Our company started on the second floor of a building at 200 South Main Street. At the time it was right next door to the abandoned and boarded-up Family Court building (now the home of Design Partnership), two doors down from the abandoned and boarded-up Poinsette Hotel (now the Westin Poinsett), and across the street from Cancellation Shoe Mart (now Soby’s Restaurant). When we moved in, downtown was so dead, you could lie down for a nap in the middle of Main Street at 3:00 in the afternoon, without worrying about being hit by a car. Then came the boom.

In the big plan to beautify downtown the city completely tore up main street and the little courtyard in front of our building, put in pavers and a fountain. They also imploded the old Poinsett Hotel parking deck and build a brand new parking deck, in conjunction with the Westin’s complete restoration of the hotel. Also, Downtown Baptist Church sold off their Sunday School wing as condos, and they were doing serious construction on that. And the Family Court Building because a huge renovation project. And Soby’s bought, cutted, and built their restaurant in the shell of the old Cancellation Shoe Mart. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

At one point, our building was completely surrounded by mud, ankle deep. They laid plywood planks, end-to-end, all the way around our building, so we could get out to the street. It was a blast receiving clients.

One day, I was headed to lunch, only to discover a backhoe parked snug against our door. I had to call my councilman to get them to move the heavy equipment, so I could go to lunch.

Well, the improvements were real improvements. We were there for another year or so, and then we moved down to the second floor of a building at 300 South Main Street. Right next to the bridge. We were there for a year ago, and right across the river begins the biggest construction project since…the one we were in the middle of up the street.

Over the course of a year or so, they built this big, ol’ ship looking thing on the corner of Main and Camperdown (High Cotton is there, in case you want some great food and mediocre service—also Starbucks). Right across from that, they put in the world’s coolest pedestrian bridge (no kidding). And they put in some condos, a Hampton Inn, and an office complex. After surviving that, we moved again…

We closed on our current headquarters, December 28, 2006, just in time to get some closing costs applied to 2006 taxes. When we closed, it was pretty much a concrete box in a 100 year old building. Next door were some seriously cool, big bucks residential condos under construction. They’re talking like $300/foot.

So, for a month, both our building and the building next door, and the street out front were a construction site. By the grace of God, Koko (our contractor) was able to get us into move-in shape by January 31, when our old lease ran out. That’s an awesome story in itself—for another slow news day. But as of now, we come to work every day through construction baracades, past heavy equipment. And for the past couple of weeks, we have to run the gauntlet of utility digs in the street.

Maybe we’re just destined to live in a construction zone.

We’ve been working on an RFP for a college lately, so I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue. Schools are unique even among services, because of the fuzzy nature of the product. Think about it in terms of following the money.

To the prospective student, the product of an education brand is the education, the prestige, the lifelong contacts, the credential, marketability on the job market, the coolness of the experience…stuff like that. But in the complex equation of school funding, this is just one piece of the puzzle.

To the alumni, the product is a prestigious name and reputation, continually renewed programs and facilities, an insider way of talking and thinking (consider the value of being a Skull and Bones man from Yale), an assurance that there are those before you who will share your experience…and those after you who will share that experience, the opportunity to be a part of something big and important, and the chance to be immortalized through your financial support of the institution. This is a huge piece of the funding puzzle. But there’s more.

To the governing/funding entities (boards of regents, legislatures, foundations), the product is the assumption that students will be accepted, educated, and graduated according to certain standards. This serves as a sort of guarantee to prospective and current students and their families, as well as to prospective employers, colleagues, and society at large.

To employers, prospective employers, and the economic development community, the product is the graduate, with the accompanying skills and abilities. So, to one of the customers, the product is another of the customers. And vice versa.

The challenge, then, is to develop a brand that is unified, yet engaging, true, and relevant to all of these diverse target audiences. To be relevant to both parents and students is hard enough. But to carry that to government entities, nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, and diverse alumni…you can see why this is not branding for dummies.

I don’t know about you, but I love this stuff.

Upon further investigation, I have learned that Grace had nothing to do with the Harry Potter project mentioned earlier. She protests that she knows nothing about Harry Potter. But the same investigation uncovered Hillary’s participation. So that’s the way it was, June 27, 2007.

I really don’t know where they found the time, but Anne, Brian, and (maybe) Grace invested some minutes this afternoon, deciding the Harry Potter house into which each of us fits. The consensus of the panel of experts is that I am a Ravenclaw. When I asked what that means, the derisive answer I received was, “Clearly you’ve never read the Harry Potter books.” Fair enough.

All I want to know is whether being a Ravenclaw is a good thing.

This is a bit of a follow up to my post of June 13, in which I wrote about a mysterious car, with what looked like evidence of fowl play. I haven’t gotten the chance to check in with the attendant, but the car is still there. As far as I know, it hasn’t moved. Of course, the door is now closed. If I learn more, I’ll fill you in. Here’s my theory…

Guy lives in the condos, next to the garage. Rolled in late at night, after a road trip, a little tired, perhaps a little tipsy. Opens the door and rolls out, staggers to the walkway (right near his parking place) and goes over to the condos. So tired or distracted, he doesn’t notice that the dome light is on and the open-door chime is chiming. Doesn’t even bother cleaning the car out from the road trip (thus the CDs and fast food bags).

