IDEON

CITI SALUTES

andrea — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:53:27 +0000

The aim was to inspire veterans starting or growing their ventures to do so with grounded resources, confidence and ongoing support. Further, Citi wanted the brand to highlight the contributions veterans make to the USA through their service, and to the health of the economy. Ideon jumped on the opportunity to position Citi as the go-to small business partner for veterans and their families. We created an aspirational name—Realizing Your Dream—and flexible brand story that both speak directly to the gumption of America’s veterans. Working with our design partner OrangeYouGlad, a fresh visual identity underlines the brand’s approachability and spirit across all new marketing materials while adhering to Citigroup’s corporate brand.

The new Citi Salutes: Realizing Your Dream brand launched on Sunday, May 5 at a conference for Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE), a training program of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF). The launch coincided with the announcement of a new Citi Foundation-funded Realizing Your Dream Business Competition for V-WISE graduates and other veterans who have participated in the Boots to Business training program, also led by the IVMF in collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Having laid a solid brand foundation for Citi, Ideon looks forward to saluting the dreams of successful veterans for years to come.

Strategy: Andrea Katz Verbal: David Miles/Janet Kim Design: OrangeYouGlad

GROWING UP TOUCHSCREEN

andrea — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:50:39 +0000

With Google Glass available this fall, we may see the world through Google’s eyes right out of the crib. Sound scary? A recent Atlantic article investigates technology’s impact on toddlers’ brains, weighing concerns about creating zombies against ensuring children don’t fall behind their peers. Being a digital native does not necessarily mean being passive, though. Take 17–year–old Nick D’Aloisio, who started playing with his first Macbook at age 9 and created Summly at 15 out of frustration studying for a history exam. Rather than question technology’s impact, we may need to help children sharpen their problem-solving skills and ability to innovate. For brands, these inevitable changes are blowing open doors of opportunity to interact with children at even younger ages. But the bar is high. Those brands that create numbing, boring experiences will be tossed aside, challenging brands to up their creativity through ever more engaging sites, apps and other online media.

HOME MATTERS

andrea — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:43:43 +0000

The housing and community development industry’s main advocacy group came to Ideon with the goal of putting Home on the national agenda via a new movement called Home Matters.

The brand would call attention to the essential role Home plays in American life, and shed light on the connections between stable housing and other areas vital to society like jobs, education, health, the economy and public safety. Ideon took Home Matters from being a loosely defined concept into a bold and tangible, public-facing brand and movement. We created a brand positioning that transcends the fragmented and opaque industry by tapping into the universal, emotive appeal of Home, and created a voice and story that speaks boldly and broadly to all Americans. The design shows an energizing, warm and vibrant visual identity to emphasize the brand’s fearless commitment to its cause. The new brand is reorienting the industry to address the broader public for the very first time.

The Home Matters movement launched March 12 on Capitol Hill and online, though the website and a user-generated social media content campaign to bring Home to life. Simple yet influential, the Home Matters brand will see ultimate success when Americans truly recognize the power of Home.

Strategy: Andrea Katz Verbal: David Miles/Janet Kim Design: OrangeYouGlad Public Relations: Goodman Media

REVAMPING LEGACIES

andrea — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:56:33 +0000

A new book from Al Gore says we are in a “period of hyper-change,” which has huge implications for brands entrenched in legacy products and services. This is perhaps most evident in the case of the U.S. Postal Service, which announced plans to launch its own wardrobe line, cheekily named “Rain Heat & Snow” featuring wearable electronics. Nike is more proactively staying competitive as an activity-inspiring brand with new technology products like FuelBand. Most brands, though, are taking less disruptive steps to adapt. Yahoo refreshed its homepage with a Twitter/Facebook-like newsfeed being careful not to upset loyal users, while American Airlines’ rebranding shifed from representing America as a symbol of world power to one of spirited progress. Subtle changes may provide near–term relief. But as technological advances remake the marketplace with growing speed and frequency, legacy brands may have to become more comfortable venturing beyond their core competency while staying true to a higher brand purpose.

RELATING ROBOTS

andrea — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:45:22 +0000

Ray Kurzweil, now Google’s director of engineering, says that by 2029 computers will have emotional intelligence and be convincing as people. Another far-off prediction, you might say, but this futurist’s future is here. A 2007 study found that our brains are wired to socialize with anything remotely social, even prompting apologies to robot cats. This has huge implications for consumer brands, which already under-leverage personality as a brand asset. For example, a raincoat glowing in your closet to remind you you’ll need it later that day could feel like a helpful friend—but it could glow differently if by L.L. Bean or Burberry. This new outlet of brand expression promises to blow open opportunities for how brands apply their creative palette to product development. Which brands will take advantage to create deeper loyalty with customers? It will depend on brands’ capacity to value personality as much as function. The future looks bright for the brands that do.

