Let’s use one of those happy clients as an example of how the process works. Enter Batts Morrison Wales & Lee, a CPA firm that works exclusively with nonprofit organizations. They came to us looking to redesign their existing logo to better represent their firm and the services it provides. From its colors and fonts to the guard they selected as their brandmark, BMWL’s logo looked very outdated and in desperate need of an upgrade. So they turned to Covenant to make the magic happen. Here are the steps we took to develop the perfect signature (magic wand and cape optional):

Step One: Brandstorming

We kicked-off the signature design process by sending the client a logo questionnaire, which we asked them to bring to an in-person brainstorming session to narrow in on what they were looking for. When it comes to signatures, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. Everything we design is tailor-made for each client.

Step Two: Design

A signature rarely remains the same from its inception to the final delivery. For that reason, we gave BMWL several options to choose from, so they could either pick one that they liked best, or combine different elements from a few of them to create a revised signature concept. After we presented the initial signatures, we had the client narrow it down to three they liked best, and asked that they send us a list of their revisions to the artwork.

Step Three: Revisions

At this phase, Covenant takes the client’s revisions into account and incorporates them into a revised signature design. From here, the client reviews the updated concepts and provides additional feedback. By now, BMWL’s signature was very close to complete, and they had only a few minor tweaks to fine-tune it to near perfection.

Step Four: The Grand Finale

After incorporating the client’s final revisions to the signature, we sent it back for one final review. Upon approval, we delivered a Signature CD to the client, which included all the final formats of the signature, in color, black and white and grayscale.

After receiving the finished product, the clients were thrilled with the new look, and we proceeded to help them strategically launch the brand, both internally and externally, and also to incorporate it into new marketing collateral.

A well-designed signature can launch your brand to the forefront of your industry, and help you to better connect and stay relevant to your audience. That has definitely been the case for BMWL, whose signature now reflects the high quality of services they provide to the nonprofit industry nationwide.

A locally owned and operated commercial real estate advisory firm, BishopBeale specializes in the Central Florida market, offering its clients decades of local experience and honest advice.

Why they came:

Combining 40 years of experience, Billy Bishop and Mike Beale joined forces last year to offer Orlando local expertise, unrivaled customer service, and successful strategies to take their clients’ commercial investments to the next level. But they needed a marketing partner who could help them do the same for their own business. Enter Covenant. As a full-service marketing firm, we set to work, scoping out the details of a marketing plan that would develop their brand, message and website, and the individual elements of each that would be used to best deliver them to their target audience.

What we did for them:

We kicked off the project by meeting with Mike, Billy and their marketing director, Caroline Miller. We asked them thought-provoking questions to determine what they were looking to accomplish, how they planned to do it and how they wanted to be perceived by the public. They wanted a logo and brand identity design that would establish them as the one-stop shop for all of their clients’ realty needs. Although they wanted to maintain their strong local roots, they also wanted to show that they have the expertise to branch out on a national level. So we set out to do just that through the development of the following:

• Brand Identity: Before beginning the project, we asked Mike and Billy to fill out a creative brief, with a series of questions that would help us narrow in on what they were looking for. They wanted something contemporary and current, but that would still look professional. We met with them in person to discuss their answers and to make sure we were heading in the right direction. From there, we were able to present them with 20 logo concepts, from which they chose one to make revisions to. After arriving on a final logo, we incorporated it into a brand board, so that the client could see how it would look built out into several of their key pieces, like a brochure or a realty sign. Next, we built out stationery and e-signatures, so that the look and feel of the brand would be used consistently in everything they sent out to the public. We then outlined all of these pieces in a brand book, to assure that the brand rules are followed company wide and put everyone on the same page.
• Message: Now that we had the look and feel of the brand established, we still needed to nail down a message that would explain clearly and concisely who they are and what they do. And who better to answer those questions than the principals of the company themselves? So we conducted interviews with Mike and Billy, asking them questions that would define why BishopBeale isn’t just a real estate advisory firm in Orlando. It is the real estate advisory firm in Orlando. After coming up with a clear message that everyone was happy with, we turned this basic information into a one-page sales sheet that they could hand out to current or potential clients.
• Web: We started by thinking through the navigation, and creating a blueprint of what we thought the architecture of the site should look like. We reorganized the content, placing the “Properties” page first, since selling and leasing properties is the driving force behind their business. For each property, users can view an image, description, PDF, and a map of where it’s located. Putting ourselves in the shoes of the user, we wanted to put all of the information they’d be looking for right at their fingertips. Since a homepage is the doorway to any website, we wanted to set a good first impression right from the start. So we created cool features and effects, like making the “b” icon in the logo bounce when you mouse over it. Or adding a “b” symbol in the navigation that indicates which page you’re on. And, to make sure the content never gets stale, we added a featured property and testimonial section that would generate new content every time you hit refresh.

