Posts Tagged ‘Brand’

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Can a new building change your life?

By Susan Mickelson, March 6, 2012 | Comments

You know that feeling. When something or someone comes along, and you realize that your life just changed forever?

Residents of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are right at the brink of this moment as the new Choice Health & Fitness prepares to open in Fall 2012.

Corporate membership solicitations are underway, along with many communications, marketing, public relations, social media and other endeavors set to start soon.

The SimmonsFlint team in our Grand Forks office is proud to help spread the word about this incredible new way of life.

Cover of a new brochure promoting Choice Health & Fitness

Cover of a new brochure promoting Choice Health & Fitness

Imagining happiness

This new venture actually began in 2007 with the Imagine campaign. As Brandy Chaffee, Public Relations and Marketing Manager at Choice Health & Fitness, says: “Back then, a group of Grand Forks citizens started raising funds to build a new health and wellness center and renovate the existing Family YMCA. We were inspired by their vision and generosity. A key step was when Choice Financial invested with naming rights to the new center, followed by additional naming and other support from Altru Health System.”

Beyond treadmills and swim lessons

Choice Health & Fitness brings together the community’s established health and wellness leaders and their combined expertise. Their efforts will form a powerful hub of health and wellness, housed in a new state-of-the-art center with enhanced equipment, spaces, programming and services.

We helped Brandy and her team formulate the brand strategy, and we focused not on the actual equipment and facility, but the affect on peoples’ lives. After all, healthier living builds heart, drive and confidence. The new Choice Health & Fitness harnesses this power, every day, in thousands of ways individualized to each member.

Along the way, Choice Health & Fitness will provide the staff members, programs, services and events for members to reach their next best level—and beyond. And that will transform an entire community.

Get ready to get sweaty

We also helped Brandy and her team develop an initial marketing plan for corporate membership, as well as materials and elements for the various user audiences. We created new logotypes for the children’s programming, “Everything Kids,” which will be held in its own themed space inside Choice Health & Fitness.

Appealing to diverse audiences has been an inspiring challenge, too. For instance, we concepted, wrote and designed a series of banners and posters to highlight the benefits for specific potential members, including:

Poster for serious athletes

Poster for serious athletes

Poster for kids and families

Poster for kids and families

Online and socializing

We’re also working on phase 2 of design and development for their website, which was initially built by another firm.

Visit Choice Health & Fitness at www.ChoiceHF.com

Visit Choice Health & Fitness at www.ChoiceHF.com

Thanks to Brandy, who serves as president of the North Dakota Recreation & Park Association, two Flint Group associates are also sharing timely advice, information and guidance in a presentation and participation at the Association’s Midwest Conference, scheduled in Grand Forks this spring. Chris will focus on public relations; Libby on social media.

Unique partnership

Brandy emphasizes that there’s nothing quite like this partnership within the United States. “The collaboration between Choice Health & Fitness and Altru Family YMCA will provide two facilities for one low cost. Members benefit from shared programs and services,” Brandy explains. “In fact, there are others in the national fitness center industry keeping a close eye on the progress of our unique partnership.”

So, can a new building change your life? It’s your Choice.

Print ad promoting Choice Health & Fitness

Print ad promoting Choice Health & Fitness

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Direct, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

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Don’t just dabble in social media, get to KNOW it

By andrea.lindell, October 18, 2010 | Comments
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Bill introducing Josh and Libby at the 2010 HatlingFlint KNOW event.

As big of a deal as it has become, social media remains a mystery to so many of us. We pretend to know what we’re doing when we post a status update, a link to a favorite blog, and press “like” once in a while on Facebook. But, navigating Facebook is just the tip of a giant iceberg.

Do you know how many characters are in a Tweet? How many friends does the average Facebook user have? What percentage of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool? Every minute, how many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube?

Some of the answers are shocking, others are just no brainers. Attendees of our KNOW event on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Territory Golf Club got these questions answered and so much more. Our topic again this year focused on social media: blogging strategy and the importance of Facebook. Our presenters Libby Hall, New Media Strategist, and Josh Lysne, Digital Strategist, both with the Flint Group did an awesome job.

