The 2010 Inc. 5000: The Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs - via Inc.

New Kindle Leaves Rivals Farther Back - via The New York Times

For A Fee, Digital Dirt Can Be Buried - via Boston.com

The Augmented City via Keiichi Mastuda

Textbooks Up Their Game - via The Wall Street Journal

Design a Better Ballot via The New York Times City Room Blog

Corey partner, Andrea Naddaff, recently wrote an article on branding in “Independent Agent” magazine, a publication whose readers include a national alliance of 300,000 business owners and their employees who offer insurance and financial services products.

Did you know that your brand speaks volumes before you do? Have you stopped to think about what your brand is telling prospects and clients before you even say a word? Does your brand convey the attributes that you sell—trust, caring and responsibility? In today’s world, where people are constantly bombarded with noise, it’s worth stepping back to think about how (and if)… every element of your brand is consistent and clear.

It’s difficult to understand a brand if its message is muddled. And in any industry, clear messaging is vital to stand out among the competition. Does your brand convey what you tell your customers?

If your brand’s action doesn’t parallel its message’s words, it can become indistinct and confusing. When producers selling your organization’s services and products are confused, the customer will also, ultimately, be perplexed. The process starts with an overarching idea—a cohesive message—that cascades to a series of sub-messages targeted to your target audiences.

A strong and cohesive messaging system must be coupled with the right sales toolkit; the combination unifies the message verbally and visually, presenting the brand the way it should be understood by various audiences. Through this method, the much sought-after brand equity, which we define as the sum of time, consistent communication and consistent delivery, is created and attained. While a convoluted message may not necessarily tarnish a blue chip player entirely, it will certainly result in an undisciplined and potentially disregarded brand defi nition. To the same lengths, a poorly-defined message can hinder a new launch. Here are some tips and trigger points that can help to ensure a better understanding of how a brand speaks to its customers and what it is telling them:

1. Words matter. Make sure all sales and business development staff have reached a level of unison and speak from the same script. Good messaging architecture gives license to use one’s own jargon or speak, but the overall protocol of the messaging system must always be respected.

2. Tools matter. No matter how talented or experienced they might be, all sales and business development professionals need the proper tools to sell and succeed. Whether those tools include PowerPoint presentations, an intranet system that houses the tools or a Word template, they must be developed to function in a way that works for you.

3. Consistency matters. Ensure that all multiplatform and marketing communication channels of the message look and behave like they are from the same brand family. Then, take advantage of social media to express other aspects of the brand’s story that also need and deserve to be told.

Be sure you take a look at how your brand performs and what it conveys when you aren’t able to verbally explain it. The story should be the same, and in any business, that means establishing trust and conveying the feeling that the customer or prospect matters from the very first time they read, see or hear about you. I trust and conveying the feeling that the customer or prospect matters from the very first time they read, see or hear about you.

We always love doing work for nonprofits and we recently finished developing a nonprofit brand from the ground up. What was formerly CollegeSUCCESS will be Beyond12 in a few weeks once their new Web site and brand goes live. We sat down with founder and CEO Alex Bernadotte to ask her some questions about her company’s brand, her background, and Beyond12. Beyond12 is true social entrepreneurship–it is a national nonprofit organization looking to increase the number of first generation, underrepresented and low-income students who graduate from colleges and universities. If you have any other questions for Alex, please comment here.

 Why did you decide to hire Corey as your branding firm?

I had worked with Chris Klaehn and Corey previously on several projects and was very impressed and satisfied with their work. Since Beyond 12 is my “baby” so to speak, I wanted to work with a firm that I already had trust and confidence in, so naturally I turned to Corey first.

What was the most important message you were looking to convey with the redesign of your Web site?

