My Favorites from Dieline's Top 100 Package Designs of 2010

I love Dieline's take on product design and packaging.  They have a great compilation of the top designs from the past year that you can see HERE.  But I'll show you a few of the super-stars (in my humble opinion).  As you can see, the themes seem to be sophisticated and retro, but always simple.  It is so heartening to see companies really stepping up to create gorgeous, eye-catching, sexy packaging!

 

    

 

 

 

 

Why Did I Rebrand?

Ta Da!  Akamai Consulting is now Trish Thomas Consulting.  A new name and a new look.

Let's discuss.

As my close friends and associates know well, I've been mulling over this wacky rebranding idea for a LONG TIME.  Some of them have probably grown weary of being a sounding board for conceptual names, logos, color schemes and taglines.  (Thank you, my dears!)  For all the rest of you to whom my new identity may come as a surprise, I 'd like to share why I elected to rebrand my consulting firm and hopefully you can glean a few nuggets from my journey to help you in building your own brand.

Let's begin with Branding 101: What is a brand?  Your brand is the emotional and psychological connection you have with your customers.  It certainly involves your mission, your logo and your name... but it's much deeper than that.  Those elements of your identity are the entry point and the shortcut to the brand in someone's mind. Brands are not concrete: they are the thoughts, feelings, and psychological relationships between a business and a customer. And a brand becomes the foundation of all your marketing activities.

The process of forming a brand is the result of "unrelenting passion, not unending spin."
John Moore

Why did I rebrand?

Few of you are aware (it was years ago), but I started Akamai Consulting with a business partner.  We had a very different vision at that time of what the firm would become than what has actually unfolded over the past 5 years.  The original intent was to build a boutique multi-location firm with a dozen or more consultants working across several core service lines.  Once I was operating the firm on my own and began to follow the ebb of the tide and the shifting of the wind, the practicality and appeal of that business model evaporated.  My intent today is to personally anchor a consulting firm that does leverage project team members to serve clients, but in which I am the sole promotional face and account manager for the business.  That new paradigm changed the branding game entirely.

To add another layer to my quandry, the word Akamai was problematic.  Coming from a marketing background I was well aware of the possible difficulties when we selected the name.  (We always assume that the rules won't apply to us if we really like something!)  In theory, Akamai was a perfect name for my firm.  My husband is Hawaiian and it is a great island term that sops up a miasma of wisdom, creativity, tangible skill and street smarts.  Anyone from Polynesia immediately got it.  My clients and friends who understood the history and meaning behind the term loved Akamai, and some are very sad to see it go.

But here's the kicker - and there's really no way around it... Akamai stood as an unnecessary layer between myself and my audience.  It's an unknown, unspellable, unpronounceable word.  People only bonded with the name once they had bonded with me - and that, my friends, is the tail wagging the dog.  Your brand should act as an immediate introduction to your business that begins to draw people in and inform them about who you are before they are even aware of it.  Akamai had the opposite effect, and because the firm will never have the bandwidth to educate the public at large about the meaning of specific terminology, that one word became a barrier to business.

The next factor that influenced my decision is that I am my brand.  People never made a referral to Akamai Consulting, they said "you need to call Trish - here's her number."  My clients work with me because they have faith in my own unique personality and abilities and character, not belief that a collective will deliver.

This profound distinction became painfully clear to me early last year when a long-time marketing partner moved away in the middle of a project that I had had very little to do with.  I was concerned that the client might take Julie's absence mid-project as a negative sign.  When she returned from meeting with the client to tell him about the change, she calmly explained that no one cared about her (her perspective - not mine).  My customer's reaction was that as long as I was at the helm he wasn't concerned at all about who came and went on the project.  He believed in me, and knew that the job would be completed with excellence no matter what.  As Julie said, "we're just nameless, faceless people who can come and go as long as you're behind the scenes."  Hmmmm.

That conversation, along with the fact that Akamai was seldom mentioned except by me, highlighted the need to bring my business identity into alignment with the natural connection between myself and my customers.  I only delayed as long as I did because a. rebranding is a huge pain in the butt and b. I was praying over what to morph into.  If not Akamai WHAT?

The new color scheme, minimalist fonts, and more modern feel simply reflect my personality.  Since the company is now me I can pick whatever tone and look I want to, right?

