Hello! My name is Kim Moss and I have recently joined the team as the Director of Strategic Growth, to help Brand Iron Forge Brands and Drive Revenue! I am excited to blend my business development and sales background to identify companies where we can make a difference. I have more than 15 years of experience in both Marketing and Sales, with a wide variety of industries. I welcome the opportunity to leverage this experience – It is exciting to think that we can help businesses of ALL shapes and sizes to forge their brands and drive their revenue.

I am also a Colorado native, but have had some other stints around the country and most recently took my three kids on Semester at Sea, where we traveled around the world on a ship with 900 college students! I received my B.S. and MBA from the University of Colorado and I still bleed black and gold. I spend most Saturdays in the Fall at Folsom Field and usually travel to a couple of road games a year.

Starting my third week, I already know that this is where I belong – the environment and the people are a perfect match! Brand Iron has a very tight knit team, that I am thrilled to now be a part of.

Hello fellow Brand Champions and Happy New Year!  As Brand Iron’s newest Brand Manager, I look forward to working with our diverse client base in driving revenue and brand development.  In starting my second week, I am excited to work with and contribute to the amazing team we have here at Brand Iron.  

With a background in both the corporate and agency marketing setting, I’ve worked with growing brands on both ends of the spectrum.  Most recently I come from 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, where the launching of new branding initiatives contributed to a 30% growth in 2011 YOY resale division revenue (during a down market).

As an Evergreen, Colorado native and graduate of the University of Denver, I’ve worked with growing some of Colorado’s top local brands.  I am a soccer fanatic who frequents the local British pubs in the wee hours of the morning to catch the latest European soccer matches and spends all my disposable income on adult soccer leagues throughout Denver.  I hope to one day travel across the pond and catch a game of my favorite team, Liverpool Football Club.

I am thrilled to join such a great team and excited to work with our extensive client base. I look forward to working with you all!

-Scott Anderson

Hard economic times put pressure on corporations all over the nation, especially with the hope of increased revenue in the future. These expectations are not backed by the guarantee of an improved economy, so branding correctly is crucial to U.S. organizations. Through crisis, clients and the public must keep a positive outlook on the values, missions, and ideals of any company or defeat is their final potential.

This may be old school, but Johnson & Johnson is still the golden example of branding through disaster. In 1982, the then CEO of Johnson & Johnson, James E. Burke, was faced with death on his watch. Seven people died after digesting Tylenol extra-strength capsules laced with Cyanide. Burke knew that it wasn’t the company’s error, but by recalling 31 million bottles of Tylenol and building a PR campaign to show that Tylenol mourned for those lost is what has kept Johnson & Johnson high in the corporate rankings.

Tony Hayward- Former CEO of BP

Now back into this day and age, BP Oil’s then CEO, Tony Hayward, is the prime example of what not to do in a branding/Public Relations crisis. Inconsistent in his statements and blaming others for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Hayward quickly tarnished his own reputation and brought BP Oil down with him. His resignation in 2010 brought hope for a new start, but it will take more than a new face, or Brand Champion, to trust BP Oil in their safety decisions and every day operation tactics. Their next step is to find their new Brand Champion, someone who lives and breathes BP Oil; someone willing to take on the task of rebuilding a status. Through careful selection, BP Oil can hope to join the rankings of oil companies again. Their newest ad campaign focused on the progress the gulf has made since the spill, has had very mixed reviews. Watch the ad for yourself, and tell us your thoughts.

Through our definition, a Brand Champion is someone who is visionary and creative, someone who demonstrates leadership and inspires others to ride for the brand, someone who delivers their promises and creates a brand culture and experience. BP Oil is not the only company looking for this champion, but it illustrates the importance to companies that a champion is their number one defense against shocking media and industry exposure. Look for our Brand Champion 100 list coming in 2012.

- Kelly McDonald

If you haven’t heard Tim Tebow is the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, and he has taken the league by storm. He is getting an immense amount of media coverage in the process, and has achieved moving the Broncos from last to first in the AFC West. In addition to these accomplishments, he is a Heisman Trophy winner and formerly lead the University of Florida to a national championship.

