Nick Bean

A blank gypsum slate—we saw an opportunity to effectively brand a drywall company as the ultimate process trial. If you can differentiate drywall, that’s saying something. Or not—it may seem pedantic, but the brandspace was ripe. The company was Red-Wood Construction, and catered to two distinct markets: b2b with general contractors, and an emerging (and equal size) b2c direct with homeowners. On the one hand, contractors were threatened and confused by “Construction” of their name—were… Show more

A blank gypsum slate—we saw an opportunity to effectively brand a drywall company as the ultimate process trial. If you can differentiate drywall, that’s saying something. Or not—it may seem pedantic, but the brandspace was ripe. The company was Red-Wood Construction, and catered to two distinct markets: b2b with general contractors, and an emerging (and equal size) b2c direct with homeowners. On the one hand, contractors were threatened and confused by “Construction” of their name—were they direct competitors that could cannibalize business? The Red-Wood reference was geographic, between Redmond and Woodinville Washington, or otherwise meaningless.

The first order was the right name and domain, in this case right up the middle of the field. “Professional” may be overused and trite in some circles, but still holds equity and meaning in journeyman trades. “Wall” since that’s all they do, whether feathered and flat or curvilinear to tackle modern architecture. The tag was equally challenging, since it had to hammer home primary benefits for both audiences with a single line. And yes, it’s possible. “Leave the sheetrock to us” struck the balance. To contractors, it eliminated any hint of competition and positioned the company as go-to done-once experts in the field. To homeowners, the self same message meant “don’t try this at home” or “remember last time?” We’re talking homodepophobia.

Epilogue: when the housing and new construction crash of 2008-9 came around, the fly-by-night firms dropped away swiftly. Professional Wall’s bilateral base kept them on life support, and when the large projects, casinos and government work came back in 2010, they were perfectly positioned to capitalize and grow. Today, they’re opening new corporate offices and expanding their branded fleet while the decimated market continues to wallow. Show less

It pays to get remembered. And in the midst of a cluttered market, imperative. Ventura’s relative advantage revolved around getting the most from existing assets—leveraging efficiencies, and mining gold at home from the employee pool at hand. This is where a strong metaphor can really set you apart—for Ventura, the concept of a lockbox and a simple yet direct tag: Unlock Performance. The headline for web and print followed naturally: “This is your breakthrough. You just need the… Show more

It pays to get remembered. And in the midst of a cluttered market, imperative. Ventura’s relative advantage revolved around getting the most from existing assets—leveraging efficiencies, and mining gold at home from the employee pool at hand. This is where a strong metaphor can really set you apart—for Ventura, the concept of a lockbox and a simple yet direct tag: Unlock Performance. The headline for web and print followed naturally: “This is your breakthrough. You just need the key.”

Being “remembered” for streaking through a Monday Night Football broadcast is not quite the same, something many brands fail to acknowledge (especially during the Superbowl, ironically). You’ve got to be remembered for the right reasons. What sets you apart, and why you’re worth the risk. Show less

Remember the DC Sniper duo of ’02? Possibly the wrong time to employ sniper rifle crosshairs as your company logo? Strike that—never use crosshairs, full stop. Target Cleaning Systems of Haverstraw New York had come to us for a brochure. What they needed was a core strategy shift and brand realignment. What we both got was a dynamic 9-year collaboration. The key? Make ‘em a verb with promise.

“Systems” was meaningless fluff, and they primarily cleaned Wal-marts at the time, not… Show more

Remember the DC Sniper duo of ’02? Possibly the wrong time to employ sniper rifle crosshairs as your company logo? Strike that—never use crosshairs, full stop. Target Cleaning Systems of Haverstraw New York had come to us for a brochure. What they needed was a core strategy shift and brand realignment. What we both got was a dynamic 9-year collaboration. The key? Make ‘em a verb with promise.

“Systems” was meaningless fluff, and they primarily cleaned Wal-marts at the time, not Target stores. Still, the core team felt a longtime affinity toward “target” so we ran with the metaphor to lever an implied promise and benefit: On-Target Maintenance. In general, we’re down on hyphenated domains unless they’re found that way in nature. On-Target fit, and we were able to successfully broker sale of the domain from its existing owner.