Remember, branding isn't about the name or the logo itself, it's about accurately reflecting the emotional and psychological bond that customers feel for your company.  Within the business, your brand serves as an internal compass. By clearly branding yourself, you gain an understanding of what you are really about. You gain a self awareness that dictates your actions.  My clients trust me... as a human being.  They rely on my unique instincts and skills and education and relationships to get a project done.  My brand desperately needed to reflect that reality and now I feel that it does.

And thus Trish Thomas (the brand) was born.  It always feels a bit surreal when you rebrand and definitely requires some time to fully adopt the new identity.  It's also incredibly time consuming and expensive.  But I love what I've created.  In a sense, I feel like the company has come full circle and is arriving at a place where it already was.

I never pass up an opportunity to use narrative to teach a lesson, so here comes the application of my tale to your world:  How do you know if you need to makeover your own brand?

The decision to rebrand is a serious one and can effect how customers see your company, good or bad. Ask yourself these questions and you'll get a pretty good idea of whether or not it's time to reassess your identity:

Are you experiencing a decrease in sales and customers?  If so, it may be time to rebrand. If you see that more of your customers are going to your competition, you have to look at your entire business and ask yourself, "What is my visual identity saying to people. Am I attracting people or repelling them?”

Do your look and function match?  From a cosmetic point of view, if you look outdated or your looks don’t reflect what you are or what you deliver, it may be time to rebrand.”  It is absolutely critical to match your external presence to who you really are.

Are you attracting the wrong customers?  If your company is no longer attracting the customers you want, it may be time to rebrand.  Rebranding isn't just a face lift, it's about switching your focus to reach your target audience and appealing to the right crowd.

Have you undergone a major change?  When companies bring in new management with a different set of values, or they adopt a new philosophy, or establish a new direction it may be a good time to think about rebranding.  A fresh new look or a catchy new name can shine a light on positive transformation.

Are you sick of your old brand?  This shouldn't always be a catalyst for a rebrand.  I have friends in marketing who would roll out a new logo every 3-6 months if they could get away with it just because they like design and innovation.  Brands are a serious business, and it's costly to revamp your entire image, but if you truly have deep-seated issues with your old brand you may want to make the investment in reinvention.

Thanks for taking the time to understand how my professional journey and vision is coming to life in my new brand.  Visit www.trishthomas.com to see the whole new face of the firm!

Professional Skills that Really Count

Advancing your education is great.  Seminars, webinars, night classes, books... all can give you tactical skills and ideas that you can use to improve your performance.  But what skills are most relevant to success in today's competitive workplace?  It's not always the things you think.

Here are some soul-searching questions to ask yourself.  Your answers will largely dictate your ability to thrive in a new workplace reality.

1. How good am I at solving problems and making hard decisions?  Fundamental creative skills are in hot demand.  Assess your ability to attack a problem and devise multiple viable solutions.  Be honest about your adaptability and willingness to react to unseen events and unexpected barriers.
2. How good are my analysis skills?  Data is not in short supply these days.  What most companies lack is people with the ability to assimilate data and use it to make decisions.  Are you able to integrate logic with intuition and look broadly to recognize actionable trends and key indicators?
3. How good am I at presenting and communicating information?  You can't influence major change without the ability to stand and deliver a powerful argument.  Honest communication that wows people with your authenticity and smarts will get you ahead.
4. How good am I at managing conflict?  Harmony is counter-productive at times and diversity is the new watchword in business innovation.  If you can preserve healthy work dynamics and lead others through crisis and disagreement you'll find your skills in high demand in the coming years.
5. How good are my listening skills?  The ability to speak clearly and present ideas succinctly is wonderful, but individuals who can listen and adapt their responses to influence others possess a priceless gift.  Listening, not just for words but for context and emotion, is an invaluable skill to nurture.
6. How good am I at building trust?  Trusting relationships are an absolute requirement in today's cut-throat work world.  And trusting relationships naturally emerge from your ability to exhibit behaviors that earn respect and encourage open, productive interactions.
7. How good am I at demonstrating appreciation?  A lot of workers today waste a great deal of time and energy constantly telling everyone around them how great they are.  Here's a tip... if you have to tell other people you're awesome - you aren't.  Expend your energy building other people up, accentuating the positive and offering genuine gratitude to the team around you.  It will pay big dividends.