Two hours flew by with some pretty frantic note-takers burning a hole through their notebooks. We failed to remind them that a copy of the slides would be available. Ooops! We remembered and reminded everyone that the slides will be available for download.

Many of our attendees expressed interest in a “How to create a LinkedIn strategy” seminar. We’ll be posting information on this event as we make plans. Don’t forget to check back.

By the way, there’s 140 characters in a Tweet. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool. And, 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

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Josh speaking to those eagerly awaiting golden nuggets of information.

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Libby explains how Facebook and contests can lure someone in...we got you with our contest, didn't we?!

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Proper Creative Care and Feeding: Special Features

By Phil Hunt, May 12, 2010 | Comments

In yesterday’s post about the proper care and feeding of your creative team, I linked to a TED talk from Simon Sinek, who is the author of Start with Why. I stumbled across the video in my Twitter feed, and thought it was relevant to what I was writing. It’s a fantastic presentation. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a great way to spend fifteen minutes of downtime.

Understanding why you do what you do is essential food for great ideas. I thought I’d share it once again, just in case you missed it the link in the last post. Watch the video, and share whatever thoughts you have in the comments.

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Group | Comments

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5 Question Friday with Kimberly Wold Janke, Communications Strategist – Flint Communications

By Andy Reierson, April 9, 2010 | Comments

Kimberly Wold Janke sits down to talk about what brought her to Flint Communications, her educational background, and what keeps her ticking everyday. She shares insights about working with clients and balancing work time with family time.

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

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5 Question Friday in Duluth with Ken Zakovich, WestmorelandFlint Creative Director

By Andy Reierson, March 26, 2010 | Comments

Welcome to another edition of 5 Question Friday! Today I sit down with Ken Zakovich, WestmorelandFlint Creative Director, to discuss brands that inspire him, the creative process, keeping up with changes in the advertising world and life outside of work including birding and playing guitar. Enjoy!

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

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Creating Your Personal Brand; It’s Not Just for Celebrities

By Laura Sieger, March 18, 2010 | Comments

Many people think that branding is just for companies or celebrities. But each of us has our own personal brand, whether we realize it or not.

The term “personal branding” was first mentioned in an article by Tom Peters http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html more than 10 years ago. By definition, personal branding is the process by which we market ourselves to others.  It’s the complete package comprised of many parts – body language, posture, clothes, accessories, facial expression, communication skills, and reputation.

With the advent of social media, it’s easier than ever to build or damage your personal brand.  Here are a few simple tips to discovering and creating your personal brand.

Discovering Your Brand

The first step in creating your personal brand is doing an in-depth analysis of you – this really isn’t as scary as it sounds. While some of us are self-aware (or think we are), others may struggle in this area. Here are a few questions to ask yourself or those close to you:

  • How do friends, family and co-workers typically describe you and what characteristics do they attribute to you – funny, honest, classy, professional, laid back, serious, creative?
  • Do those characteristics align with the image you hold of yourself? If not, why not?
  • How do you want people to describe you?
  • What do you need to do to achieve the image you want?

For example, if you want to be viewed as “classy,” does your appearance, actions and reputation support that claim? Personal branding really is about creating a niche for yourself and living it.

The key to developing a successful personal brand is authenticity and self-awareness. Be your real self, but make an even better impression.

Creating Your Brand

Once you’ve spent some time thinking about your personal brand, put it to paper. Write your own personal mission, vision and brand statement. Make sure you also set some specific goals and a plan for achieving them.  Some basic tools for marketing your personal brand include:

  • Wardrobe/accessories
  • Blog/website
  • Social media profiles – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
  • Resume/cover letter/references
  • Portfolio
  • Business Card and V Card
  • Personal presentation

There are many tips on how to successfully use each of these tools, but keep in mind the basics. Does your appearance in person and online through photos match your personal brand statement? Are you writing in a tone (funny, serious, sarcastic) that showcases who you are? For example, if you want to be viewed as professional and sophisticated, do you have pictures on your Facebook page that support that image or do you have photos and comments from a party you’d rather forget?