His media coverage in not solely surrounding his amazing football ability, but also his focus on Jesus Christ as his savior and inspiration for his performance. This has been viewed as controversial to many including Kurt Warner, saying it could have a repelling effect. Whether you endorse his religious outspokenness or shun it, one thing is certain, he has sparked the team.

Before Tim Tebow joined the team, the Denver Broncos were lifeless and facing a long and hopeless season. Tebow came in with not only a belief in Christ, but in himself and his ability to lead the team back to contention. His teammates are on board to work hard toward producing unheard of and frankly unbelievable results. Champions not only perform well on the field or at work, but they inspire others to perform well around them. They share a vision and drive that motivates themselves as well as others around them to win and achieve great results. Brand Champions win not only because of their talent, but because they have faith and believe they can and will win. Brand Champions have faith in themselves and believe they can and will achieve greatness. Tim Tebow is a champion, and a great Brand Champion for himself, the Denver Bronco’s and the Lord, regardless of what happens.

One of Tebow’s teammates stated earlier this year, that a player either has a stellar presence on the field or an outstanding effect in the locker room, but usually not both. This same teammate stated that Tebow is the lifeblood of both the locker room and the field, and has been the driving force in changing the course of the team from last to first.
The remainder of the season should be fun to watch, making winter around here much more palatable, and giving everyone in Denver something to cheer about.

Is Tim Tebow for real? The jury is still out, but as far as this year is concerned, he has energized and lead the team as not only the starting quarterback, but as the inspiration, leader and Brand Champion of the Denver Broncos. Tebow’s brand stands for Christ, winning, and being one of sports’ good guys.

The process of developing an identity and marketing plan for a company is no easy task. It involves delving into the very heart and soul of the company and creating an image that has to speak volumes – from its inner workings and intentions to its mission, value and promise to its potential customers. Taking this into consideration, how do you create a logo for an entire country?

Not just any country.

How do you create a brand image and marketing strategy for the United States of America? Other countries (Peru and Mexico) have successfully developed identities giving homage to their centuries-old cultures. The United States is a noted melting pot of all cultures. How would you define that?

The Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP) was given this lovely task. Saddled with a not-so-modest marketing budget of upwards of $200 million* annually, CTP looked to create the first unified marketing strategy to promote tourism in the United States, aimed to reach international travelers. What they came up with was Brand USA, Inc. and the tagline, “The United States of Awesome Possibilities.”

According to Brand USA’s website, the identity is meant to “capture the American spirit and create a fresh new brand identity that welcomes the world to come experience the boundless possibilities in America.” The first initiative of the marketing campaign is a consumer website, DiscoverAmerica.com, meant to offer a user-friendly experience of planning travel around the United States. It offers general guides for major cities, a deal finder (coming soon), and U.S. travel tips. The campaign, scheduled to launch in the spring of next year, ultimately looks to generate more American jobs through the bump it hopes to gain in international tourism.

*Rest assured taxpayers, no tax dollars were spent to fund the Brand USA campaign. As stated on the website, half of the budget will be funded by private investment and the rest from a $14 visitor fee for those traveling to the States from countries that do not require a visa, applied by the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

Thoughts From the BI Team

Justin – Art Director

I definitely have mixed feeling about the brand. At first sight, the logo left me unimpressed. It’s just a bunch of dots, right? Hasn’t this been played out by the telecom industry? However, after I stopped to think about the direction I would have taken, it started to make sense. Even though most people would agree that the logo is generic, doesn’t it have to be? Due to the extreme diversity found in our country, this is probably one of the few cases where something as generic as this is actually a good solution. The best solution? Probably not. But with the strong concept, there is a lot of great possibility for the other marketing pieces. I even like the tagline. “The United States of Awesome Possibilities” is the new “The Land of Opportunity”. Although new, the tagline feels like it has roots. +1.