To solidify BishopBeale as a leader in its industry, we wanted to take things one step further. So we created a map that could be viewed from the homepage to show users the location of every available property by category. It even gives users a short description of each when you click on a pinpoint.

Check out the live site at http://www.bishopbeale.com

History

Over a half-century ago, there was a major shift in how we experienced media and information. The average American family went from listening to their household radios to watching television. The shift from radio media to television media was a significant event, so much so that many years later the average person still consumes the bulk of their media diet through their televisions. Over the last decade we’ve seen the percentages decrease as more and more access information through the internet and more recently through phones and mobile devices, but for the last six-plus decades TV has been king.

If we look at the history of media, one form that hasn’t changed a whole lot in the past 100 plus years is print. Though production technology and visual design has advanced significantly, newspapers are still very much the same as they were a century ago, books still require the turning of a page to read further, and magazines share the same general format. It stands to reason then, that the print medium is long overdue for a radical shift, and that is exactly what is happening.

The next 3-5 years will be the tipping point for E-Print media, and just as the shift from radio to television changed the game for publishers, advertisers and consumers alike, the same will hold true in the print industry.

What It Is

E-Print media is interactive published content, accessible through the web on mobile devices. This content can include e-books, e-magazines, e-newspapers, and interactive applications. Just like traditional print media, we’ll be able to “touch” and interact with the content, though in much more advanced ways. You may be asking yourself what’s the big deal? You may prefer to hold a paperback in your hands, rather than read an e-book, or flip through a newspaper instead of reading stories through an RSS feed. So if we can interact with traditional print media already, why should we make the shift to E-Print? It’s a valid question, why should we care?

Here are 5 key components of E-Print media that will help show us why we should care:

Why It Matters

1. Interactivity

I’m the kind of person who still likes to hold a book in my hands or flip through a magazine. There’s just something about being able to turn the page, make notes in the margins, and paint mental images of what you’re reading. So it would take a lot to get me to change my habits. One element that would get me to change is the interactivity factor. The biggest shift from traditional print media to E-Print media will be how much more interactive E-Print content will be. Check out this example of a new Alice and Wonderland app/book to get an idea of what I mean. No longer will our interaction be between our minds, our eyes, and the printed page. We’ll be able to use our hands, our fingers, manipulate the content, watch embedded videos, play games, and view ads all in an interactive environment that stimulates our senses more than ever before. This is huge. We are an “entertain me” culture, and E-Print will bring more entertainment to the once mundane actions of simply reading a page.

2. Design

We see, experience, and make decisions with our eyes. Visual design is one of the most important elements in print media. Most of the time we, as average consumers, don’t realize what “good” design is, but put something that is poorly designed in front of our faces and we’ll be turned off before we can blink. That’s why book covers are so important, it’s why newspapers spend so much time on typography design and layout, and it’s why magazines have entire departments dedicated to art direction. E-Print takes all of the creative talent, skill, and strategies and opens up literally a limitless medium in which to work and play. Up until this point designers were limited by the printing press – now published content can be designed without worrying how it might look on paper. Moreover, E-Print brings other creatives to the table, such as website designers, application developers, animators, videographers, and programmers.

3. Integration

One of the most profound elements in E-Print media is the ability to integrate multiple forms of media into one application. The video below from Wired magazine showcases how this is done. Notice how the reader interacts with several different forms of media, from the written word to design elements to video. And how cool is interactive advertising? This alone is a huge game-changer – instead of just having a car ad with a static image on a page, imagine if you were able to turn the car 360 degrees, or push a button and the car turned into an interactive video. This ain’t your grandma’s advertising anymore folks, E-Print opens the door to incredible user experience through multiple streams of media.

4. Aggregation

Okay, so up to this point, everything I’ve said sounds pretty cool right? But at the end of the day, just because something is really cool doesn’t mean it’s practical. I mean, take the Segway for example…it’s cool, but we all know how much that caught on. The next two elements deal with practicality. The first is aggregation. Devices such as the iPad allow for a very practical aggregation of content – essentially allowing us to pull all of the content we’re interested in into one place. Now we don’t have to carry around a book, a newspaper, a magazine, a phone, a computer, etc…We could literally carry around one or two devices that would aggregate all of that media for us, making our information consumption that much more enjoyable. This technology will only get better as the years go on, and it will do wonders for our overall print media experience.