Beyond 12 is a new organization so Corey developed our brand from scratch – our name, our logo, our tagline, our brochure and other collateral, and our website. As a nonprofit startup, it was really important for us to drive home the point that we are a mission-driven “experienced” and “exciting” brand. Because we work with several stakeholders (high school and college administrators, college students, policymakers, etc.) we needed a brand and website that appeals to a very diverse audience. This is never an easy task, but Corey was able to help us prioritize and synthesize our message.

What did you like most about Corey’s thoughtful process?

I love the fact that Corey listened to us. What a novelty?! The team spent a lot of time with us initially to get a sense of who we are and to understand our mission and vision. They asked a lot of difficult questions, provided expert guidance but, in the end, they let us drive the process. As result, we ended up with a brand and materials that are truly reflective of who we are and what our organization aspires to be.

 Why did you decide to start Beyond12?

Many social entrepreneurs talk about having a “moment of obligation” that leads them to start their organizations. My “moment of obligation” began when I was a freshman at Dartmouth. Because I was the first person in my family to attend college, my transition from high school to college was difficult. My focus for 17 years in high school had been on getting in to college, but then I was not prepared for the journey after admission. But through a combination of hard work and peer support, I succeeded in also becoming the first in my family to graduate from college. My difficulties at Dartmouth planted the seed for my personal and professional commitment to ensure that all students have access to a college education and are given the tools to successfully navigate their college careers. Four years ago, during a meeting with a mentee, my moment of obligation crystallized. This young lady had just begun her sophomore year and was struggling to understand how and why she would succeed when so many of her friends had already dropped out. I was confident that I could help her realize her dream to graduate from college, but what about all her friends and other students like her who needed my help? I decided then that the field needed an organization to address these college retention challenges on a systemic level and so began Beyond12.

How did you get into the education industry?

I started working in education immediately after college and I’ve worked in this field in various capacities and for a variety of organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, ever since.  

What was the most challenging part of starting a company?

The most challenging part of starting a company is managing the hundreds of competing priorities. On any given day, my “to do” list consists of about 100+ items that are all critical and there are, unfortunately, only 24 hours in a day. So, learning not to sweat the small stuff has been a real challenge, as has operating on 3 hours of sleep a night! However…no matter how challenging of a day I am having, I never forget that it is a privilege to wake up every day and actually call what I am doing “work.”

 What advice does Beyond12 give to students?

We work with our students to help them have the most successful college experience possible and to ensure that they are effective both in and out of the classroom. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure that our students graduate from college with a degree that provides them with meaningful economic and personal prospects - one that allows them to provide for their families, contribute to society, and break the cycle of poverty for the next generation. Some words that you’ll probably hear us say a lot to our students:

·       “College is not a destination but a steppingstone” – we remind them that the goal is to earn a degree that they can translate into a rewarding future. We encourage them to build a road map for their college journey and beyond

·       “College should not be a solitary experience” – we encourage our students to use all of the resources on their campuses, to visit their professors and advisors during office hours and, most importantly, to ask for help.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is getting up every day and doing something that I absolutely LOVE and am so passionate about. Not many people have the opportunity to combine their personal and professional passions so I consider myself very lucky.  

Andrea Naddaff, Partner at Corey, responds to Susan G. Komen Fights for Trademark on American Public Media’s Marketplace Web site.

“I am reminded of Rodney King’s famous sound bite ‘People, please, can’t we just get along?’. If we put this issue in branding parlance, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is the uber-brand of the pink ribbon and ‘race for the cure’. The other organizations can be considered as partners and should leverage the power of the creator to help establish their cause by crediting their inspiration. So, what am I saying? Susan G. Komen should be more charitable and the other organizations should be more respectful. ”

Read the full article.

A Bike-Powered Mobile Coffee Shop Brews the Most Sustainable Cup in New York - via MSN’s GOOD Blog

E-Books Fly Beyond Mere Text - via New York Times

Shopkick: Checking In Before Checking Out - via BrandChannel

40 billionaires pledge to give away half of wealth - via MSNBC.com

You Scream, I Scream … at the Price of Ice Cream - via New York Times