MINDING THE GAP

andrea — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:01:20 +0000

Nimble brands have a knack for increasing their competitive advantage during crises that send others scrambling. Consider the Occupy movement, which leveraged its greatest asset—mobilization—to outpace the Red Cross and remake its brand, as established entities like Tide, Hanes and Duracell seemed to miss the boat entirely. Another scrappy group, Newscred, is daring to resurrect the news industry, creating badly needed revenue streams for flagging publishers by connecting them with brands wanting high-quality, content-rich marketing efforts. It’s not just startups stepping in, though. The New York Times notes that retail chains like Home Depot, Costco and Sam’s Club are shifting, chameleon-like, to fill the post-crisis financial service gap by offering financial products. Walmart is even experimenting with selling life insurance as part of its strategy to fully capture the unbanked population, or a quarter of its customers, proving yet again that size is ultimately less important than the insights and adaptability that drive relevance.

BRANDING AMERICA

andrea — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:22:12 +0000

Ford Motor Company, scion of 20th Century innovation, may also hint to the future of the US economy. Ford is ascending again, by appealing to Americans‘ bootstraps values—rejecting the government bailout and acknowledging consumers’ thin wallets. The new F-series pickup trucks use a fifth less fuel than competitors, but rather than marketing the model as environmentally-friendly, Ford is selling it as a money-saver. Recently Microsoft made a pragmatic splash by launching the Surface tablet via an investment in an existing company, rather than starting from scratch. Projecting pragmatism may the best way to profits and the best way to get elected, too. The ideological fervor of 2008 has given way to a more sober political contest this year; less about ideals, more about who can get the job done. It remains to be seen whether voters will judge Governor Romney’s opportunistic positions or President Obama’s compromises as the winning pragmatism for the economy and for the future of brand America.

REVOLUTIONIZING INSIGHTS

andrea — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:27:10 +0000

A confluence of technological advances is making it possible to till fresh discoveries from the explosion of data we’re producing daily, creating space for game-changing innovation in everything from marketing to education. Thanks to data-driven personalized marketing and tracking, the CMO is suddenly emerging as a bigger player in the C-suite, says IBM, which now has the data gurus on its advertising radar. At companies like Xerox, the hiring boss is now an algorithm, better able to pick the best person for the job. Mining through their data, for example, found that a creative personality actually mattered more in a good call center worker than previous experience. With Big Data comes Big Opportunity; a McKinsey study found that retailers leveraging their data to the fullest could increase operating margins by up to 60 percent. Notwithstanding tech leaps, data will be most useful because of the ideas and insights gleaned from it—a task we think is still best reserved for the human brain.

WATSON ADVENTURES

andrea — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:38:43 +0000

The original city scavenger hunt company sought to stand out among a new competitive set of high-tech upstarts and startups. Over the course of nearly a decade, Ideon’s strategic counsel boosted Watson Adventures’ brand story, crystalizing a uniquely intellectual and witty personality into a strategic market position. Ideon’s verbal work clarified the brand’s offer language, tailoring navigation and relevance for the brand’s distinct audiences (public, private and corporate) to drive sales and bolster online presence. Strategic media pushes and digital initiatives (including an award-winning website) have brought coverage from outlets such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, garnering additional attention for Watson Adventures and allowing the brand to decrease advertising spend and focus on delivering top-of-the-line scavenger hunt experiences for corporate clients and the public alike.

Strategy: Andrea Katz/Jane Fischer Verbal: David Miles PR: Janet Kim Design: Objective Subject SEO: Liqui-Site Designs

SOCIALIZING CAPITAL

andrea — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:00:21 +0000

A boost of resources and talent is beginning to flow towards brands with social consciousness at the core of their identities. New Resource Bank, backed by Al Gore’s investment firm, is lending solely to ventures with social missions, looking for returns that are social and environmental in addition to financial. Meanwhile, the founder of Avaaz, the global online organizing powerhouse, has create d Purpose, ushering in a wave of marketing potential for companies looking to mobilize consumer movements. Some entrepreneurs are even trying to reinvent the economy altogether. David Brancaccio recently reported on a ”time-banking” initiative that has sprung up in Portland, ME, where people are swapping skills denominated not by the dollar, but by the hour. This is likely an extreme frontier, but integrating social consciousness into one’s business model may promise more sustainable success. After all, as Jack Welch recently reminded WSJ readers, ”Corporations are people working together toward a shared goal, just as hospitals, schools, farms, restaurants, ballparks and museums are.” If that’s the case, why not reflect that humanity in brands and businesses?