Simantel kindly set the final team brief of the semester for the second section of students. This time just two teams, but as equally a challenging assignment as the morning teams at OneFire.

BUSINESS AND MARKETING GOALS

The new leaders wish to solidify the clients. brand reputation by carrying on their name and legacy.

They want to do this by deepening exiting relationships and growing new ones, ensuring they are clear on their marketing message, with appropriate materials to tell their story.

Ancillary Industry Targets: The client hopes the message Bradley helps create will translate to many audiences as they seek to continue to build relationships with area architects, industry associations and large general contractors where they might serve as a “sub contractor” (since they are smaller than most in our area.) The message may have to “pivot” so as not to seem competitive, but collaborative with various segments.

Channels:

• The client does very little in the way of marketing.
• All client names and addresses are stored; however, this is primarily used for invoice purposes not marketing purposes.
• The company receives emails with notices for opportunities to bid on projects – but this very reactive.
• The team does not sit on any community boards, nor are they involved in trade associations, though this is an area of interest to pursue further.
• The team is specifically interested in finding a list of developers in the area to set meetings with and introduce themselves/tell their story.
• The team does attend annual safety conferences/trainings, which serve as networking opportunities.
• They do not currently have a website or much of a social presence and the Facebook page is rarely updated with project examples.

Tactics:

• In the past, the team has discussed developing a letter “re-introducing” the firm to key customers or prospects.
• They’ve considered building a PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of services and setting meetings to tell their story.
• They do not have a brochure or any sales literature.
• They do buy “custom branded” wine for customers at Christmas time as an appreciation effort.
• They also have some promotional items (hats, sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc.)
• The company cars also have the logo, which offers some limited exposure in market.
• They’ve also considered building a portfolio of projects from small to large, with a case study of services.

And here are the two teams in action. Click on their photos to view their campaign presentations.

Once again, my friend Jim, and his colleagues at OneFire helped me with the final team brief for the Brand Experience class.

The brief was a particularly challenging one for the students:

Communications Objectives (What do we want the audience to do?
● Design and implement a strategy to create a more effective web presence that
differentiates the company and all of the products and services they sell and
attracts/converts targeted prospects, allowing them to be nurtured and converted to
customers
● Independent insurance agents who operate in this niche should be able to easily find the company when they are searching for a carrier in this space and, once found, understand
their unique distinctions
● Update corporate positioning to support Brand distinction and align with target audience
needs (at your option, this may or may not include the update of the corporate logo, be
prepared to defend your rationale for or against updating)
● Discover and understand the buyer’s journey and use that to guide marketing strategy
and tactics
● Create an inbound/outbound growth strategy

As usual, our students didn’t let us down, despite much of the language of the brief being a little different from what they have been familiar with. Here are the presentations from the four teams. Click on to the photo to view each campaign:

An often repeated/tweaked branding project to give the students an opportunity to get their ‘hands dirty’ with some 3D construction added to the branding aspect.

Essentially, a Hyvee three or four item gourmet/quality ‘meal to go’ branded packaging challenge that should work across a range of meals in the brand, has strong shelf presence, is stackable, easy to carry, protects the meal item contents – and takes into consideration sustainability and its environmental footprint – while being an original piece of packaging design, with strong surface graphics…. simple!

Here are all of the projects with extra images of some of the more unique/successful solutions:

Continue reading “Gourmet ‘Meal 2 Go’ Packaging”

By Lauren Gunderson

Directed by Emma O’Mahoney, BU ‘22

Performances April 20-24, 2022

Four badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, surreal comedy from Lauren Gunderson, one of the most produced playwrights in America (and author of BU Theatre’s 2019 Silent Sky). During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle, hang out, try to beat back the extremist insanity of 1793 Paris, and fulfill their destinies. This fever dream of a play is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we go about changing the world. It’s all true. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection. You decide.

What’s the challenge?

(Re)Imagine the brand identity of a local bike hire scheme in downtown Peoria. This can be one that already exists, but most likely, a completely new scheme based down in the ever growing redeveloped Warehouse District.

Research the different types of schemes, then pick either a GPS, dock based or monthly lease bike scheme, depending on what makes the most sense in Peoria. This challenge is all about the brand identity for your scheme. Don’t get hung up on what makes this scheme different from others, but instead how your brand identity can encourage people to opt for a bike over other options of transport around and about Peoria.

Your brand should consider the opportunities bike hire can offer someone in your city, the experiences they’ll encounter and create an identity that sells this opportunity. Along the way your campaign message should be able to create a sense of empowerment, self-esteem, self-achievement, and a sense of ‘doing good’ for the environment and personal health of your target audience.

So many good brand campaigns came out of this one – Here are the one’s I would consider the most ‘complete’, but great job by everyone.

allisonelster.comallisonelster.com

Alli Elster’s career journey has brought her to a position of, Chicago-based, visual designer, specializing in branding, web, and print design projects.

Over the past ten years, she has worked on a wide range of projects, including rebranding initiatives for nationwide companies, creative digital solutions, and print rollouts, big and small. Some clients include: Nami Metro Suburban, Turano Baking Co, Connie’s Pizza, Greektown Chicago, Grounds & Hounds Coffee, and many more.

After a few years in the marketing agency world, Alli got the opportunity to be the sole designer on JB Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign. Their team ran one of the largest digital marketing campaigns in 2018. After the campaign was over, she went back to freelancing for a while, followed by another set of political initiatives, and then returned back into the agency world at FCB Chicago, where she is a Senior Art Director, working on a newer team for Cox Communications.

With a design mantra of “Keep it simple but have fun doing it”, we welcome Alli Elster home to the hilltop.