Pin-mania, what’s your strategy for branding on Pinterest?

As the resident social media manager at R&R, my job requires that I am up to date on all things social, which essentially means I spend a great deal of time reading about Facebook, Twitter and any new or buzz-worthy social darling. The latest platform to flirt with the masses is Pinterest. In case your job description does not include reading copious amounts of social media related material, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows you to “organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.”

Turns out, there is much to share. In fact, Pinterest was ranked in the top 10 social networks by Hitwise in December 2011 and comScore reported 11.7 million unique users in January 2012. Yet, it appears pinning is for women, with a whopping 80% of those unique users representing the fairer sex.  Now why is it that women love it and men shun it? Perhaps it has something to do with an overwhelming number of boards devoted to fairy-tale weddings and bouncing babies. However, there are just as many boards promoting fitness and travel, both gender-neutral topics.

As a woman-owned company you could say it was only natural that we’d take up pinning. However, the opportunities to socially engage on a local or global scale and create additional touch points for potential brand advocates are far more compelling then the ratio of xx to xy chromosomes currently pinning.

Using Pinterest for professional as opposed to personal purposes does remove a bit of the romantic and wistful qualities of the site, but it does allow us to create a visual story board for our fans, followers and clients to partake in the act of design. Currently, we are experimenting with the boards for two logo projects. The projects will remain unnamed until they are completed, but with color choices, font selections and inspirational elements we are offering a peek into the typically private world of creative concepting. Our hope is that through these boards, we will gain followers who check back frequently to see the evolution of a design from start to finish as well as individuals who are drawn to our aesthetic and share it with others.

Pinterest may be female-centric now, but as with any social media platform it can change tomorrow. So don’t turn your nose up because there are more dresses than suits scouring the site. Instead, focus on creating a sound strategy that can successfully meet the marketing objectives for your business.

Sigma Delta Tau: Empowering Women, with a sparkling new brand.

It’s a branding dream when a client comes to you with a desire to revisit and redesign every element of their existing brand. It’s an adventure that can take a great deal of time and money on both client and agency side, but it’s worth every late night brainstorming session along the way to see a brand reborn. Rebranding affords a company or organization the motivation to revisit its history, future goals and desired aesthetic and message. It’s a great way to ignite companywide excitement and camaraderie!

In early 2010, we partnered with the GIN System to aid in the complete rebranding of the national sorority Sigma Delta Tau. With a rich heritage to draw from, deeply rooted principles and a hope and vision for each of its sisters, designing for Sigma Delta Tau was a blast.

Where did we start? We started by distilling the organization’s history and vision. The stylized Torch represented in the logo mark traces back to the house’s symbol, the stars represent diversity in the sisterhood and the Star of David at the apex represents their religious heritage. The fonts and colors embody their core mission of empowering femininity.

What came next? The next step in any successful rebranding is to create a guide, a set of standards, by which the mark and supporting elements should always be used. During this time, we flush out the business system (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, the works!), as well as signage and product application. This document will eventually be accessible by undergraduate and alumnae chapters to ensure that the brand is used properly in a cohesive manner.

Next steps? Once the brand has been fully developed, it’s time to apply it to the rest of the marketing materials. A new Sigma Delta Tau website was designed, pulling in every aspect of the new brand. The site redesign included upgrades such as, up–to-date news, photo galleries, quick links and social media links. These new tools allow for Sigma Delta Tau to communicate more effectively with their sisterhood by providing  information that is timely, accurate and exciting.

This may not be the last time you see the Sigma Delta Tau brand. Extension into Facebook and a variety of other venues will keep this brand growing and flourishing in the Greek community and beyond. Visit the site at http://www.sigmadeltatau.com.

Fanning Nerdvana

Last week we encouraged you to achieve Nerdvana, this week we would like you to fan Nerdvana. That’s right Big Nerd Ranch (BNR) is now stirring up conversation on Facebook.

Rhyme & Reason Design developed two specialty Facebook tabs to mirror the Big Nerd Ranch website. The tabs are able to continue the brand strategy, differentiate BNR from the crowd, integrate other social media tools, such as Twitter and youtube and link to the Big Nerd Ranch website itself. By utilizing several forms of social media and linking them to each other, Big Nerd Ranch is able to grow their influence and increase their SEO – both great moves for a company looking to build strong brand recognition and a loyal customer base.

Do you think your business could use more brand recognition, greater SEO and supportive fans? If so, give Rhyme & Reason Design a call or an email to discuss creating a Custom Facebook Fan Page for your business.

If you can’t fight it, Flaunt it

T-shirts are great for promoting your brand, dispensing your message and generating word-of-mouth. Not to mention, few people say no to a free t-shirt. When choosing to make your message into a walking billboard, it’s important to put your best foot forward.

T-shirts are meant to be fun, eye-catching and buzz-worthy so make the most out of your traveling promotional material by adding the best part of your brand’s personality. We decided to make the most out of our messaging and save on stocking stuffers by creating R&R Design t-shirts. Since encouraging our friends and family to “Flaunt it” I can now say that the Rhyme & Reason Design brand has waited for the metro at Foggy Bottom, ran hills in Raleigh, hosted a dinner party in Atlanta and….

Flaunting it in Atlanta

Show us where else we’ve been “flaunted”

We really wanted to ring in the New Year with you…

As many of our avid readers know, we just celebrated our one-year anniversary – just in time to pop the champagne bottles. Seeing as we couldn’t figure out the logistics to throw a big celebratory bash (we’ll start planning now for next year though), we opted to do what we do best – create something pretty cool to show some of our friends, family, current and potential clients.

What’d we create – a hip, funky, fresh (yes, I’m biased) two-piece accordion-style mailer. Now, I’m not saying this mail piece is a collector’s item just yet, but I’m thinking in a few years people might be framing them or selling them on EBay – heck they even have our signatures on them. Don’t worry if you didn’t get one this time, you can scroll on down and see a picture of the finished product.

For those of you who didn’t receive a mailer, it’s not because we forgot about you, we just didn’t have your snail mail address. To receive a mailer next time, just shoot us an email at info@rhymeandreasondesign.com with your name and mailing address and we’ll be happy to add you to the list.

Thank you to everyone who read our blog, fanned us on Facebook, followed our tweets and supported us – because of you we were able to celebrate one year!