The website, on the other hand, is undeniably – a disaster. Keep in mind that the budget is 200 million dollars a year. Aesthetically, it’s embarrassing. The landing page looks like a bad knock-off of a flash sale site. The homepage is busy. The background photo ends abruptly at the bottom of the page, yet scales to fill the browser window horizontally — a half-assed attempt at a common technique. If China can do it, we can do it…can’t we? It’s not like they couldn’t afford a decent developer — the border around the content area isn’t even aligned properly for crying out loud. Is the strategy to barrage the viewer with photos? They get it, there’s a lot of variety, there’s no need to let it govern the design. I’ll stop there — but, really? It’s unwelcoming, unprofessional and it isn’t representative of what we as a country can produce. For 200 million dollars a year, I want to see design equivalent of a 3-D video music montage of me and the Statue of Liberty performing a choreographed dance through the top tourist destinations of America. Instead, we get what looks like an outdated and broken template that they grabbed off the internet, for free.

Final thoughts:
Instead of taking the obvious direction using any combination of red/white/blue/stars/stripes/guns, they’ve come up with a good concept with some great potential. As far execution goes — The Brand Union either completely missed the mark, lost a brutal battle against design-by-committee, or saw this as their chance to fulfill everyone’s childhood dream of throwing a Scrooge-McDuck-style pool party.

Leilani – Graphic Designer

My first impression was, “It looks like a boring corporation.” Upon further investigation of the marketing materials beyond the logo, my impression was, “It looks like a semi-boring corporation.” The logo feels predictably generic, even in the multiple color variations. The dotted logos have been a trend for several years now and lack longevity. It’s already outdated. Though I commend the CTP for finding a solution without the use of the blaring stars, stripes, and red, white and blue color palette. The concept behind the logo is quite compelling, however, the execution leaves something to be desired. If their aim was to create a brand to “capture the American spirit” and invite global visitors to “experience the boundless possibilities in America,” then America seems like it would bore me to tears, and try to sell me insurance, or Tupperware® from a suitcase.

The opening page of the website is interesting in design, almost successful with large modern typography and lovely photographs. Except, this page is unnecessary and makes me work for my information instead of welcoming me with open arms. The overall design would be a good attempt, if you were a first-year design student showing an interest in pursuing the profession of web design – eight years ago. The design tries to be hip and modern, but instead is confusing and as outdated as the new logo. The photographs are pretty, but you can’t rely on a good photograph to carry an entire design. Their solution? Place a ton of large photographs all over the site. The interior page content is dense and made difficult to read through lack of attention to typographic styling, (particularly the leading). One of my biggest problems with the site is the language issue. Currently, it can only be viewed in five languages. For a marketing strategy that is meant to reach people across the globe, this seems a bit limiting. For this size of budget, the site should be able to translate content into Klingon if one so wishes! I could nitpick this site to death but the bottom line comes down to one thing – with a budget of $200 million PER YEAR, there are no excuses for poor design or lack of options.

Ben – Design Intern/Lackey

Brand USA tells us that part of their astronomical marketing budget for Discover America comes from the “nominal $14 fee paid by visitors from visa-waiver countries,” and that “No U.S. taxpayer dollars” were used.  At the end of the day, at least I didn’t pay for it. Who am I kidding…I don’t pay taxes.

Kaitlyn – Brand Manager

Coming up with content and messaging around why people should come to America is by no means an easy task. In fact, I might almost say it’s impossible to describe who we are, all that we’ve got to offer, and why we are appealing in a way that grabs people from all around the world. And not to mention in a way that makes them get out their checkbooks and actually book a trip.

So does “The United States of Awesome Possibilities” do the trick? I have to say, the word awesome sort of threw me off at first. But then I thought about what other options I could stick in there: Inspiring? Wonderful? Stunning? None of those seem to do the trick either. In fact, I think we are kind of awesome, and awesome is a new way to say all the other words I could come up with anyways. But what I’m not sure about is how well this will resonate with the target of this campaign – our international travel friends. Will they understand how we take “awesome”? And does that word translate for them?  I think that will be the true test for how well this slogan backs the new campaign.

