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

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.

Borshoff client Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Homework Hotline provides free math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6–12. Many of the students who call the Homework Hotline are repeat callers. But for students who have never called, a fear of the unknown is often their biggest obstacle.

To tell the Homework Hotline story, Borshoff needed a medium that would communicate quickly and convey the personality of the organization and its tutors. We recommended video because it has emerged as the medium of choice for sharing information on the Internet.

We conceptualized and produced three web-friendly videos to help students understand the environment of the call center, the process of a typical call and the friendly personalities of the tutors.

You can view the video series at www.facebook.com/HomeworkHotline.

“Any hobbies?”
“Genetics. It started when I was eight years old, and I wanted to genetically alter myself into a mermaid.”

This was just one of the fun facts we learned while interviewing tutors during a video shoot Tuesday for Rose-Hulman’s Homework Hotline, one of Borshoff’s longtime clients. The Homework Hotline provides free math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

A few of my colleagues and I spent the day at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s beautiful campus.  We directed our videographer Brian Wells as he shot B-roll footage for media use and more informal footage for video vignettes to be posted on Homework Hotline’s Facebook page and website.

With not a cloud in the sky and a high near 80 degrees, we spent the afternoon shooting outside. Our “talent” — Homework Hotline tutors — enjoyed their time in front of the camera.

In the evening, we caught the action in their call center. We filmed more than 40 tutors on actual calls and interviewed others to showcase their personalities. Our goal? To make calling the Homework Hotline less intimidating to Indiana students.

With the shoot complete, we now move on to editing, where we’ll turn two hours of raw footage into several two minute – or shorter – videos. And, whatever hits the cutting room floor may later be seen in a “bloopers” video. Stay tuned.