Going Beyond the Pink Ribbon – Clever Ways Businesses Can Help.

The pink ribbons are showing up again. Look around and you’ll see them on the doors of businesses, the lapels of bankers and the back windows of minivans. Jacob Tyler Brand + Digital Agency has one on the front page of our website right now. Yes, it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and thankfully, people and businesses are showing their support.

Breast Cancer is downright ruthless. According to Breastcancer.org,

“About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2016, an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.”

Those are some sobering statistics and unfortunately many of us have known someone – spouse, sister, mother, friend, or partner – who has either survived or lost the fight to this non-discriminant foe. Several Jacob Tyler team members have family or friends who have been touched by this disease as well, including the mother of our founder, Les Kollegian, so this month is important to us on a personal level. (more…)

Brand Review: Rio 2016

Although the Olympic games have concluded, there are still valuable pieces of inspiration that will live on. When most people think of the term “brand”, images of sleek smart phones and white and green coffee cups come to mind. The Olympic brand presents a unique branding challenge that is by nature ever evolving, yet must represent the core concepts of the games. Branding a city in a way that can be both universally understood and uniquely distinctive can be a monumental task. Rio de Janeiro was a host city that many people had never been to but the design firm Tátil Design did an excellent job bringing the city to life in a thoughtful and intriguing way.

Here is how they did it:

A Huge Challenge

“To represent the Passion and Transformation of a city and an entire country, and project these values to the rest of the world. A brand that must express unity. Inspire achievement and optimism. Avoid clichés and present Rio de Janeiro as the site of the largest sporting event in the world — to its very own Cariocas, and to athletes and people around the world.”

Brand Inspiration

“We designed a human brand, made of mixture of people, athletes and cultures. A brand that welcomes a hug and has an exciting way to celebrate. One way that reveals the Sugar Loaf and is living mirror of the lush nature of Rio de Janeiro and the city. A brand-carving, infinite, three-dimensional, winning textures, seen form object. Made to be experienced. An invitation and an inspiration to the river and to the world.”

Color

“The natural beauty of our landscape is embodied by the brand and its color palette. Yellow symbolizes the sun and our warm, vivacious and happy nature. Blue expresses the fluidity of the water that surrounds us, and our easygoing way of life. Green represents our forests and hope, a positive vision that inspires us to go even further.”

Shape

“Inspired by the rich landscapes of Rio and Brazil – full of the sinuous curves of mountains, rivers and lakes – the city’s best-loved icons, including Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado, the athletes and its people, the Brand of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games evokes unity, inspires the will and desire to work together, to share our knowledge and talents, to join forces and ambitions for a sustainable way of life that will transform the present and our future. It’s a brand that embodies unity, transformation, passion and energy. It’s a large collective network in motion, an invitation and inspiration to Rio and the world.”

The Rio Font

“Each letter expresses a characteristic of the Rio 2016 Games, its people and the city. The letters are written in single continuous strokes, with fast and fluid motions, suggesting the movements of the athletes in action. The strong contrast between thick and thin strokes was explored during the design process by putting brush to paper and writing by hand. The variety of the curves in the different letters has a unique informality, inspired by the joyfulness and warmth of the Brazilian people.”

San Diego Digital Marketing Agency | Jacob Tyler

Pet-Friendly Offices Are Simply Better…It’s Science!

Bring your dog to work day has become much more than an annual excuse to boost company morale, it’s become a regular occurrence at companies across the globe, and for good reason. Having our fur babies trotting through the hallways, snoring through meetings and barking at the FedEx guy greatly impacts our work day happiness and it’s backed by scientific research.

The three biggest benefits to a pet-friendly office are:

1. Boosting Creativity

Getting employees up and moving more often stimulates the brain and can help to increase creative ideation. Utilizing small breaks can also have the opposite effect, in a positive way, as it allows the brain a chance to rest and charge up for what’s next on the list. In a creative environment, anything that can help to boost creativity is not only good for the employees, but also for the clients who reap the benefits of a sharp, creative team. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found going for a walk can boost creative thinking by as much as 60% compared to staring at a screen.

2. Increased Bonding In the Humans

Whether it’s the snorts of a bulldog during a status meeting or the endless attempts of a developer to get the snarky chihuahua to like him, we all benefit from a few more laughs in our day. The work we do is important, yes, but also important is the time that we spend with our co-workers. Our furry friends can be a conduit to learning more about the person sitting next to you. A study from Central Michigan University found that dogs in the office can lead to better collaboration between co-workers.