Epilogue: within six months of unveiling the refocused brand, sales had grown sevenfold. Yes that’s 700%. Why? The salesforce finally felt legitimized and that the brand truly matched what they had to offer. They were unleashed upon the world with new vigor, and clearly had internalized the brand’s encapsulated value as a team. From there, On-Target began to fearlessly solicit national accounts with the Click & Clean portal we’d pioneered together. First came Liz Claiborne retail stores, then Tommy Hilfiger, followed by Duane Reade and their hundreds of convenience stores across the eastern US. In 2010, that growth cycle came full circle to launch On-Target as a national franchise organization. Foundationally, it all starts with the right brand. Show less

When a strong emotional benefit marries functional differentiation, good things happen. Highlands Kids Dentistry was the first in its region to offer pain-free pediatric laser dentistry. Throughout the branding process, we never lost sight that parents were the natural target, not their children. The hope was for parents to provide a markedly different and more positive experience at the dentist than their own a generation ago. The first step was to address parents’ questions directly… Show more

When a strong emotional benefit marries functional differentiation, good things happen. Highlands Kids Dentistry was the first in its region to offer pain-free pediatric laser dentistry. Throughout the branding process, we never lost sight that parents were the natural target, not their children. The hope was for parents to provide a markedly different and more positive experience at the dentist than their own a generation ago. The first step was to address parents’ questions directly through strong headlines and body copy worth reading, all with a design aesthetic that acknowledged children without being childish. One of their initial launch promotions provided bookmarks to private schools around Halloween and we coined “Unscary Dentist” for the event. Parents responded, and it stuck. UnscaryDentist.com swiftly became the domain parents remembered and the kids themselves began to ask for the Unscary Dentist, a connection we hadn’t anticipated.

Caveat: the timing was right, and my own son was the first patient in the chair on launch day – a biannual tradition that continues today. Unscary works. Show less

Your audience can remember one novel thing. When it’s a single letter that elevates your brand to a premium plane while retaining the core descriptive, you just might be there. When the URL is negotiated from its Russian owner for a mere thousand Euros, even better. In fact, free.

Agreed, that “free” bit doesn’t always go over so well. But as a long-term sunk cost with clear ability to trademark, the right name rewards in so many ways, starting with reduced promotion costs as you… Show more

Your audience can remember one novel thing. When it’s a single letter that elevates your brand to a premium plane while retaining the core descriptive, you just might be there. When the URL is negotiated from its Russian owner for a mere thousand Euros, even better. In fact, free.

Agreed, that “free” bit doesn’t always go over so well. But as a long-term sunk cost with clear ability to trademark, the right name rewards in so many ways, starting with reduced promotion costs as you skip primary education and get right to meaningful benefits that set you apart.

The Holy Grail of naming is the right dynamic descriptive that gets your brand assimilated, not cognitively processed. In the case of Corx, those four letters effectively set forth Premise, Position and Promise. Creatively, you’re then free to go anywhere with the tagline since it’s not tasked with balancing the equation. Likewise, a name that simple and direct begs for a conservative type treatment sans mark—at that stage, it’s the task of creative not to get in the way.
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First, let’s dispense with the name—to be frank, chosen by company principals at founding as they were all ex-Oracle Software employees. An inside joke, sure, but still tenable. In the case of Exxor, they plugged a key hole in Oracle’s HR Management System software—automated garnishments like court ordered restitution or child support maintenance.

The key is to develop a complementary, even symbiotic brand that helps that third party front your product and approach to increase the… Show more

First, let’s dispense with the name—to be frank, chosen by company principals at founding as they were all ex-Oracle Software employees. An inside joke, sure, but still tenable. In the case of Exxor, they plugged a key hole in Oracle’s HR Management System software—automated garnishments like court ordered restitution or child support maintenance.

The key is to develop a complementary, even symbiotic brand that helps that third party front your product and approach to increase the value of their sales interactions. Position your complementary brand correctly, and the host company does all the heavy lifting.

On the downside, there’s an inherent danger of branding yourself into a corner. Especially when your basis in value isn’t plugging any particular hole, but the ability to analyze deficiencies and develop future products with the same core skill set. Exxor has, and continues their symbiotic relationship with Oracle.
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