Get Started Today

Spend a few minutes thinking about your personal brand and how you want to be perceived. For more specific tips, check back at westmorelandflint.com  in late April for a complete presentation on personal branding.

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The sea bass is sensational at Sarello’s.

By Kim Kemmer, February 25, 2010 | Comments

Not long ago, a few business associates of mine and I were out for dinner at a local restaurant. While we know the food at Sarello’s is consistently very good, I was looking a little advice for something other than a typical entree. After asking for the opinions of my tablemates, I consulted my Droid and my newly loaded app, Foursquare. I have to admit that I was not expecting the restaurant would be listed, much less that there would be any entries.

To my surprise, Heavy Table completed a check-in and posted an entry touting that visitors should try the sea bass. The Heavy Table is a Twin Cities-based magazine reviewing restaurants and bars in the Upper Midwest. Their review reads, “The tender and perfectly cooked sea bass is a top seller. It’s oven broiled with citrus buerre blanc and accompanied by wild rice and seasonal veggies.” Granted, this was a professional review, but there was also an entry from a recent ‘patron.’

This event provided a practical example of how a simple technology provided an augmented discovery that made my whole experience more pleasant. Foursquare promotes itself as “a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things.” Foursquare is just one of several applications that can provide similar experiences. As the build out of technology advances, and additional apps are developed and introduced, the biggest challenge for brands is monitoring posts on the various sites.

And if you think that living in a medium sized Midwestern community will isolate you and your brand from the growth of consumer generated comments, just remember the sea bass is sensational in Sarello’s.

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What’s your story?

By Phil Hunt, February 9, 2010 | Comments

Your audience could care less about your product.

It stings a little to hear that, but the sooner we embrace it, the quicker we can relate to people.

Don’t get me wrong. Your features and benefits are awesome. I know they are. But your audience is really smart, a little self-centered, and ignores much of what marketers say.

Steven and the bullet points

There’s a big difference in how we get to know people and how we get to know our brands. To communicate effectively, you have to close the gap a little through storytelling. Let’s explore this difference with a guy I know, Steven. Below are some of the mundane details of his life. Notice how quickly a personality starts to unfold:

  • He is 32 and single
  • He is looking for a promotion
  • He was crushed by the Vikings’ NFC championship loss
  • This weekend, he will crack his friends up at a karaoke bar by singing Billy Squier

After learning a few things about Steven, you can start to make a judgment about him, and discern whether he’s your kind of person or not. Now let’s take a look at some typical bullet points for a product:

  • It’s easy to use
  • It uses the latest technology
  • It costs less than the competition
photo by Mykl Roventine: Out & About on Flickr

photo by Mykl Roventine: Out & About on Flickr

You get the idea. Based on those bullet points, which of the preceding stories do you want to follow? Steven or the product? If you asked me, I’d go with Steven.

People have an infinite number of things going on that make them different, interesting and likable. Products, however, usually look and sound much like the closest competitor—with one or two points of distinction. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Maybe Steven doesn’t know that your product would make one hell of a prop in his story. We can do that by taking what we’ve learned about him, the culture, the world and your brand, and relating to him.

Maybe if we gave Steven some interesting details of our own, we’d draw him in long enough to realize that your product will save him time and money. Maybe then, he could work up the nerve to ask for that promotion, which would help him afford season tickets for the Vikes next year, or a couple of nights out with friends and Billy Squier.

A great creative team uses creative ideas (sometimes far-out ideas) to tell those stories about your brand—because people like Steven are busy, unconsciously thinking where am I in all of this? Their attention is shifting to their own little story: lunch, the dog, and fantasy football.

Good creative isn’t “fluff” or a devious agency scheme to win awards. A strong concept allows your audience to dream. It helps them relate to your brand and fit it into their life’s narrative. It primes their brain for rewards they seek.