By the next morning, when I discover the car, the battery is dead, dead, dead. Lights are out. Chime is off. Door is standing open. I report it to the attendant, who makes a call. Somebody responds by coming by, registering some sort of report with the parking garage police, shuts the door.

Because the guy lives and works downtown, he has had no occasion to get into his car for the past 13 days (I know we used to go weeks without getting in the car, when we lived downtown…one time Anne actually lost her car…pretty good story for another time). He may not even know that his battery is deader than a doornail. Don’t wanna be nearby when he finds out.

All of this is just speculation, to entertain you. If I ever get the real scoop, I’ll let you know.

That’s where a brand lives. It does not live in a graphic standard usage manual, in an ad campaign, in a PR plan, or in the hearts of a sales force. Your brand is what the universe of consumers says it is.

I’ve been talking a lot lately to folks about the issue of controlling your brand. Of course, it’s important to be responsible about policing how you use brand expressions (consistency). And it’s important to police your competitors (both direct and indirect) to protect your brand from infringement, encroachment, and outright piracy (seems like more and more people are cruising the web and the marketplace for cool ideas, design elements, product concepts, and distinctives to swipe and use—takes us to a who other conversation for another day about the value of ideas). But at the end of the day, if you say your stickers are for car windows, and the marketplace says they’re for skate boards, guess what… they’re for skate boards. Adjust and proceed.

In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how some fashion savvy street kids co-opted the Hush Puppy (traditionally an old man shoe), as an urban fashion statement. Found its way onto Paris runways. Hush Puppy boomed. Nobody at Hush Puppy planned this (or could have). Somebody with the power to say, “from now on these are cool,” said it. And it was so.

We’ve been working on an RFP. Normally, we don’t respond to them, but this one seems to be something we’re exactly suited for. Last week we had to submit questions, the answers to which were posted today. The format let us look at all the questions from all the agencies, and the answers to all of the questions. It was very telling.

The questions were as interesting as the answers (although ultimately not as important). There were a couple of trends.

There were people like us, who wanted to dimensionalize the assignment, so we could know how to respond to the RFP. A couple of people asked about media. With branding, it’s not a foregone conclusion that the client is looking for media planning or placement, so you have to ask. Of course, we think you should fold your media advertising into your branding, because it’s more efficient that way, and the media can be bundled (philosophically) with the message.

There were some people who wanted to try to use the question and answer process to influence the judges’ decision. That’s a long shot as I see it. If somebody is going to wield unfair influence, it has already been wielded before the RFP even goes out. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Then there were some questions from little players who don’t seem to even have a firm handle on what branding is. One guy even asked if his complete lack of experience in the category would be held against him. Excuse me, but Duh!

And finally, there were a few goofball questions, out of left field. I actually asked one of those, just to see how they would respond.

The responses were pretty good. Whoever answered the questions had a personality. A little curmudgeonly. A little grumpy. A little quippey. But informative. They answered the questions. That’s for sure.

All of this tells us something about who we’re dealing with. It’s gonna be a fun one to chase down. I kinda hope we get it.

It was book report day. Brian gave an excellent report on a book about email etiquette. I think it was called Send. Soon as he posts his review, I’ll give you the link.

Here’s a sample. Before you send an email, think about this acronym:

S: Simple—keep it simple.
E: Effective—make sure you said what you intended to say.
N: Necessary— does this email need to be sent at all?
D: Done—be sure you know the consequences of the email…what it will require you to do…what it will require the receiver to do. SEND.

I think companies should get serious about email etiquette policy. It’s such a huge part of how we communicate now.

Back when my beloved Steelers were on their way to their fifth ring, back in 2005, I remember a couple of highlights. First, I remember that the franchise (Ben) went down with some injuries, as did our left tackle. We lost a whole bunch of games in the middle of the season. It looked like we had no chance to make the playoffs.

Then, they started playing like a world championship was a foregone conclusion. Ran the table the last five games. Won the Wild Card. Shocked the Colts in the dome. Sliced and diced on the Broncos. Then, with about a half dozen great plays (including a opposite side trap block by Alan Faneca that may have been the best block in Superbowl history) in the midst of a truly dreadful game, they came home with the ring.

And throughout the run, we just kept hearing the word, “loose.” “Everyone is loose because there’s nothing to lose.” “We’re playing loose, havin’ fun out there.”

Well, the other day we were having a concept session for a trade show that’s coming up. Trade shows are a lot of pressure, because you have a finite amount of time to achieve some pretty stiff goals in order to get an ROI from the show. I must admit that I was a little tense. And then, the whole thing shifted when, without warning, the conversation got a little bit “loose.”

We talked about guerrilla tactics. We talked about generating buzz. We talked about helping people engage with us by having fun with our brand. As the day approaches, I’ll probably tell you more about it. But for now, suffice it to say, we’re loose.

Our friend Kat emailed us this link. Thought y’all might like some moving pictures of the hope monger. Also, check out Anne, Brian, Jose, and me at the 30 Second mark.

Funny thing is, not a registered democrat among us…except maybe Zufall. But the man is a Barackstar. It’s history, really. There has never been a serious African American presidential candidate, with this kind of mainstream appeal. Has there?