3. Lower Stress

We can all benefit for a little less stress. Whether it’s the impending doom of a huge deadline or the fifteenth shade of blue the client has rejected for the new logo, we all suffer from work related stress. If giving a 30 second head rub to one of our canine buddies can decrease that stress, why not take advantage of it. The simple act of petting a dog has been verified as a way to increase oxytocin and increase employee smiles.

At Jacob Tyler, we know that great work comes from a great environment. By challenging the norms of a typical office environment, we are able to push our work and ourselves further. Having some of our greatest fans sitting on our laps just makes the journey a little better.

Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Jacob Tyler Gets Dirty! (and a little sandy)

Ahhhh, a perfect Saturday morning in San Diego. The sun is shining, the waves are glimmering, the seagulls are belting out their favorite rendition of a Kanye West auto-tuned melody. Nothing beats a day at the beach, unless of course, your stepping over Pizza Port boxes and picking styrofoam scraps off of your feet. Each day millions of tons of garbage are dumped into our environment. Without the help of volunteers and dedicated citizens, all of that garbage just sits there. On April 16th, the JT team hit the sand at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas for our first semi-annual beach clean up.

With our snazzy gloves and recyclable bags provided by Surfrider Foundation, we spent the next couple of hours scouring the shore in search of tiny bits of manmade debris. Being a branding agency, we are obviously concerned with how things look but we are also driven by a passion for making things better. The beach clean up was an opportunity for our company to come together for something bigger than ourselves. We value our environment and dedicate time to making it a cleaner place. Whether it is by picking up trash or recommending paperless marketing solutions (so we don’t have to pick up the trash), we strive for a more sustainable world. We also value our clients that do the same. From OneRoof Energy’s dedication to a world powered by the sun, or EICP‘s work in global energy-technology, water and environmental management markets.

If you are a company that is passionate about the future of the planet, we would love to work with you. To learn more about what we do, check out our capabilities and then connect with us for the next steps. Together, we can make this world a more beautiful place.

San Diego Marketing Agency | Jacob Tyler

The Art Institute of California – San Diego taps Jacob Tyler Brand + Digital Agency for Pilot Educational Program for Senior Level Students

The Art Institute of California – San Diego has reached out to Jacob Tyler to develop a new educational experience for third and fourth year students. Dubbed “The Jacob Tyler Experience,” the class will be driven by a real time case study and meet at the offices of Jacob Tyler and Ai California – San Diego.

San Diego, CA – April 28, 2016 – The Art Institute of California – San Diego, a campus of Argosy University, has reached out to Jacob Tyler to develop a new educational experience for third and fourth year students. Dubbed “The Jacob Tyler Experience”, the class will be driven by a real time case study and meet at the offices of Jacob Tyler and Ai California – San Diego.

Corey J. Willis, Academic Director at The Art Institute of California – San Diego had the idea to create a more interactive and “real life” situation for current senior level students. Corey stated “Les (CEO of Jacob Tyler), an adjunct instructor at Ai California – San Diego in 2014, had great reviews during his tenure. I thought who better to help drive a behind the scenes look at departments within an agency and enable students to see how clients move through the design and business process.“

“I thought this was a tremendous opportunity,” said Les Kollegian, Jacob Tyler founder and CEO. He added, “During my undergrad and master’s studies, I never had the opportunity to spend time within an agency and be immersed in agency roles and responsibilities, much less have the responsibility of meeting with an actual client. I believe this will be really helpful for students to understand real world challenges and understand the actual business behind branding and design. We’re creating an experience disguised as a school disguised as an agency. It is a school to work initiative focusing on professionalism and I believe it will be fun and rewarding for all involved. ”

Deny Ehrlich, a 30 year industry graphic design veteran and instructor, will be joining Kollegian and leading the effort on the school’s behalf. Both Ehrlich and Kollegian have chosen Computers 2 San Diego Kids (C2DSK), a San Diego based non-profit organization, as the client the students will assist with a full company re-brand and online presence. Ms Ehrlich stated, “The students can’t be happier to be chosen for this new experience. We were careful to choose a student body with diverse interests and skills excited to collaborate with people unlike themselves. They are all interested in the experience itself as opposed to what doors the experience might open.”

