It’s no secret the each of us at kitestring truly loves coming to work each day. We continually meet new folks that present new challenges to our team. Whether it being launching a new company, product or campaign – we’re always excited to take on the challenge presented and develop the ideas to bring it to life in the most intelligent, strategic and creative way possible.

Intelligent. Strategic. Creative . Wow, big words, aren’t they? It’s hard to appreciate just how big these words appear when the team sits down to brainstorm ideas for a new project and face a blank white board.

Sometimes, it’s just not easy to come up with ideas on demand. Sometimes, it’s hard to be creative on the spot. And, sometimes, you just need to accept just that “now’s just not the time” and  be okay with walking away and trying again…and again…and again.

Our best ideas rarely surface during the first brainstorming session. It often comes from a random piece of an idea that hits one of us in the strangest of places – the shower, in the car, the waking thought that drags us out of bed to jot down a few notes.

You always know it’s going to be a good day when someone comes flying in, excited to share the thought that hit them.  That’s when magic starts to happen. Energy rises, momentum builds and soon, the ideas are endless and we end with something that’s Intelligent, Strategic and Creative.

It’s always really exciting the share a new creative concept with our client. It’s a lot of fun to infuse the idea into different pieces of collateral and see it enter the marketplace.

It’s always the point when we discuss adding our ‘latest and greatest’ to our portfolio that we sit back as a team and reminisce about the day the idea was born. It almost seems to be a shame to only be able to showcase the finished product – after all, it’s the process of developing the idea that always proves to be the most challenging and rewarding part of what we do.

If an idea is what you need, kitestring is where you’ll find it. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be served up immediately but, I can ensure you that when it’s ready it’ll be Intelligent, Strategic and Creative – and, we’ll have a lot of fun getting there!

You’re lucky, he’s lucky, I’m lucky, we’re all lucky!

Damnit, Hamilton! Theatre Aquarius does the Rocky Horror Show from April 21 – May 30, 2010!!!!!
Rocky Horror is my all time favourite counter-cultural-sexy-time-spooky-rock-star-musical!

I can’t wait to get all dolled up as my favourite raunchy character and make some noise in the dark theatre!

The theatre is going to have party packs filled with all the usual suspects for Rocky Horror debauchery…. well, at least the ones that won’t rot on the theatre floor.

Who is with me?!

Stay tuned, I’ll blog about my experience getting lost in time, and lost in space… and meaning.

Click the Read More link below to see the video!

Let me share a little story with you. It’s called ‘When Chris met Jenn’.

You see, Chris and I weren’t always the yin and yang that we are now. In fact, the first time I ever met Chris, we were in a very different scenario…

Enter: Chris & Jenn

Chris was the lead designer at the agency presenting a campaign concept being developed for the company I was working for.

That’s right, I was the ‘client’!

I remember the concept being great – well thought out, met the objective and was beautifully designed. However, instead of this compliment being the first thing out of my mouth, I opted for “Hmmm, you can’t use our logo there. Haven’t you read the brand guidelines”. Chris put a twisted smile on his face , nodded and marked it as a revision to be completed. This is a day that he will never let me live down.

Fast forward 6 years and here we are, steering the ship of our own agency.

At kitestring, we have the opportunity to develop some amazing brands for our clients. We also have the honour of working with some very well established brands each and every day.

In both cases, we understand and value the power that a properly developed and executed brand can play in the success of a business.

Enter: Brand Guidelines.

There’s no doubt that Brand Guidelines are an integral piece of the brand – they help in ensuring that the carefully crafted brand is used properly and consistently when put to the test of ‘the real world’.  It provides both internal stakeholders with an understanding of the brand as well as a tool to effectively communicate with designers, writers, photographers, etc., etc., etc.

The question I’ve been left to ponder for the last few weeks is – how much is ‘too much’ when it comes to brand guidelines? Can there be too much? Can there be too little?

Enter: Reality.

Unfortunately, sometimes reality doesn’t live nice and neatly within a beautifully bound brand book. It’s important to remember that your brand guidelines are just that – guidelines. They’re job is to provide guidance to the creative team and ensure consistency in brand application at all times.

Guidelines should provide enough information and structure to adequately support the brand without enforcing so many rules that it chokes the creative potential.

Remember, your brand is an organic, evolving creature that must fit into an ever changing horizon of advertising and marketing outlets. Take care in ensuring that your brand guidelines are flexible enough to allow you to adapt to this morphing landscape without losing the core essence of the brand.

No doubt, It’s a tricky balance to strike…and so to close… “Jenn’s Guidelines Regarding Guidelines”:

If your brand fits nice and neatly on the back of a cocktail napkin you most likely aren’t providing the structure and support it requires to be used consistently. On the other hand, if your guidelines carry the weight and rigidity of an anvil, chances are there’s too many restraints placed on the brand to grow with your business over time.

Develop and utilize brand guidelines that provide the foundation, are realistic and are flexible enough as not to stifle your brand from reaching its full potential.

- jenn

Chris and I had the pleasure of meeting with a potential client this morning. During our conversation, the idea of ‘building your business success on your own terms’ came up. I actually jotted this line into my notebook as it really stuck with me – what an important concept!

Often new entrepreneurs are faced with the necessity of taking on any work that comes their way in order to build the business – it may be outside of your area of specialty  and it may be for clients that frankly, aren’t fitting into the landscape of what you envisioned. You can’t turn it down, right? YOU NEED THE BUSINESS!

It’s easy to understand this logic and quite honestly, it is most likely necessary. It provides you with work, a track-record and most importantly, capital to keep building your dream. The important thing to remember as you’ smile and service’ your way through these projects is that all of these ‘experiences’ help you define and build your business – and your brand.