Abbey – Brand Manager

The Brand Union shared that this new identity is designed to capture the spirit of our homeland – a place that is supposedly: Authentic. Optimistic. Unexpected. Inclusive. Endless Possibilities. Yet, I’ve always been a believer in branding that is consistent with realistic perceptions of the company, or at very least, branding that is reflective of a mission that the company is able to truly manifest. In America’s case, my guess is you’d be hard-pressed to find very many international visitors who would describe our country using any of these terms other than perhaps, ‘Unexpected.’ ‘Authentic’ certainly doesn’t speak to a place that has long been referred to as ‘a melting pot.’ And it doesn’t help that the agency launched this new identity at a time when the biggest trend here is occupying.  I can’t be the only one with a raised brow as to who The Brand Union went to as the source for our collective so-called ‘spirit.’

Before too much more opinion about the new brand, let’s give it time to gain some traction. We’ll see if the investment behind Brand USA translates into campaigns that actually engage the international audience, and if they actually embrace the brand – enough so to come on over.

Hot DEALS! SALE, SALE, SALE!!!!!!

LOWEST PRICES OF THE YEAR!!!!!!

It’s nearly impossible to escape the Black Friday promotions this time of year, and undoubtedly you’re bombarded with messages from Macy’s, Best Buy, Target, and the like.  It seems these days it’s no longer about the one small window of opportunity for deals that you can’t find on any other day to shop, that are so awesome you’d be willing to wake up at some un-godly hour and stand in a line with other people only hoping you’ve made it in time to get that once-a-year sale deal. Instead, it’s become an entire weekend or even week of “hot deals” and “low prices”.

Hello all! My name is Kelly, and I am the newest addition to the Brand Iron team. I have recently been lending a hand to our brand managers with the behind the scenes work of databases, pitch letters, and Google research.  Have I mentioned I am the Marketing Intern? Yes, that is me. I could not ask for a better foot in the door to the  world of agency branding. Plus, the crew here at this rodeo consists of amazing businessmen and women, and I will take in all that they have to teach me.

After graduating from University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where the real cattle are raised, I made my way back down to my home roots of Denver. I am a Colorado native, a proud Broncos fan, and a lover of the Colorado Rockies. Now at Brand Iron, I am eager to jump start my career and see what the branding industry of Denver has to offer.

When I am not diving deep into projects here at the ranch, I am usually taking a swim, a true swimmer with lap lanes and all, or hitting the streets of Denver with friends taking on the next adventure that this beautiful city has to offer. So next time you find yourself near our ranch, please stop in and say hello.

- Kelly McDonald

From the desk of Michael Doyle: 

If you hadn’t noticed campaign season is kicking in, which means it’s time for political advertising and marketing to get started. It is fascinating to pay attention and observe how candidates “brand and package” themselves. In many cases, the branding and packaging efforts are lack luster. Politicians produce contradictory and convoluted messages that are lost in translation when they attempt to convey them to the average voter. However, one candidate has taken a different approach. Herman Cain had been branding himself brilliantly, until his recent sexual harassment accusation, and has jumped from an obscure fringe candidate to a GOP front runner because of his efforts. In this blog, we will not focus on his recent sex scandal and instead focus on the power of his simplified message and brand prior to the accusation.

With a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates, the only way to get noticed is to come up with something different, unique and easy for voters to put their arms around. Step up a former businessman who understands the power of branding and packaging. Yes, he probably learned a trick or two from his pizza days, but the old “KISS” adage sure applies here, “Keep It Simple Stupid”. Cain and his team came up with this simple and easy-to-understand 9-9-9 Tax Plan to jump start our economy.

The 9-9-9 plan, since its debut, has generated significant buzz. Every other GOP candidate and President Obama are all talking about his simple tax plan. So much talk and notoriety in fact that Cain has vaulted himself from the fringe to the front of the class.

A common criticism of this plan is that running the country isn’t like running a pizza company. But the thing that Cain understands that all the other candidates don’t is that it takes effective branding and packaging to succeed in today’s challenging business and political environment. Those that are able to clearly and concisely communicate why they or their plan is different, unique and better, will appeal to those looking for an answer. Despite your political views, Herman Cain is setting precedent for all politicians to place high emphasis on how they brand and package their message so that people can clearly grasp it and make decisions based on it.

- Michael Doyle