes in smaller chunks, more frequently. You can accomplish much more by simply focusing on one aspect of your experience and then moving onto the next.
Ready for some examples? Check out how […]

Check out this website for hip hop record label Guerrilla Funk. It was created by San Francisco rapper Paris, whose politically charged lyrics speak out against social injustices throughout the world.
Paris not only writes and produces songs but also publishes information about how to help the black community grow. A pet project of his is […]

We write a lot about bank branding - finding your bank’s true identity, supporting its story, relaying a uniform message, etc. But what holds true for companies also holds true for individuals. Each of us has a personal brand that we consciously, or unconsciously, develop and communicate to the world. We are […]

Last week I attended a panel discussion at local retail shop here in Portland. The retail shop is called Office and the panel discussion was about Designer Entrepreneurship. The panel consisted of former Intel, Adidas, Nike and boutique advertising agency designers whom all became motivated to do “their own thing” when clients were too scared […]

Give up? They all try to serve the masses. All seek to serve the 18-65 (give or take ten years) crowd. The reason why Sears and J.C. Penney look, feel and sound alike is that they’re trying to be everything to everyone all the time.
  
What these Siamese twin-like department stores are failing to do […]

I saw an amazing Iron Chef last week. The challengers, brothers Kent and Kevin Rathburn (who actually beat Bobby Flay!) where given the task of preparing several gourmet courses made from elk meat. During judging, they were asked to explain why they prepared the meat the way they did. This was their answer:
“All game should […]

For the past two presidential elections, 7-Eleven has created Democratic nominee and Republican nominee coffee cups for customers to cast their votes early and often. This election year is no different.
7-Eleven unveiled their well designed red McCain and blue Obama cups October 1st. They are being tallied with each of the million cups of coffee […]