5. Mobility

In my last article where I described the iPad as a game-changer, I covered the mobility element. As our information consumption becomes more centralized it also has to become more mobile. We won’t put up with sitting at our desktop to read the news anymore. We’ve solved the mobility issue in large part with the technological advancement in phones. I can do quite a lot on my iPhone. So is a device like the iPad necessary? Yes, and here’s why.

My iPhone is small.

Mobility and portability are essential, but so also is a good experience. The experience on the iPhone is awesome, but I’d rather surf the web, watch movies, and read books on a larger screen. Wouldn’t you? It doesn’t just have to be the iPad – it could be the new HP Slate, or one of the myriad of other tablet devices that are sure to come out in the near future. But the bottom line is the E-Print media means we become much more mobile which much more content, and that is a big deal.

What to Expect

So where do we go from here? The iPad and other devices have started to cover some ground, but we know it’s not ideal yet. But the rise of the E-Print medium fostered in large part by these new devices will begin to change the way we interact with and experience print media. Here are just a few ways this is happening and will continue to happen:

A) Interactive Books – as we saw in the Alice in Wonderland book example, books will become much more interactive through E-Print. Words will literally jump from the page, we’ll see more design and interactive elements placed inside books, and publishers will be able to integrate various forms of media such as video. In addition to just simply being really cool, this will heighten the user experience and allow authors to share more of what’s in their hearts and minds.

B) Interactive Ads – a couple of weeks ago Apple came out with a new advertising platform called iAds which allows advertisers to create interactive ads to be placed inside applications designed for the iPhone and iPad. As we saw in the Wired video, this type of platform and technology will allow advertisers to create ads like never before. Ads will become literal applications, mini-websites, or video productions designed to draw the user in. This opens up a world of change, creating new niches for designers and developers, advertisers, brands, and consumers. This could be the tipping point for online advertising.

C) Better, Smaller, More Mobile Devices – E-Print won’t be a flash in the pan. As a result we’ll see companies embrace this technology and strive to produce better devices on which to consume E-Print media. Just like today’s computers are worlds better than those even a decade ago, tablet devices five years from now will be worlds better than the current iterations today.

It will take time to make the shift from traditional print to E-Print, and just like radio is still around today, I think we’ll always have traditional print in one form or another. But just as television surpassed radio, look for E-Print to do the same. And the results will be overwhelmingly positive.

“The enthusiasm Billy and Michael have for their new company is a good match for the passion Covenant has about our work to build brands” says Justin Ramb of Covenant. Covenant Communications believes that strong marketing is built from an integrated approach that includes every aspect of communications, from identity and advertising to interactive applications and branded online environments. You can view samples of our work for BishopBeale at our portfolio.

Based in downtown Orlando; Covenant partners with clients to deliver compelling communications across all media, including broadcast, print, direct and interactive.
Covenant Communications helps businesses nationwide define and create brand identity, communication strategies and quality marketing vehicles. Since 2002, Covenant has been making businesses successful through Marketing Communications, Branding & Design, Web Design & Web Development, and Social Media services. For more information, visit our website.

This isn’t an article about iPad’s limitations – though there are many.

This is an article about why everyone should care about the Apple iPad. Love it, hate it, disappointed by it, or ready to buy it, the bottom line is Apple has created a product that will help usher in a new form of information experience. The iPad doesn’t have everything (some would argue it doesn’t have anything), but it’s clear that the way we consume information and media is evolving, and the iPad is a first draft of where we’re headed.

Here are four reasons why I believe the Apple iPad is a game changer:

1. Rich User Experience

Apple is the undisputed leader in user experience. From the beginning when Apple introduced the scroll wheel for its iPods to the unprecedented iPhone user interface, Apple has revolutionized the way we interact with technology. Granted, Apple didn’t reinvent the wheel with the iPad experience (it’s a lot of the same features we see in the iPhone). But what is clear is that future devices, applications, and technology must include rich user experience. Mouse clicks and scrollbars won’t last forever. What Apple has done is create an experience that involves natural human elements – why click a mouse when you can use your fingers? Why scroll when you can swipe with your hand?

Though the iPad isn’t the end-all, be-all tablet yet, its user experience is a game changer. It’s a game changer because it will influence the future tablets and devices yet to be developed.