Students will be required to attend classes in both locations and client strategy and planning meetings. They will be given specific goals to achieve for the C2SDK rebranding and be responsible for developing creative briefs, creative rationale, and how they intend to accomplish business goals and objectives. The 11 week class will end in June 2016 with a final client presentation and delivery of new branding collateral.

About Jacob Tyler Brand + Digital Agency

Jacob Tyler is an award-winning, full-service brand and digital agency. The Branding Agency employs its expertise in brand strategy, identity and implementation – including web design and development, product design, marketing collateral, online marketing, social media and reputation management – to create meaningful brands with significant value. The agency utilizes a process-oriented approach to create and maintain eye-catching brands that meet its client’s goals and objectives. Jacob Tyler has been named one of America’s fastest-growing companies by Inc. 5000 and one of San Diego’s fastest growing companies for over six years by the San Diego Business Journal. Jacob Tyler has worked with global and national clients – including Leidos, Nuvasive, Four Seasons, TED, AT&T, and Sony – and has won more than 100 national and international design and marketing awards. For more information, visit www.jacobtyler.com

The Jacob Tyler Experience would speak to The Art Institute’s Graphic and Web (BGWD), Advertising students (BADV) and Photography students (PHOA).

About Deny Ehrlich
Deny Ehrlich is a graphic designer and educator. The principle of Deny Ehrlich Branding, Deny has over 30 years both international and local experience backed by well respected academic credentials (a Master’s in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute). She has also been an instructor of graphic design and advertising for over 20 years, 16 of which has been with the Art Institutes in Portland and San Diego – developing curriculae and teaching classes ranging from concept development to branding and package design to collateral materials.

About The Art Institute of California – San Diego
The Art Institute of California – San Diego is one of The Art Institutes, a system of over 50 schools throughout North America. Programs, credential levels, technology, and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. Not all online programs are available to residents of all U.S. states. Several institutions included in The Art Institutes system are campuses of South University or Argosy University. The Art Institute of California – San Diego, 7650 Mission Valley Rd, San Diego, CA 92108 © 2016 The Art Institutes. All rights reserved. Our email address is materialsreview@aii.edu.

See www.aiprograms.info for program duration, tuition, fees and other costs, median debt, salary data, alumni success, and other important info.

About Computers 2 San Diego Kids (C2DSK)
C2SDK believes all children and their families in San Diego, regardless of their economic status, need to be computer literate and have equal access to technology and the crucial educational, occupational, and financial resources that technology can provide to improve their educational options and their futures.

The Art Institute of California (San Diego) Hires Jacob Tyler

Jacob Tyler Brand + DIgital Agency Wins Two Top Advertising Awards for Best Medical Website Design and Best Game Website Design

San Diego, CA – April 06, 2016

Jacob Tyler has been selected as the first-place winner of two 2015 Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards, including Best Medical Website Design and Best Game Website Design. SeaSpine, a Southern California based medical device and orthobiologics company, was named Best Medical Web Design. As well, Jacob Tyler’s design for Pantheon – Rise of the Fallen, Visionary Realms’ latest game in production, achieved first place for Best Game Website Design.

“I can honestly say, in the 15 years I’ve been with Jacob Tyler, my creative team is thriving more than ever,” Jacob Tyler’s Chief Creative Officer, Les Kollegian, states proudly. “We’re growing and changing our service offerings in support of many business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries and I’m excited to see where this next year takes us.”

In the past eight years alone, Jacob Tyler has received over 100 awards for their creative branding work and website design and development.

The Web Marketing Association’s annual Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) honors agencies for their excellence in online advertising, celebrating the best of internet marketing. The IAC awards are the only industry based award competition devoted completely to online marketing and advertising.

To view samples of Jacob Tyler’s award winning design or for more information on their creative process, please contact Jacob Tyler today to share your company’s unique goals and brand aspirations.

About Jacob Tyler Brand + Digital Agency: Jacob Tyler is a Full Service Branding and Digital Communications Agency. Jacob Tyler specializes in corporate identity development and positioning, creative planning, usability and technology assessment, marketing strategy, search engine marketing, social media marketing, user interface design, usability testing, content & database development, 3D renderings & illustration, multimedia presentations, product demonstrations and eCommerce development.

