Add This
Creating A Brand Video
May 03, 2012 Tara

 

The style of this Monscierge video (white, clean & business-time) is not for everyone. Just like our Braid video about our Austin adventure complete with a cow giving birth is not for everyone. Yet, ironically our Monscierge clients (these really creative smart guys who are going to take over the world some day) love that dang “cow video.” But regardless if cowboy boots or business suits set the tone for the day, we love creating brand videos. Short of actual one-on-one exposure to your product or experience they are the most effective way to get across the essence of your brand. 

With a company like Monscierge, a brand video is a bit less about the emotion (or cows) and more about educating the viewer on how their product works and what the heck they are . In a nutshell, Monscierge is a technology for hotels that empowers guests to connect with a local experience.  But how we choose to convey that “nutshell” information with words, music, atmosphere and styling is how to create a brand experience while explaining at the same time.

As for the behind-the-scenes of a Braid video shoot? Well it involves a lot of prep, teamwork, hard work, but also (usually Kathleen-instigated) hijinx – and it’s one heck of a way to spend a day.

Monscierge Behind the Scenes

Kathleen and Monscierge

Being on a video shoot with Kathleen is like having a really fun, kind of a little bit crazy, almost can’t stop herself from pushing the talent aside and jumping in front of the lens (which she has been known to do) creative director on location. Her laugh can be heard ringing loud and clear across the set.  She is a breath of fun for clients and crew alike during what can be a grueling fast-paced schedule. On this day it was when she reenacting a scene from Titanic by perilously perching on the corner of a four story high glass balcony above a river below with her arms stretched wide (our shoot locale for Monscierge was a glass tower boathouse).  Then she’ll switch to her game face to swoop in and make a split second, unwavering decision about the angle of a shot or the styling of an actor.

Kathleen On Set

What does it feel like to be on a video shoot with, me, Tara? Two words. Clip. Board. I clutch that clipboard with white knuckled grimness. It’s where I keep the storyboard we’ve created, random stuff like our prop lists, wardrobe plan, actor’s names, and our not-so-random but down-to-the-minute schedule for the day. Are we getting the shots? Are we on time? Are we creating a moment? Is that actress smiling too much? Why is there a shadow in the glass orb prop she’s holding? Oh wait, that’s Kathleen casting a shadow outside the window in her king-of-the-world pose. Cut!  No, we don’t really say cut. 

Tara Clipboard

But if you are 1.) prepared, prepared, prepared, and 2.) have a clear creative vision (on paper!) so everyone that’s collaborating can literally be on the same page (our collaborators for the Monscierge video included Steve Jones, Chris Hunt, RK-1, and Actors Casting for example, not to mention the music from O Fidelis and Monscierge’s own inhouse photographer) then not only is there breathing room for a control freak like me to deal with an unexpected glitch (of which there’s always at least one) but there’s room to have fun, too.

If you know you want a brand video, but aren’t sure if it should be informative or inspiring, lo-tech or hi-tech, completely candid or creatively styled, we talk more about that here in Choosing Your Brand Video Style.

Client Work, Video
Post new comment

Add This
A Well Rounded Brand Roll Out
March 15, 2012 Tara

We absolutely love the exciting, emotional moments that come from helping independent small businesses remember why they decided to build something all their own in the first place, whether that means looking back on just a few years or nearly forty.

Heritage Solutions, formerly Heritage Press, is one of those businesses with a long history, who came to us for a brand overhaul. Their services, like many progressive printers across the country, had evolved to the point where only calling them a printing press would not only be a disservice, but a brand disconnect. So after some truth seeking and Braid Methoding (we’re making methoding a word, okay) Kathleen and I helped them arrive at a new logo, a revitalized brand story, and a new name – now just short and sweet, Heritage. 

Heritage really rolled this out right. Before they even considered sharing the new look and feel with their customers they gathered their employees for an all-staff early morning breakfast, complete with balloons, enough pastries to choke a printing press, and a ton of anticipation. See, they would be the first people (and rightly so) to see their own place of work, challenges and change – brought to life.  We couldn’t wait for them to see how their own role in the rebranding story was not only appreciated but whole-heartedly celebrated.