Creativity, and a good story, can tell Steven that you’re his kind of people. It’s powerful stuff if you care to use it.

Phil Hunt is a Flint Group copywriter, and thinks that Steven and the Bullet Points would make a good band name.

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Group, SimmonsFlint | Comments

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Is it time to brush up your brand? Part 2

By Bill Hatling, February 1, 2010 | Comments

After last week’s blog posting, how did your brand clean up? Here are five more questions to see if it’s time to brush up.

Have you acquired new companies or shed divisions?
When your company acquires new ones or divides, it may mean a shift in business strategy or it may not. Regardless, it may mean you’ve left your brand behind.

Has your revenue growth stalled?
If your category is dying, you can’t necessarily blame poor performance on your brand. But if your sales growth doesn’t match your category’s growth – and it hasn’t in awhile – it could be time to overhaul your brand.

Has your market changed around you?
Lots of new players, new developments and new customers in your market? Your brand may be well-positioned to take advantage. Or it may not. Time to figure it out.

Has your senior management restructured?
Brands belong to the people, but brand development begins at the top of the food chain. When there’s a lot of change at the top, there’s bound to be some confusion below. A strong brand development process is a great way to get everyone on the same page.

Has your company turned 20 years old?
Okay, this one belongs to my friend Jim Hughes, of the Brand Establishment, who’s been doing this a long time. Jim swears a high percentage of established companies that come to him for his brand development expertise are about 20 years old. Why? His hypothesis is that at about the 20-year mark many companies find they’ve lost their focus, the market has changed around them and maybe there’s been some senior management change. Whatever. Maybe it’s like the 17-year locust or seven-year itch. But I’m guessing that if your company’s about 20, some of the other nine clues are making themselves evident.

So where does your company stand? Healthy brand or unhealthy? For most successful companies, working on brand building – understanding it, delivering on it, communicating it, measuring it – is an all-the-time thing. If your organization has a clear vision of your brand and is acting on it, you’ve probably already stopped reading. If not, you’ll probably find yourself nodding yes to a number of the clues; it may be time.

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Brands Re-Imaging to Test Consumer Appetites

By Kim Kemmer, January 20, 2010 | Comments

Starbuck’s, Target, Wal-Mart and Bloomingdale’s are just a few of the major brands that have been engaged in brand tweaks, tests and teasers in-store, down the street and around the corner in several markets.

In the case of Starbuck’s, three “stealth” stores opened as a test in the Seattle area as reported in Entrepreneur magazine. The strategy was to introduce a new store concept that was “inspired by Starbuck’s,” and as a possible strategy to a larger rollout of “unbranded” cafes.

Bloomingdale’s created a “pop-up” Nespresso coffee bar brand in the center of its recently renovated cosmetics department in New York’s 59th Street location. Bloomingdale’s officials described the strategy; “cosmetics sharing space with a coffee company is a little out of the box,” an unexpected discovery that Bloomingdale’s holds core as an approach to keeping loyal customers – well, loyal. The boutique functions as a location to make a few gift purchases and enjoy a free specialty caffeine drink and learning a bit more about the specialty coffees.

Target Corporation introduced four temporary “bodegas” in Manhattan in the fall of 2008. The high-profile spaces called attention to a collection of design-inspired products. None of the products were scheduled to appear in the traditional Target stores until much later.

Even Wal-Mart has been tinkering with the notion of reaching out through a Latino-themed warehouse, based on its more traditional format. The Mas Club opened in August 2009, as part of an attempt to lure recent immigrants, hungry for familiar foods from home, to buy products in bulk-sizes, ala Wal-Mart style.

While it’s important to note that brands must evolve to remain relevant and continue to engage consumers, the articles referenced for this post suggest that either leaders of the brands are trying much harder to keep their image fresh, or they are becoming more active in the search for new consumer markets.

From a research perspective, imagine being able to drop your brand into a new location, observe consumer interactions within the environment, study the results and rollout a bevy of new “tested” products to your target audience. It must be working, otherwise these brand leaders wouldn’t be going through such efforts.

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