2. All-Inclusive Content

I’ll say from the start Apple missed the boat on this – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close to the boat. As we consume more and more information and media through digital and online channels, it’s becoming clear that eventually we will need devices that provide all-inclusive content. This means being able to read a book, newspaper, surf the web, watch a movie, and connect through social media all through one device. Doesn’t the iPad do that already? Well, yes it does, but the problem is that Apple’s device isn’t open source yet, and it severely limits the user’s ability to share content across multiple devices.

For instance I can’t share files, information, media, or applications across my computer, iPad, iPhone, etc. I can’t hook up my iPad to my television. These are limiting factors that Apple will have to address at some point. But, the iPad is a step in the right direction. We are always trying to simplify our lives, and while the iPad seems more like an extra device than a convenient replacement, the devices of the future will look and function a lot like the iPad. All-inclusive content is the future, and, though limiting and restrictive, Apple’s iPad has it in spades.

3. Mobility

As our information consumption becomes more centralized it also has to become more mobile. We won’t put up with sitting at our desktop to read the news anymore. We’ve solved the mobility issue in large part with the technological advancement in phones. I can do quite a lot on my iPhone. So is a device like the iPad necessary? Yes, and here’s why.

My iPhone is small.

Mobility and portability are essential, but so also is a good experience. The experience on the iPhone is awesome, but I’d rather surf the web, watch movies, and read books on a larger screen. Wouldn’t you? The Apple iPad is small enough, thin enough, and light enough to be mobile while also optimizing the “consumption” experience. Don’t get me wrong it could be better (I don’t like the huge bevel around the screen for one). But the bottom line is I would feel comfortable carrying around an iPad, rather than my laptop, if the functionality were in place.

Mobility is key, and the iPad is a very good start.

4. Entertainment

Just as the way we consume information is changing, the way we consume entertainment (digital) is changing. It won’t be much longer before cable, and even television are obsolete. The internet has changed things. So how will we consume our digital entertainment in the future? It will be through a variety of means one of which will be through devices like the iPad. Whether it’s reading a magazine, watching a network show, watching a movie, or playing games, our devices will become smaller, faster, and more mobile.

The Apple iPad is small, pretty fast, and mobile. Yes it has some big limitations – namely that you can’t connect to your TV, can’t share content, and must route everything through Apple’s proprietary platforms (iTunes, iBooks, etc) – but once again it’s a mold that I believe many will follow. Imagine being able to control your digital entertainment library at the touch of a button with a mobile device that can share content across multiple platforms.

That’s where we’re headed.

Should you buy an iPad?

That depends. Will I buy one? Probably not…yet. But the die has been cast by a visionary brand, and despite all of the negative chatter surrounding the iPad, you can’t argue that it will be a game changer. There is a third device platform between phones and computers, it’s not just a marketing gimmick. The iPad could definitely be better. But the bottom line is that just as the iPhone changed the way we view phones, the iPad will change the way we view, interact with, and share content.

If Apple is smart (which they usually are), they’ll listen to the feedback from its user-base, make the necessary hardware and software upgrades, and continue to push the technology envelop for the iPad. If anyone could lead the charge for this third device platform, Apple is my choice to do it.

What do you think? Share your thoughts and opinions with us on our Facebook page:

Brand Asset Management: Driving Profitable Growth Through Your Brands, by Scott M. Davis

Brands are among a company’s most valuable assets, and smart companies today realize that capitalizing on their brands is important. Doing so can help them achieve their growth objectives more quickly and more profitably.

These companies know that brands are more than just products and services. They know that brands are also what the company does and, more importantly, what the company is. Usually brands are why a company exists, not the other way around.

But most companies are not maximizing their potential financial returns because they are not maximizing the power of their brands. With proper brand management, for instance, your company’s sales of $100 million today can be increased by $30-$50 million in five years. However, this will happen if and only if you take advantage of the most important growth weapon at your disposal: your brand.

What Is a Brand?

A brand is an intangible but critical component of what a company stands for. A consumer generally does not have a relationship with a product or a service, but he or she may have a relationship with a brand. In part, a brand is a set of promise. It implies trust, consistency, and a defined set of expectations. The strongest brands in the world own a place in the consumer’s mind, and when they are mentioned almost everyone thinks of the same things. 3M invokes innovation, Hallmark stands for caring, FedEx means guaranteed delivery. Conversely, certain words connect you back to certain brands. Family entertainment conjures up Disney. Personal service suggests Nordstrom’s. Irreverence represents Virgin, and individual performance most often will connect you back to Nike.

A brand differentiates products and services that appear similar in features, attributes, and possible even benefits. Is Tide that much better than Surf? Is Starbucks that much better than Caribou Coffee? Is Sony that much better than JVC? Probably not.

