SMPS is the Society for Marketing of Professional Services and their ‘Build Business’ Awards Gala was held last Thursday at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. The SMPS Awards program is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards competition that recognizes excellence in marketing communications by professional services firms in the design and building industry.

Judges’ comments were that BOND’s submission was “very clearly stated,” that the “color scheme was very nice” and that the “identity matches the company very well.”

kor is honored to receive such a recognition and enjoyed the evening’s celebration with some of the BOND client team.

Below is a photo of our own MB Jarosik with Marc Pellitier (left) and Ed Bond of BOND at the Gala.

kor group repositioned the brand, designed new corporate identity and marketing materials including the website www.bondbrothers.com.

Since its start 15 years ago, kor group has been involved in issue-driven projects for healthcare and social well-being including event branding for neonatology at BID, a brochure for Peer center at BU School of Public Health, bridging the gap between HIV patients and doctors, and donor appreciation materials for Melmark, an organization supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. Working within the client’s limitations, we apply the same level of energy, creativity and problem solving found in our for-profit work to deliver spectacular results for these worthy causes.

Pro-bono work not only builds a bank of good karma; the process of working on these projects is a reward in itself. Posing a unique set of design challenges that impact the world for the better when solved effectively, they are fun for a designer to tackle. Working on such projects creates a feel-good situation that aligns with kor’s philosophy of community-building and giving back to society. The turbulent economy along with the ever-changing political and social landscape calls for positive and responsible actions, a reevaluation of beliefs, and an understanding of the greater good that can come from the smallest of changes. As designers, we can be the front runners driving that change.

“After its package redesign, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging, designed by Peter Arnell. It had been on the market less than two months.” AdAge.com 04/02/09 http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735

With more higher education and healthcare clients than retail, kor group hasn’t been in a situation like Arnell’s–seeing hard evidence, within weeks, of a re-designed brand’s success or failure. We do, however, feel very strongly about our clients’ brands and make every effort to improve, re-design or tweak as needed/requested. We also feel it’s important to provide our clients with clear and concise instructions on how, when and where to use their brand identity.

Most recently, we were asked to expand on Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s brand standards (www.bidmc.org). We created a hospital-wide Graphic Standards Guide and 6 additional Graphic Standards Guides for the Centers/Institutes within the hospital that are using a new identity and color palette in conjunction with the BIDMC logo. Each center’s name is within a colored square including the Transplant Institute, represented by PMS 234 (see below). After putting the finishing touches on these guides, we’ll pass them on to the internal Marketing and Communications Department at BIDMC. These Graphic Standards Guides will provide the internal teams and their vendors with the guidelines needed to prepare artwork, and make informed decisions about how the brand should be represented. Especially in these difficult economic times, companies will be forced to make these decisions internally, and be unable to hire outside consultants. It is our hope that by providing these tools to our clients, they become increasingly comfortable with their own brand usage, but still value the additional communications projects kor group creates to further promote their brand.

The iPhone pushed other companies to improve on their mobile interface and technology. People are now able surf on the internet with much ease than before. This will open up for a whole new window for branding and marketing.

Imagine you are riding on the bus and you are reading the ads around you and one of them catches your attention. You want to know more. What if the ad had a little bar code that you could scan with you cell phone by just taking a picture of it and that linked you to a website with more information? Well, maybe that’s not too far from reality. The QR-code technology has been in Japan for a few years now, it’s becoming popular in Europe and will hit the U.S. very soon.

Here are a few examples of how it’s used in Europe and Japan:

The photo shows QR-codes on escalator handrails in Japan. Each bar code square contains information about what you can do in the area. Pretty sweet!

Recently, MB brought the latest issue of Deliver Magazine to a client meeting as a sample and I was very intrigued by the fact that the magazine was from USPS. The paper choice, the size of the piece and design were thought out and not put together like most commercial magazines. Is this just a pretty design to generate some buzz or is it a marketing strategy targeted to creative agencies?

The idea is pretty innovative. The magazine is issued 6 times a year with articles on marketing strategies and tips for mailing pieces. So many times I felt my work was constrained by not knowing the post office rules when designing invitations or magazines. So many trips to John, the post-master at South Station location, to check if the piece would work when mailed. Now I can see what other people are doing creatively to push the envelope (no pun intended).

I’ve read some blogs that viewed this magazine as a waste of tax-payers money and bad for the environment. Why would the government spend on a magazine when the money could be spent on improving the USPS service? Well, when you give business owners ideas on how to do effective communications via mail they will be more likely to target the right people (less junk mail for some) and at the same time generate income for the USPS. I see this magazine as an investment.

I’m a big green friendly person and promoting more paper usage is not so great for the environment, but there are many things that still needs to be communicated on a piece of paper. You can’t just assume everyone can be reached via internet. If you can find ways to make the printed piece more environmentally friendly, then it’s a start. The May issue of the magazine featured articles on being green by using FSC certified paper, recycled paper or even diminishing the usage of paper itself.

I think this magazine is a good example of business strategy and building brand awareness. Oh, did I mention they also have an online version of Deliver Magazine?