In late November 2008 I was lucky enough to be honored as one of San Diego’s most admired CEO’s by the San Diego Business Journal and attended a rather large event in downtown San Diego. One of my peers, Bella Heule was also being honored and I caught her walking by (we had never met) and flashed her my award (yes…only my award!). We began to speak and it seemed as if my timing was impeccable. They were moving locations and while they weren’t really considering a full re-brand, it was the right time to go for it if they could be convinced. Well, I convinced Bella and her full team to hire JTCG to handle the entire job. To be honest, and she would be the first to admit it, the San Diego World Trade Center logo, Web site, and collateral were terrible. There was no consistency to the look and feel, the site was completely unorganized and unusable, and they had no real strategy to set the world on fire in 2009. That’s where we come in.

Our first meeting in early December led to the launch of the new identity and World Trade Center San Diego Web Design. Here’s the catch, they were moving into their new facility and needed everything delivered and live by February 25th for the planned open house at their new location. That gave us 2 months to deliver a new logo, corporate collateral, brand and marketing strategy, and roughly 500 page Web site with a full content management system. Ummmm…what was I thinking?!?!? Okay…so I put a little stress on the staff and we pushed forward. Thank GOD the team at WTCSD was amazing to work with and extremely helpful in following through with requests and approvals. Anyway, we made our deadline and launched the site just in time.

The Web strategy JTCG established moving forward for WTCSD is to sell services and to build and retain membership. FIrst we had to create a new base site with enough functionality to get members using the Web site (Phase 1). We completed changed the logo and look and feel to create a “green” image and allow for site exploration. As well, we used the “rule of 5″ for main navigation to considerably consolidate and organize the site. Minimal uses of flash and video engage visitors and drive them to the most important sections of the site. Phase 2 will be completed by creating a social media platform that will enable members to get the most out of networking opportunities and to generate on-site content through the member base.

We are wrapping this up by adding on-site SEO this week and will continue to optimize moving forward. Anyway… we are extremely happy with the outcome and will make sure it’s a HUGE success. Check it out at http://www.wtcsd.org

I am really happy for our fledgling publication and our publisher Amanda. Just figured I would share with everyone.

Many of our clients come to us to help build their “brands” by helping with their Web Design, creating a new logo or corporate identity, or by simply helping them to understand their target (primary, secondary, and tertiary markets. The problem is, that they really don’t understand what their brand is and what it means to help them create brand recognition and eventually brand loyalty with their specific product or service. With that in mind, I have aggregated a list of definitions relative to branding. While these definitions are somewhat technical, it will answer the basics of brand terminology and possible help understand the complexity of thought and work that goes into building your business and awareness. Okay, here goes:

Brand
The sum of all the characteristics, tangible and intangible, that make the offer unique.

Branded Environment
The graphic system of identification as applied to three-dimensional physical space.

Brand Equity
The value of the brand in its holistic sense to its owners as a corporate asset.

Brand Essence
The distillation of a brand’s intrinsic characteristics into a succinct core concept.

Brand Extension
A new product or service that is related to an existing brand, but that offers a different benefit and/or appeals to a different target segment.

Brand Harmonization
The synchronization of all elements of brand identity, across a line of products or services and/or across geographic markets.

Brand Identity
The outward manifestation of the essence of a corporate brand, product brand, service brand or branded environment.

Brand Identity Equities
The value of specific elements of identification (e.g., name, symbol or colors) to the brands owners.

Branding
The process by which both a brand and brand identity are developed.

Brand Positioning
The specific niche in which the brand defines itself as occupying in the competitive environment. Positioning addresses differentiating brand attributes, user benefits and target segments, singly or in combination.

Brand Revitalization
A major overhaul of a brand, starting with its positioning and proceeding through creative regeneration of the brand identity.

Co-Brand
Use of two or more strong brands in relation to a common offer. Typically, but not always, the brands are given equal emphasis. Examples: Chevron and McDonalds, Visa and Citibank.

Corporate Brand
The gestalt of the organization, including its philosophy and culture as well as its physical characteristics.

Corporate Image
Application of the term image to specific types of offers.

Descriptor
A term used with a brand name to communicate an informational attribute (e.g., variant, function, occasion or target segment) about a specific offer.

Endorsement
Use of the parent brand identity to support and add credibility to an allied offer. Implies subordinate emphasis of the parent to a sub-brand, though relative emphasis will vary case-by-case.

Enhanced Descriptor
An evocative word that may or may not be trademarked, but which differentiates the offer in a proprietary way.

Generic Descriptor
A simple, descriptive term with clear meaning, and which can be executed in regional languages.

Identity
Two meanings, both valid: 1) The sum of all the characteristics, tangible and intangible, that make the offer unique. 2) The elements of brand identification (e.g., the name, symbol and colors) by which an offer can be identified.

Image
Perceptions of the features, tangible and intangible, that characterize a brand.

Ingredient Brand
A strong brand that is used and promoted as a key part of a host brand.

Interactive Branding
Process of developing Web sites and other interactive products, including strategy development, structural design and graphic design.

Line Extension
A new variation of a product or service sharing the same essential characteristics as the parent, but offering a new benefit, such as flavor, size, package type, etc.

Parent Brand
A strong brand that has the capacity to: 1) stand alone to represent a core product or service; 2) support allied products/services by sharing its brand identity, directly or through endorsement

Positioning Statement
A concise written statement of the positioning concept, conveying the essential features of the brand and its niche.

Product Brand
Two meanings, both valid: 1) The gestalt of the brand, including its emotional and cultural associations as well as its physical features. 2) The graphic system of identification as applied to a single product or service or a family of products/services.

Service Brand
A brand representing a specific service or family of services.

Sub-Brand
A product or service that has a persona and brand values that separate it from the parent brand. A product or service that has its own brand identity, which is proprietary and can be trademarked.