What makes leading brands better is the PATH they travel in the human mind? PATH is an acronym for promise, acceptance, trust, and hope. This PATH is intangible and can be emotional. It strikes at the core of who we are as humans. Can you actually buy promise, acceptance, trust, and hope? Well, yes. A strong brand makes these intangibles tangible in the consumer’s mind. Weak brands do not.

A Mercedes buyer may indeed be getting a well-engineered durable, and reliable automobile, but is probably also paying for German engineering, prestige, and a statement that he or she has “made it.”

Similarly, buyers of Nike shoes may also be after better athletic performance; FedEx users buy reassurance that whatever they send will get there on time; John Deere purchasers believe it’s the best piece of machinery around; and Volvo buyers assume they are buying greater safety.

A brand is about confidence and security. On an average day consumers are exposed to six thousand advertisements and, each year, to more than twenty-five thousand new products. In such a world, brands take away the confusion. Brands help consumers cut through the proliferation of choices available in every products and service category.

The most common misperceptions managers have about brands have to do with the variety of marketing tools and tactics we are all familiar with. We may think any or all of the following are appropriate definitions of a brand:

• A brand is a tagline like “We bring good things to life.”
• A brand is a symbol like that Nike swoosh.
• A brand is a shape like that Absolut bottle of that Coke bottle.
• A brand is a spokesperson like Bill Cosby for Jell-O.
• A brand is a sound like Intel’s familiar four notes.
• A brand is an actual product or service- Kleenex tissue or Xerox copies of a Sony Walkman.

Sure, all these help bring the brand to life and into consumers’ streams of consciousness, but in reality they are simply well-executed marketing and selling tactics.

The Benefits of Effective Brand Management

Let’s look at brand strength from two perspectives: customer actions and company strategies. Without doubt, customers perceive the importance of a strong brand:

• 72 percent of customers say they will pay 20 percent premium for their brand of choice, relative to the closest competitive brand. 50 percent of customers will pay a 25 percent premium. 40 percent of customers will pay up to a 30 percent premium.
• 25 percent of customers state that price does not matter if they are buying a brand that owns their loyalty.
• Over 70 percent of customers want to use a brand to guide their purchase decision and over 50 percent of purchases are actually brand driven.
• Peer recommendation influences almost 30 percent of all purchases made today, so a good experience by one customer with you brand may influence another’s purchase decision.
• More than 50 percent of consumers believe a strong brand allows for more successful new product introductions and they are more willing to try a new product from a preferred brand because of the implied endorsement.

Take a look at this intriguing video.

Often times, when someone is prescribed a diagnostic treatment, the doctor fails to tell the patient that they have an option as to where they receive the service. For centuries, we’ve been trained to “follow your doctor’s orders.” So, we do. And what’s wrong with that… sometimes nothing, and sometimes everything. Not all diagnostic centers are created equal. Not all centers boast state-of-the-art technology, five convenient locations, experienced staff, night and weekend appointment availability, and a full hospital system on stand-by if anything should arise. Health First Diagnostic Services does!

Nothing says fun and carefree like going in for a diagnostic service. Oh the joy of MRIs, CT Scans and Mammograms! Ok, all kidding aside, diagnostics are a serious topic but they got a bad rap. Occasionally diagnostic check-ups are about illness and obligation, but more often than not, they’re about health and prevention. The campaign concept is embodied in the tagline, “My choices define my life” and focused on the choice patients have in selecting a diagnostic center and the ability to live life to its fullest knowing that your health is in good hands. Each patient has the choice and the right to choose the best in diagnostic centers. When it comes to being the best in Brevard County, Health First Diagnostic Services goes unrivaled.

Health First is a hospital system comprised of four hospital facilities on Florida’s Palm Coast. They’re great at what they do. One of their facilities, Cape Canaveral Hospital, is even ranked as No. 1 in the Central Florida area for customer satisfaction. We were honored to be asked to implement a Diagnostics Services campaign that will roll out this spring. It’s a complete campaign consisting of Web banners, magazine and newspaper ads, billboards and radio spots.

How exactly do you bring interest and personality to Diagnostic Services? That was our challenge – and a fun one it was! The Health First team gave us room to stretch our creative muscles and in our opinion, there’s nothing quite like it. We conducted focus groups of the target market, let our designers paint on a blank canvas, and ended up with a campaign that’s unlike anything out there in the healthcare industry.

You’ll have to wait a little longer for the campaign to launch, and then we’ll reveal it in all its glory right here on our site.

Heads up, don’t expect to see any doctors in lab coats.