About the Internet Advertising Competition (IAC): The Web Marketing Association (WMA) was founded in 1997 to help set a high standard for internet marketing and corporate web development on the World Wide Web. Staffed by volunteers, this organization is made up of marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest for improving the quality of advertising, marketing and promotion used to attract visitors to websites.

About SeaSpine: SeaSpine is dedicated to improving the lives of spine patients, collaborating with surgeons and developing the most advanced and effective spinal surgery technologies and equipment. From research and development, to product design and engineering, to commercialization and distribution – SeaSpine is dedicated to restoring mobility and quality of life to patients.

About Visionary Realms: Visionary Realms is driven to fearlessly lead and advance the MMO (massively multi-player online) game industry by creating profitable, long-selling, content-rich, challenging, highly social games that set new standards for immersion, quality, and vision. Visionary Realms games are not just played, but rather experienced, shared and remembered.

San Diego Branding & Rebranding Business

On the Second Day of Creative: Miramar Federal Credit Union

As told by our Art Director, Phil Windyk…

On the second Day of Creative, I’m happy to share the work that we did for our client Miramar Federal Credit Union. MFed is a San Diego based credit union that is committed to helping Members get the most from their personal and financial life — whether through financial education that empowers them, or solutions that give them greater freedom or the ability to live their dreams. MFed came to Jacob Tyler to reimagine their identity and make their new vision a reality.

The core concept behind the new MFed brand was pride. MFed wanted to attract a younger audience but they also wanted to create a brand that their members would be proud to be a part of. We focused on the idea of creating a military inspired badge that would serve as a symbol for employees, as well as the members, to stand behind. The MFed badge represents a commitment to serving those that serve us. When seeing someone proudly displaying the new emblem, there is a feeling of belonging and dedication to a greater good.

Kevin proudly toted a shiny new MFed pin on the lapel of his jacket. When Kevin came up to me with a smile on his face and pointed to the pin, I knew that we had created something special for the brand and its Members to be proud of.

The new logo was a key part of the MFed identity evolution, but defining a new brand voice and establishing brand guidelines helped to arm the MFed marketing team with the tools they needed to move the company forward.

Earlier this week, a member of the MFed executive team was in the JT office. Kevin proudly toted a shiny new MFed pin on the lapel of his jacket. When Kevin came up to me with a smile on his face and pointed to the pin, I knew that we had created something special for the brand and its Members to be proud of.

Rebranding in San Diego | Jacob Tyler

Microsites and Landing Pages: A Primer

Just about every business has a website – or at least should. But a website is not the only venue through which you can market your business on the web. The rise of online marketing and its various tactics have given birth to new forms of web engagement – including the microsite and landing page. Generally, both are an addendum to – or an extension of – an existing website, but each serve a particular function in guiding people along the buyer journey. Let’s take a look at the basics:

The Microsite:

What is it? A microsite is a lot like it sounds – a small, bare bones version of a traditional website. Comprised of no more than a few pages, microsites are built around a singular message (i.e., a new campaign, product or service offering).

What is its purpose? Microsites help to develop brand awareness around a particular product or service. By focusing on a simple and clear message, microsites cut through the clutter of a traditional website and allow potential customers to learn about a product or service in a quick, painless and easy to digest manner.

The Landing Page:

What is it? A simple, single page or form – usually hosted on an existing website – intended to drive a specific action.

What is its purpose? The landing page is singularly focused and intended to spur action (i.e. – download information, sign up for a free trial, subscribe to newsletter, etc.) and move a potential customer from awareness to consideration and eventually, purchase.

The Bottom Line:

Microsites and Landing Pages are great vehicles to enhance your marketing efforts and help drive sales. In some cases, they can even be utilized in place of a traditional website. Microsites and landing pages offer similar benefits, and determining the right solution for your efforts is entirely dependent on your needs.

Benefits of microsites and landing pages include:

• Quick deployment (3-4 weeks vs. 3-4 months for a traditional site)

• Can be used as a short-term solution for specific goals and programs

• Promotes a specific call to action (CTA)

• Build brand awareness organically

• Easy to measure campaign engagement

• Simple navigation

• Allows for direct interaction with a specific promotion or campaign

• Great medium to tell a brand story

Want more info on this topic? Fill out the form to the right and let’s chat!

Digital Advertising in San Diego by Jacob Tyler

Are You Ready for Mobilegeddon?