Continue to build a strong brand that clearly articulates what your business is and the experience that you promise to your clients. Most importantly, infuse all of this into the marketplace! Ensure that your unique brand is being consistently used in all of your marketing materials (both in print and online) as well as your social networking efforts, face-to-face interactions, your physical environment, the style in which you answer the phone, your business card…I could go on and on.

By doing this, you’ll have your first filter in qualifying clients. The right clients will be naturally attracted to you. Your cultures will align, the work will excite you and TA-DA – you’ll start to build ’success on your own terms’.

It’s a lovely place to be – you should try it!

- jenn

Last night while watching Olympic Ice Dancing, I was fascinated with the technical judging of successful synchronized twizzles and even more intrigued by the “component” score in the new judging system.

Even the commentators have been saying throughout the games that the component score is “just like the artistic mark” from the old system.

Watching the variety of dance pairs, you can sort of tell that pairs from different places obviously subscribe to their own unique vision of artistic excellence.

So the question always comes up: If artistic taste is highly subjective, how do the judges come up with the artistic component score?

This blog totally had a point. I was going to talk about client or organization’s design preference or artistic subjectivity and the delicate balance that needs to be achieved between that vision and the professional opinions of marketers.

Instead, I’m going to try to see the good in every artistic attempt in Olympic Ice Dancing. Instead of saying that I “hate” this team’s costume, or that team’s weirdo lifts, I’ll comment knowing that some choreographer made those artistic decisions with a strategy, vision and voice in mind. Ice Dancing routines have been carefully planned and pulled together with a target audience in mind. And those commentators should do the same.

Jack received a really awesome ‘early’ Christmas present last night. We came home to a special package waiting for him wrapped up in pretty red paper. I made him wait until after dinner to open it (mostly because I knew it would be a great ‘negotiating’ card to ensure he ate his dinner!)

When he ripped away the paper, he found the cutest present ever – The Elf on the Shelf.

I had never heard of this neat idea before. We opened the special box to reveal a storybook and little elf perched on a shelf within the box. As we read the story, it revealed that this was actually a special little tradition to start with our family. Our first job was to give our special elf a name. It took a while but, in the end, ‘Doc’ was the winning selection.

The story revealed how Doc was one of Santa’s special helpers here to check in on Jack throughout the holiday season. He is to report to Santa each night while Jack’s asleep. When Doc returns from the North Pole each day, he finds a new spot in our house to sit and observe the naughty and nice behaviour (I’m really hoping for more nice than naughty . It’s then Jack’s challenge to find ‘Doc’ in his new location each day.

I actually went online this morning to check if they had a site – and what a site I found! A fully animated site that lets you check in on the North Pole, register your elf’s name in the registry and more.

What a great gift and tradition that was started for our family! I would definitely check it out. I wish I would have known about it earlier as I definitely would have been purchasing this set for some of the little guys on our list this year.

Check it out for yourself! http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home

At kitestring, we often blog about how important building a strong brand is. And, if you’ve been reading our blog posts throughout the year, you also know that a strong brand is not just about the logo or name. Rather, its about the promise and experiences that provide to your customers.

Last week, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I heard a radio commercial promoting ‘TD Holiday Comfort Zone’. It’s a special area that they’ve created in the Upper Canada Mall for any and all TD Canada Trust Card Members. They describe this special ‘zone’ as a place to unwind after the long shopping hours – enjoy free coat check, complimentary hot chocolate, lounge seating (I bet it’s those big comfy green leather chairs…) and even complimentary gift wrapping.

This is my dream! Spending hours in the crazy mall is one of the most stressful elements of the holidays for me. The idea of having a sanctuary in the middle of craziness makes the whole experience feel a little less daunting. Unfortunately, I don’t live very close to Upper Canada Mall but, if I did, I would be there -checkin’ my coat and sipping on hot chocolate!

As I said before, building a brand is all about the experience and feelings you leave your customers with. Kudos to TD Canada Trust for thinking outside of the bankers box and offering their clients a wonderful service and experience this holiday season.

Chris’ post about creativity got me thinking about a great little interaction I had this past fall. Although it was short, it stuck with me.

A few weekends ago, we were at one of the wonderful Fall festivals happening in the area. At the end of the ceremonial parade, one of the firefighters came up to Jack and I and gave him a colour book and crayons.  ‘Mamma, I draw!’ Yes, Jack takes any opportunity he can to break out the crayons and scribble! It’s one of his most favorite activities.

As we were thanking the generous fireman, he admired Jack’s innocent excitement and shared a little story…

“I remember exactly the moment in life that I realized that it wasn’t acceptable to draw outside the lines. I was in grade one colouring away like a mad man. The teacher came around and admired the girl sitting next to meet for how well she was colouring. As I looked over, I noticed that there was something distinctly different about our two papers. Hers was neat and tidy and all inside the lines. Mine was a free-for-all a big splash of colour – and certainly not inside the lines. Hmm, I thought, I guess that there are some rules here to be followed…from then on in – I did my best to colour inside the lines.”

This story not only stuck with me but also made me think that maybe the ‘colour inside the lines’ philosophy isn’t always the best route. We need to reach outside of the lines – not only on our colouring sheet but in life in general. Reach for the stars as they say! As a mom, I keep this story in my mind as Jack grows up. I think its important for Jack to understand that sometimes its okay to colour outside the lines – it makes life interesting!

-jenn

With Bjork and too Much Denim.

What are you going as for Halloween?