TWIO Brand Blog

The Military's New Enemy

2010-04-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

From the New York Times, US Military leaders have met the enemy ... Microsoft PowerPoint. Read more ...

A Changing Landscape - NY Times to Charge for Access in 2011

2010-01-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

Starting 2011, The New York Times will start charging for access. Read more...

Update - “99 percent of my advertising is wasted. But how wasted is it?”

2010-01-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

This post is an update to one from October. Happy New Year.

In the dark ages of advertising (read: before the Internet), measuring ROI was a relatively straightforward matter. You tallied your ad spend against your sales gain/loss, or rise/fall in market share. Depending on your read of the results, you either won or lost. And you responded accordingly. All of which produced the classic CEO’s dilemma: “Half of my advertising dollars are wasted; I just can’t tell which half.”

Fast-forward to 2010, and it’s not even about the Internet anymore, but it’s now about the phenomenon known as social media. From out of literally nowhere, spending in this category (non-existent just five years ago) is projected by Forrester Research to grab 21 percent of all ad spending by 2012.

Did you say 21 percent?

Yep. And all based on the premise that the average attention span of a human being has shrunk to the equivalent of the length of a flea’s back leg. But I digress.

If advertising effectiveness measurement was difficult when there was just print and broadcast, consider how challenging it is today. Not only has it fragmented beyond recognition, but also that fragmentation is evolving even as we speak. In other words, the tools created to measure website traffic less than a decade ago are now old hat. Today’s tools are being designed-on the fly-to measure the effectiveness of such phenomenon as mobile marketing, social media, email marketing, display advertising, search marketing… and each of those categories have many divisions of their own. Even those “media” continue to evolve at a breathtaking pace. The good news is that new measurement techniques and technologies to address this data gap represent a huge market opportunity for firms willing to wade into the morass. A recent whitepaper released by the data firm CoreMetrics presents a good example—if you can decipher the buzzwords. But here’s the rub: it seems the very notion of social and viral marketing is antithetical to the idea of actually measuring its effectiveness. It’s dynamic, random, explosive, and nearly invisible and seems to operate blissfully outside of anyone’s control. And that’s precisely the charm and power of social media.

Having said that, if you can actually figure out how to make those tools actually work for your company and you have the time and the financial resources to throw at the effort, you’ll likely be miles ahead of your competitors. The key is using social media tools in the right context. Of course, the way things are going, by the time you do figure it out, those tools will have been made obsolete by the next generation of buzzwords.

Reforming Corporate Culture

2009-10-29T18:17:00.001-07:00

An interesting article in the NY Times about how Sanjay Jha reformed Motorola's corporate culture. Read more.

TWIO Brand Remembers Terry McGinnis

2009-10-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

TWIO Brand is mourning the loss of friend and Tour of Utah Director, Terry McGinnis. Our thoughts are with the McGinnis family. Read more.

99% of my advertising is wasted. But how wasted is it?

2009-10-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

In the dark ages of advertising (read: before the Internet), measuring ROI was a relatively straightforward matter. You tallied your ad spend, and then you tallied your sales and profitability. Depending on which column was greater, you either won or lost. And responded accordingly. All of which produced the traditional CEO’s dilemma: “Half of my advertising dollars are wasted; I just can’t tell which half.”

Fast-forward to 2009, and it’s not even about the Internet anymore, but it’s now about the phenomenon known as social media. From out of literally nowhere, spending in this category (non-existent just five years ago) is projected by Forrester Research to grab 21 percent of all ad spend by 2012.

Did you say 21 percent?

Yep. And all based on the premise that the average attention span of a human being has shrunk to the equivalent of the length of a flea’s back leg. But I digress.

If advertising effectiveness measurement was difficult when there was just print and broadcast, consider how challenging it is today. Not only has it fragmented beyond recognition, but also that fragmentation is evolving even as we speak. In other words, the tools created to measure website traffic less than a decade ago are now old hat. Today’s tools are being designed-on the fly-to measure the effectiveness of such phenomenon as mobile marketing, social media, email marketing, display advertising, search marketing… and each of those categories have many divisions of their own. Even those “media” continue to evolve at a breathtaking pace. The good news is that new measurement techniques and technologies to address this data gap represent a huge market opportunity for firms willing to wade into the morass. A recent whitepaper released by the data firm CoreMetrics presents a good example—if you can decipher the buzzwords. But here’s the rub: it seems the very notion of social and viral marketing is antithetical to the idea of actually measuring its effectiveness. It’s dynamic, random, explosive, and nearly invisible and seems to operate blissfully outside of anyone’s control. And that’s precisely the charm and power of social media.

Having said that, if you can actually figure out how to make those tools actually work for your company and you have the time and the financial resources to throw at the effort, you’ll likely be miles ahead of your competitors. Of course, the way things are going, by the time you do figure it out, those tools will have been made obsolete by the next generation.