Heritage Rebrand Rollout A

Heritage B

Heritage C

Heritage D

Heritage Truck

The Heritage leadership took the podium to explain why they embarked on this brand evolution. I got up there and shared our inspiration, and how much of the brand insights came from straight from employees Kathleen and I visited with in the weeks leading up to the event.  Then we played the brand video.

Cheers, oohs, aahs, perhaps a little tears? It happens. When a brand video is shared for the first time, it’s really all the pieces coming together in full color, and that’s about as emotionally-charged an employee roll out gets. But with Heritage, there was a moment that even trumped the video.

Once the speeches were done, the pastries scarfed down, and the bundled t-shirts given out, a great loud honking started. The blinds across four plate glass windows raised up, and there outside, glinting in the early morning sun was the huge white Heritage delivery truck with the giant logo across its side, with the new employee motto, “We Roll On.” Goosebumps.

Okay, in retrospect that may sound melodramatic for, well, a vehicle wrap. But who can’t use a little drama, a lot of applause and that feeling that comes with knowing you perfectly paired the here-and-now of a place with its what-is-to-be – all before nine o’clock in the morning? What can I say? That’s just how we roll, too.

Sometimes your longest relationships can turn into not only rewarding (and profitable) projects but also meaningful reinventions along the way.  See how Kathleen advises other creative professionals to work with printers, like Heritage, on her Freelance Matters series.  

And read more about the how-to’s of orchestrating an “inner circle” rebrand prelaunch, whether you have fifty employees or you’re a one-man band, in our Braid newsletter: How A Rebrand Should Roll.

Client Work, Employee Brand Training, Video
Post new comment
Add This
Sign Your Niche Across My Heart
February 09, 2012 Tara

Plucky, sparky, smarties.  It’s kind of the defining characteristic of some of the small business and self-starters that capture our heart.  We want you to meet one of our favorites, Allison Barta Bailey. Why? Well, the smarty plucky part, yeah. But mostly, we just love uncovering and shaping brands for people who know their niche and aren’t afraid to stick to it.

Allison works exclusively with local retail shops and districts. She’s a creative professional who is all about the element of independence. Oh, and Allison has opinions. So when defining Allison Barta Bailey’s signature mark, literally came down to capturing her very own signature, were we surprised? She may have been. But when we tried to act casual asking her to sign her name with one of my always handy Sharpies on a page spontaneously ripped out of Kathleen’s notebook (you know, like a handwriting audition), we knew it it was going to be the defining element of her new brand.

Allison is an expert on these local shop districts, about the community they should foster, and what real estate developers should be doing to make them come alive and thrive. And when it comes down to the individual shop owner, her opinions only get even more laser focused. She wants them to stop looking at the economy, stop looking at the competition and remember what makes them unique – their niche. Yes, a girl after our own heart, we told you.

So she helps these shop owners stop looking over their shoulder or getting distracted by the daily duties that are spreading them thin, so they can instead cultivate (and stick to) their shop philosophy.  

Allison Barta Bailey Inspiration


Allison Barta Bailey Logo Brand and Guidelines

Allison Barta Bailey Brand Messaging

Allison Barta Bailey Brand Story

Shop philosophy! That really struck a chord with us when it came up in our Braid Method findings with Allison.  And she’d only been using it in casual conversation, if at all, with clients and clients-to-be in the past. We were about to change that. We also drew inspiration from her love of the mercantile spirit, of main streets and modern pops of color, and her strong beliefs that a shop owner’s gotta know themselves and make their mark.  
Allison Barta Bailey Collaterals
Fun side note, we proposed Allison change out her signature logo to the Pantone Color of The Year when it’s announced each year. This year it’s Pantone 17-1463 Tangerine Tango.

Allison Barta Bailey Web
We’ve since helped her uncover her own small business philosophy, including a new logo and brand story that she could adapt to her sales materials, website and personal brand.  And like a true signature – she’s stickin’ to it.

So, tell us. What's your niche?

Client Work, Methodology
Post new comment