ID-ology’s new location, come check it out!

The new ID-ology is at www.IDbranding.com/idology

We’re relocating our blog to www.IDbranding.com/idology and we’ve made some great new improvements that allow our readers a better glimpse at who we are and what exactly our agency has to contribute to this whole branding thing. Our entire archive of articles has been migrated to the new site–so don’t worry about losing any of our classic posts, its all there waiting for you. Thanks for listening, learning, and contributing, we’ll see you at the new ID-ology!

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Beyond Petroleum?

What happens when a petroleum company claims to be green, but really isn’t? Putting solar panels on a few concept stations doesn’t offset the environmental disaster in the Gulf.

Of course for British Petroleum it is much more than an environmental disaster, this is a publicity disaster of the highest magnitude, and likely a big hit to quarterly profits.

The lesson for other brands is simple: if you market around values that you don’t have, customers will find out. And they won’t be your customers anymore. When your brand suffers a public relations snafu that exposes such a values-based hypocrisy, the negative perception will only increase exponentially.

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Ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb – tonight in Portland

Tonight there is a great benefit event for a great cause, one of our pro-bono clients, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls. Check it out:

The Runaways Portland Premiere & Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girl’s Benefit featuring Cherie Currie

Monday, April 5^th, 2010, 7:00pm

Hollywood Theatre 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR 97212

Tickets $15 (all sales benefit the RnRC4G)

Limited seating, tickets available at Hollywood Theatre website and box office

Join, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, KGON and Hollywood theatre for a special fundraiser and the Portland Premiere of Hollywood’s hottest Rock Movie – The Runaways!

Get your tickets at www.girlsrockcamp.org

– Q&A with Cherie Currie

– Raffle prizes to include movie swag, autographed items from The Runaway, tickets to Joan Jett’s upcoming concert at Chinook Winds and more.

Following the premiere will be an Over 21 after party at the Ambassador Lounge, 47^th & NE Sandy. Come sing some karaoke — 10% of sales will benefit The Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls.

A word from RnRC4G

This movie is rated R and contains mature content including violence and drug use. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls regrets that this prevents many of our Campers from attending the event. This is a story of women who broke barriers and struggled to find their own voice in a male dominated industry – paving the way for future generations of female rockers.

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Brand Meaning in a Character

Before and After; Illustration as Brand Meaning

Back in August when Disney acquired Marvel Comics and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters I began to wonder what would happen to all of those iconic characters. Stories (and the characters that populate them) are such an integral part of culture, collections of words and images that take us outside of ourselves, outside of our day-to-day lives. Stories are most certainly one of the important things that bring meaning to our lives.

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Stupid words

We’re having a most interesting challenge.

We’re struggling with a term for our agency.

As written here earlier, we’re not exactly a design firm (despite our past), or an interactive firm (despite our capabilities), or an advertising agency (despite all our experience), or a branding firm (despite our name).

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News about the market is down, therefore the market is up

Dow performance vs. news coverage

An interesting story this week covering the Pew Research Center’s analysis of media coverage during the Great Recession. The more we hear about the recession, the worse the market gets. The less we hear, the better it gets. Much of the data was sourced using MemeTracker, which builds maps of the daily news cycle by analyzing around 900,000 news stories and blog posts per day from 1 million online sources, ranging from mass media to personal blogs. The interactive graphs there are worth checking out.

MemeTracker

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Playboy jumps into a rabbit hole

When I say the word “Playboy” to you, what comes to mind? If you’re a boomer male or even Gen X, you probably think of the Bunny logo and Hugh Hefner, the indefatigable leader and creator of this great brand.

Playboy's Iconic "Bunny" Logo

If you’re a fan of brands, like I am, you may even recall the brand’s rich history,

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Old School Homo is Popular

It appears that our distant cousin, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, is a subject of great interest at the moment. Yesterday we had 112 people reach our blog by searching for the term Neanderthal.

Curious.

Last month it was Isaac Newton.

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Come on Portland – Give Your Opinions on New Technology!

WE NEED PARTICIPANTS!!

Please see the groups below and join us for 1 of 3 Friendship Dinners – and no, it’s not a religious cult meeting, it’s actually a night of great conversation on your favorite subjects…and you get to try out new stuff among like-minded people. And great food and alcohol is always part of the deal.

Which group do you go to? Read the descriptions below and if it’s you, email carriem@idbranding.com

Oh, and bring a friend. They are friendship dinners after all.

Group 1 – Thursday June 18^th, 6:30-9pm “Digital Music Lovers”  Aged 25-44, male or female (6 spots still open!)

• Passionate about music
• Makes your own playlists, share it with friends
• Always looking for new music to try, loves to explore and discover new bands
• Is a user of Pandora.com, last.fm, Pitchfork.com, lala.com, or similar type sites

Group 2 – Tuesday June 23^rd, 6:30-9pm – “Gamer Fanatics” Aged 25-44, male or female (2 spots still open!)

• You own an Xbox 360
• Have an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership
• Is a user of ign.com, gamespot.com or similar type sites
• Plays against other gamers, friends over Xbox LIVE
• Participates in online forums or other social media discussing gaming features, scores, latest technology
• Passionate about music

Group 3 – Wednesday June 24^th, 6:30-9pm “Techie Gadget Enthusiasts”  Aged 25-44, male or female (4 spots still open!)

• Is a first adopters of cutting edge consumer electronics, you HAVE to have the latest
• Know about the latest technology before anyone
• Gizmodo.com or other “gadget” related site users
• Participate in online forums or other social media discussing the features of devices

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50 Great Examples of Infographics

I have recently been on the hunt for great info communication for our strategy work.  With a nod to Edward Tufte, I found this site which links to some beautiful displays of information. The image to the right is one of my favorites.

This is Living Infographic

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