Starent Networks sells to Cisco for $2.9B

2009-10-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, New Moon Media (the predecessor to TWIO Brand), had a little start-up company for a client named Starent Networks. Their budget was small, but their vision was big. We think they made it ... READ MORE ...

Above is their corporate identity that we designed back in the early 2000's.

Brand Ranking

2009-09-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Interbrand's latest brand ranking study is out. Check out the most current list. Key point: your brand is an asset - properly leveraged and it not only creates demand, but also ensures a price premium for your product / services.

Re-Branding Back in Vogue? Has it ever gone out of style?

2009-08-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

CNET's Josh Lowenstein writes about the fad of re-branding by shortening a company's name. Read more.

"The Shack"

2009-08-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Radio Shack is launching a new brand ... "The Shack" ... And will their sponsorship of Lance's new team deliver the expected ROI? Read more.

From our press release ...

2009-04-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

Contact: Bill Cutting
801-486-1624
bcutting@twiobrand.com

In wake of re-acquisition, New Moon Media principals establish TWIO Brand as new brand/web firm identity.

Structured buyout re-acquires clients and assets from former partner.

SALT LAKE CITY (April 22, 2009) – Utah brand and marketing veterans Bill Cutting and Josh Footer announced they have successfully re-acquired their original stake in New Moon Media from ad agency Vanguard Media Group, which had purchased a majority interest in late 2004. Cutting and Footer immediately moved to rename the ten year-old firm TWIO Brand. They stressed all client relationships and operations are continuing without interruption.

The partnership between Vanguard and New Moon Media began in 2005. Cutting and Footer initiated negotiations to end the relationship in late 2008, which ultimately culminated in the announcement of the successful repurchase on March 23, 2009. During the four-year period, New Moon Media had operated under the Vanguard name, growing annual revenues 20 percent, on average.

“We are delighted to be able to provide our long-time clients with our unique quality of brand management, web, and marketing communications services as an independent organization,” said Cutting. “Without exception, every one of our clients expressed confidence and best wishes as we continue to serve them under our new name and identity.”

TWIO Brand is in the business of strategy development and project implementation. Core services include business and brand strategy, corporate visual and verbal identity, web design, including website content management, online business application development, e-commerce websites, graphic design, and marketing communication materials and programs. They serve primarily business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients on a nationwide basis.

TWIO Brand’s offices are located at 2205 East 2100 South in Salt Lake
City. www.twiobrand.com.

Tropicana walked from a $35M effort

2009-04-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Check out NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program today. They just said that Tropicana walked away from a $35,000,000 brand launch effort. Whoa!!!

The Tropicana Re-Brand

2009-04-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

So what do you think of Tropicana's re-brand?

Here's a link to an interesting opinion piece in the New York Times.

TWIO Brand Sponsors Westminster College's MBA Power Lunch Series

2009-04-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

TWIO Brand is proud to sponsor Westminster College's MBA Power Lunch Series at the Alta Club in downtown Salt Lake City.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 11:30am
Jill Taylor, President, Key Bank - Utah Operations
Theme: Business Ethics and Community Involvement
Alta Club
100 East South Temple

The Alta Club dress code is Business Formal.
An RSVP is required - email MBAPowerLunch@westminstercollege.edu.

Authentic Design

2009-04-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

"Good design is good business."

- Thomas Watson, IBM founder

Say what you will about brand theory, blather, etc., one of the things great brands all seem to have in common is a coherent, interesting and authentic design scheme. Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Audi and hundreds of lesser known brands have all developed a cultural capacity to build and sustain relationships with powerful, well-crafted visual imagery.

William Arthur Launches New Website

2009-03-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

TWIO Brand's sister company, The Write Image | TWIO.com, is proud to announce the launching of William Arthur's new website - www.williamarthur.com.

Featuring TWIO's preview technology, WilliamArthur.com customers have the ability to customize any William Arthur, Vera Wang, and Rita Renning stationery product with wording, fonts, ink colors, motifs, monograms, envelope linings, and more.

From WilliamArthur.com, "William Arthur, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Inc. and employs over 350 designers and skilled craftsmen. William Arthur provides a wide variety of personalized and boxed stationery products for all occasions - invitations, wedding, baby, social stationery, holiday, moving and sympathy - that are sold to customers direct online and through 1,700 carefully selected dealers worldwide. In addition, William Arthur provides all types of printing options: thermography, engraving, letterpress and flat printing."

For more information, go to www.williamarthur.com.

Introducing TWIO Brand

2009-03-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

Bill Cutting and Josh Footer are proud to announce our new company - TWIO Brand.

What does TWIO stand for? The Work is Ongoing.

The work on your brand and website (really all your online efforts) is never done. Both should constantly evolve - adapting to the needs of your audiences - external AND internal.

Defining who you are, what you do, and why you do it better than your competition is at the heart of our services. TWIO Brand focuses on brand strategy, identity, online (web, content management, e-commerce, online business applications), marketing communications and fulfillment.