Sometimes the path is just as interesting as the destination. That’s why we turned the camera around when filming our recent television spots for the newly rebranded Franciscan Alliance. If you’d like a glimpse of the process, just watch our Making Of video below. And if you haven’t seen the spots on air, don’t worry. They’re at the end of the video. And that’s a wrap.

The University of Notre Dame recently partnered with Borshoff to develop the UpRight! campaign, which promotes aerial lift safety awareness for universities, colleges and high schools. The integrated campaign included the development of several key pieces, including a central website that offers a video introduction to aerial lift safety considerations, as well as video segments and tips on four key areas of lift safety: the Right Setup, Right Training, Right Weather Information and Right Safety Contact.

The website also features a downloadable fact sheet and posters, including one that encourages schools to input their official adopted wind limit, to post in areas where aerial lifts will be used. The UpRight! campaign launched on August 26.

Check out some of the campaign elements:

Central website

Right Weather Information video segment

Downloadable materials

Our annual Borshoff retreat was last week at Bradford Woods in Martinsville. And for all the useful team-building activities and state-of-the-agency presentations, there was an even more vivid and useful lesson: How not to do outdoor advertising.

You see, the trip to Martinsville takes you south on Indiana Highway 67, a route peppered with plenty of small outdoor boards. Unfortunately, most of what’s on them is small, too. Mile after mile, our employees were confronted with tiny headlines, microscopic graphics and miniscule logos (yes, I’m actually saying someone should make the logo bigger).

So why does this happen? Why do we see so many campaigns with standout broadcast executions, eye-catching print, and forgettable outdoor?

Well, it’s simple. Most outdoor boards are created with the designer or art director sitting two feet from their computer screen. At that distance, one of two things happen. Either correctly sized outdoor type looks way too big or type that seems correct on the screen will be too small in execution. And judging by our journey into southern Indiana, the second occurrence frequently wins out.

So how do we avoid this trap at Borshoff? Well, again, two things happen. First, we learn to live with type and graphics that feel uncomfortably large on the computer screen. And, second, we use a simple outdoor viewer, a framing device allowing you to see outdoor designs just as they’ll look through the consumer’s windshield. The result? The kind of impactful outdoor advertising that’s few and far between on Highway 67.

There is nothing more challenging or rewarding than starting from scratch on a branding project and getting to choose the typeface(s). It’s amazing how much type impacts the brand and how people view the company.

A properly chosen typeface conveys so much. In my opinion, a typeface matters just as much as color and graphics. If anything, it speaks more clearly because everyone reacts to type, but not always graphics.

I find it “fun” to test typefaces with some of my non-designer friends:

“I hate Comic-Sans, it just looks goofy.” – Registered Nurse

“Is this Helvetica? It looks so sad here.” – High School Teacher

Although type selection is often subjective, you always know when you hit the mark. When this happens, you rarely need to sell your selection – the client gets it, and there is no debate.

Here’s a non-news flash: At 600,000,000 users and growing, Facebook offers marketers the potential to reach large amounts of consumers.

It’s the “how” of reaching audiences that spurs countless discussions, debates and arguments.

Help has arrived, however, from Facebook itself. With the creation of Facebook Studio, advertising agencies and marketing professionals can get a glimpse of how brands big and small are using the world’s leading social media site to sell their wares.

Facebook Studio features a Gallery section highlighting creative campaigns and their performance; a Spotlight area for the newest work; an Awards page dedicated to recognizing the most creative usages of the site; a What’s New blog; and the Learning Lab, a Facebook marketing primer.

Upon early review, the site seems like a useful (and overdue) resource. While predictably showing international brands like BMW and Coke, we also see how smaller concerns like OurJewishCommunity.org and the Boston Public Health Commission have used Facebook to effectively communicate to their core audiences.

It’s still up to agencies and businesses to decide the appropriate approach for their social media strategy. But Facebook Studio offers a helpful starting point.

Branding is certainly not a new topic, but one that continues to get a lot of buzz as more and more companies understand the value of a strong brand, strive to differentiate themselves and work to remain competitive.

When it comes to branding, people typically are not on the same page. Individual interpretations, definitions and experiences all shape one’s understanding of what a brand actually is.

Some are quick to think of it as a new logo or tagline; others believe it’s a company’s product or services. There’s also the perspective that it’s something only big companies need to be concerned about.

The truth is – every company has a brand whether they know it or not; and that brand is defined by the stakeholders (employees, customers, board members, etc.) through their experiences with that organization. This is not to say that a company can’t create its brand – it can. But branding is a complex process with many considerations.

By strengthening market position, engaging employees and building more loyal customers/clients, companies can ultimately influence their brand. And, the most effective brands know how to forge strong relationships and deliver experiences that align with the organization’s goals and values.

Each and every interaction between a company and its stakeholders is critical to a brand – especially communications.

So if you ask Borshoff to define a brand, we’ll likely reply, “Everything.” And if you ask us what our company does … well, let’s just say, “Build, protect and strengthen brands.”

Borshoff has impacted a number of brands over the past 26 years. Recently we’ve developed new brands for Indianapolis Power & Light Company, RW Armstrong and Hoosier Park Racing & Casino – to name a few. Click here to view some of our work.

Three years ago this month, my name came off the door. We said farewell to “Borshoff Johnson Matthews” and our co-branded creative branch “2Fold.” We melded together and became known as simply “Borshoff.”

It was a good move. We believe in collaboration and coordinated communications. One name for one team in one company – working together for our clients.

Yes, I had been very proud to have my name on the door. But I’m even prouder today, as our focused vision has moved our agency forward with purpose and clarity. In spite of the recent economic challenges, and in part because of the name change and all it represents, we are stronger than ever.

Three years ago when I told my mother we were sunsetting the name Borshoff Johnson Matthews, she paused and said, “Well, it does sound like a fuddy-duddy law firm.”

Mom was right. But because she’s a mom, she still drinks her coffee from a Borshoff Johnson Matthews mug.

“I could probably push a little more here…”

“I like the connection here…”

“I’m drawn to that…”

“We need to get it a little bigger to communicate…”

“The relationship between the shape and the type is much more balanced here…”

“The greens and blues make me feel good…”

“I love what you did with the Y here…”

“Adding the vertical line – it needed that…”

“I like the thought behind that…”

“It seems a little funky…”

“This is an initial look at where we’re going with the theme…”

“If we could just give a little more color and life to it…”

“I wanted this typeface to have a little more personality on this level…”

“I want to work this a little more — see if I can bring in a little more color…”

“I want to impress as much as we can…”

“I’d like to have other themes in our back pocket…”

“I would feel comfortable presenting these three just the way they are…”

“Beyond that, if you guys want to tweak and finesse, I’m all for it…”

“Perfect. Thanks guys.”