In April, Google officially rolled out its “mobile-friendly” search ranking update. In short, this means that Google will now boost the rankings of what it considers to be “mobile-friendly” pages – and penalize pages that it does not – on its mobile search. The update is intended to reflect the rise of Internet access through mobile devices, which now constitute more than half of all Google searches. The update is expected to negatively affect many websites – popular industry blog TechCrunch found that 44 percent of Fortune 500 companies failed Google’s mobile-friendly test – and could impact revenues for those websites who do not meet the new mobile-friendly standards.

Let’s take a look at the basics of the new search update and what it means for your website.

What will change?

The mobile-friendly update will impact web page search rankings based on accessibility and usability on mobile devices.
The change affects only search ranking on mobile devices.
The update applies to individual pages, not entire websites.

What makes a website mobile-friendly?

According to Google’s blog, the following basic criteria will be used to determine “mobile friendliness” in search results:

Websites that avoid software that is not common on mobile devices – like Flash.
Websites that use text that is readable without zooming.
Websites that size content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom.
Websites that place links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped.

Is my website mobile-friendly?

If your website features responsive design or adaptive design, or has been configured specifically for use on mobile devices, it may not be affected by the new search algorithm. Older, more “static” websites, however, will likely suffer a loss of ranking under the new search rules.

To determine if your website is mobile-friendly, simply paste your URL into Google’s quick and easy mobile-friendly test.

How can I optimize my website for mobile?

Google recommends responsive web design as the best way to ensure sites remain relevant across all platforms. According to Google’s blog, responsive design:

Makes it easier for users to share and link to your content with a single URL.
Helps Google’s algorithms accurately assign indexing properties to the page rather than needing to signal the existence of corresponding desktop/mobile pages.
Requires less engineering time to maintain multiple pages for the same content.
Reduces the possibility of the common mistakes that affect mobile sites.
Requires no redirection for users to have a device-optimized view, which reduces load time.
Saves resources when Googlebot crawls your site.

In a nutshell –

The new mobile search ranking is an undeniable shakeup of the status quo, but should eventually optimize the search experience for both consumers and businesses. If your website lost rank status on April 21, it can regain that status once it is optimized and becomes mobile-friendly, as Google will reclassify the newly updated site.

If you would like to learn more about how to optimize your website for mobile, fill out the form to the right and let’s chat!

Jacob Tyler | San Diego’s Best Web Design Agency

Jacob Tyler Has a New Home – And it Might be Haunted

After a few months of “camping out” with our good friends at Solekai Systems while waiting for our new office to be built out, I’m happy to announce we’re finally home. Actually, we’ve been in our new space for a month or so – but hey, we wanted to decorate before we invited anyone over! Our new office, located at 6863 Friars Road in Mission Valley, retains much of the style of our former office downtown – open spaces, exposed ceilings, lots of red – and of course my love of Howard Stern memorabilia. But we now have more space to work, play (pinball anyone?) and most importantly – create.

At Jacob Tyler, we’re always looking forward – we look for what’s “next” in branding. We look for emerging technologies that will help connect our clients with their customers. We look for innovations in marketing, and look to create our own. We anticipate changes that will affect our clients, and adjust accordingly.

As I walk around our new spaces, however, I feel myself looking back as well. There’s an air of history in this building. The ghosts of advertising past, you might call it. This building was once home to one of San Diego’s oldest and most respected advertising agencies, Phillips Ramsey. Founded in 1928, the agency’s clients included the San Diego Zoo, First National Bank, WD-40 and others. In Advertising’s heyday in the 1950s and 60s – the era so deftly and unflinchingly portrayed in AMC’s Mad Men – Phillips Ramsey was the epicenter of creative thought.

The era of smoke-filled offices, three-piece suits and lunchtime martinis is long gone. But the creative energy that flowed through this building during that era remains today. Maybe it’s my imagination running wild, but sometimes I feel like those ghosts of advertising past are looking over our shoulders, and nodding approvingly.

Whether you’re a friend, client (past present or future) or partner, our doors are always open. Drop by and see our new home anytime, and together we’ll create some history of our own!

A Huge Challenge

Brand Inspiration

Color

Shape

The Rio Font

San Diego Digital Marketing Agency | Jacob Tyler

1. Boosting Creativity

2. Increased Bonding In the Humans

3. Lower Stress