Last week we created a BrandQuery YouTube page. We’ll be uploading new videos on occasion.

Creating the account made me think about the importance of a brand in its emerging media presence. Plenty of posts exist that discuss how businesses with Twitter accounts need to utilize icons, make branded backgrounds, and create the ideal branded page. But if you expand your presence across many social sites the big picture gets bigger.

BrandQuery has always been about enhancing an organization’s brand, and with the emergence of social sites in the marketing mix, a brand should be consistent in this space as well. That’s important: a brand must be consistent in this space as well. Having a standardized brand look and feel will capitalize on your customers’ ability to remember who you are and, if done properly, will also attract your target audiences with matching demographics. Although – your brand can be modified to fit as social spaces vary in terms of what they allow users to do.

When extending your brand across multiple social tools that allow customizable profiles, here are five items to consider correlating:

1. Identity: This may seem a bit obvious, but some seem to forget this most important element. Your identity should be present no matter where you participate online – be it a logo, icon, or merely your company name. Your company name should also be your username, appear in the URL and Page Title when possible, and pop up throughout your social site.

2. Color: Know your brand’s colors and use them consistently. Your website should have these colors incorporated into it, as should anything you do online.

3. Imagery: Coordinate background images when possible, as well as your icon. This is another important step toward brand implementation. It furthers continuity and emphasizes recognition.

4. Font: A few sites allow you to change web fonts. If this is available, use the same hierarchy found on your website. Again, the key is consistency.

5. Content: Managing multiple social areas for your company can be cumbersome if you do it piecemeal. There are plenty of tools out there that can simplify the process. For example, you can update your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace accounts simultaneously from an application like TweetDeck. YouTube allows you to connect with various social sites as well. Using these tools helps you easily maintain content continuity.

Now that you have seen our five considerations when branding your business across multiple social sites, here are two disclaimers.

Disclaimer 1. Symmetry Isn’t Always Possible: Symmetry may be the wrong word, and synergy the right one. Your social presence should emphasize a unity between the various social tools you may enter. Some sites allow for greater customizability (YouTube, Twitter, MySpace) while others only allow minimal (Facebook, Yelp). Do what you can to brand them, but know that minor differences even between the more customizable are OK to keep things interesting.

Disclaimer 2. Don’t Enter Without A Strategy: We aren’t recommending you join social sites for the sake of joining. Doing the proper research and developing an appropriate strategy is the first step. Only then can you properly target your desired audience.

In creating your strategy, you must 1) determine what your internal capabilities are, 2) define the social make-up of your customer, and 3) pinpoint which social tools your customers use most. These three elements, too, are in-depth and complex. A strategic emerging media process, like our bqFILTER, can help. FILTER: Facilitate, Identify, Listen, Target, Engage, and Review.

A peculiar thing has taken place in Seattle. One of the world’s corporate giants has decided to test out a new image. Another big re-branding you say? Not this time. Not quite, at least. Its more of an UN-branding.

Starbucks (you know that little coffeehouse on every corner?) is turning its attention away from the global market momentarily. Now, the local, independent coffeehouses sparsely populating neighborhoods throughout Seattle (and possibly other metropolitan areas) are the target of its latest marketing ploy. Instead of the old-fashioned business tactics of lowering prices and/or creating better products to compete, Starbucks is abandoning its name and all related imagery and by-products at one Capitol Hill location. I assume this is all in hopes of capturing the interest of new & former customers.

What was just another Starbucks branch will now be known as 15th St. Coffee & Tea. Everything is changing. Except the coffee. And ownership. It is attempting to transform this location into something more of a lifestyle destination, like other indie coffeehouses around town. Coffee, tea, beer, wine, and even live music, poetry readings, and other in-store (and un-corporate) events are planned.

While this has understandably raised more than a few suspicious eyebrows around town, its hard to deny that it is a smart move from a marketing perspective. They are, I’m sure, just doing what they feel needs to be done to meet shareholders’ expectations to invigorate their brand and generate some sales in a neighborhood where they may be losing to some of the hipper alternatives. I’m just not sure Capitol Hill (or anywhere in Seattle, for that matter) is the right market for such a test.

Seattle is arguably the birthplace of the country’s (world’s?) coffee obsession. It goes without saying that Seattle knows its coffee. Coffee is embedded into our daily lives here, and because of that, it’s something we pay special attention to. So when Starbucks makes a move, we watch with scrutinizing eyes, especially given the area’s love/hate attitude toward the hometown giant.

Most of the bitter taste surrounding this move stems from Starbucks’ blatant… shall we say… borrowing from its neighbors. The company has gone out of its way to mimic other trendy spots in its decor, from light fixtures to seating to storefront paint. This has left several local shop owners slightly irritated. When some of the individuality of your business is copied, it tends to diminish the appeal for all parties involved. Maybe the imitation would be less conspicuous if it weren’t implemented so close to the source.

I can’t help but think that in another market, this would be a much more successful and less attention-garnering venture. Then again, any press is good press so the saying goes… Seemingly, their choice of one of the hippest and most independent-minded neighborhoods in Seattle reduces their chance of success. On the other hand, the audience for what they have planned is in place, and with all that money behind the makeover, who knows who might drop in for a cup and “improvised” acoustic set of yet-to-be-released songs.

I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how this unbranding plays out. There may be enough independent spirit to go around in this town after all. Let’s just hope the coffee’s good.

The atmosphere of a business can be described as the sensory items that a company utilizes to communicate their brand’s physical space. Where is the business located in the community? How do the interior and exterior visual elements – color, lighting, layout, etc – complement the brand? What are you trying to say to the customer by the music playing in the background?

Recently I was in a grocery store and noted that the songs playing, while popular and quite recognizable, were also very dated in a fifties to seventies, overly upbeat sort of way. To me, the communication was simple: Get your groceries and get the heck out of here! The second message was: Always remember your iPod.

Being one entirely obsessed with music, I pride myself in crafting “the perfect” playlist. I’ll regularly spend three hours tossing together themed mixes of fifteen to twenty songs, or the same amount of time attempting to create the seamless set of tunes that blend together flawlessly. (For example, I have the perfect transition from math/noise rockers Battles to glam pop Of Montreal, a highly unlikely combination that would otherwise appear ludicrous.)

When creating a playlist for your company it is important to keep a few things in mind.

1. Remember the artist.

First and foremost, any music you play in your business technically requires you pay some sort of licensing fee to play it. There are a few licensing companies out there, but the most well known is ASCAP. Working hand-in-hand with ASCAP can get you over the major legal hurdles.

2. Remember your audience.

Remember, you are creating something for someone else – your target audience. In Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, Rob doesn’t really “get it” until he realizes that making a mix tape for Laura is really about putting together a compilation of music she would like – the same goes for your company’s playlist. You must ensure the music compliments your audience, in that it would be something they would enjoy. But that’s not all…

3. Remember your company.

No, I’m not talking about the music you like. I’m talking about your brand, your product. What are you communicating to your audience in the music that plays over the speaker system? Not only must this music tailor to the audience, it must also tailor to your brand, as well as the “atmosphere” of your business – the sensory items like visual features and textures and smells. Associating these elements can be difficult, but they’re also very important. This is the exact reason “Great Balls Of Fire” just wasn’t cutting it while picking up cheese and tortillas.

4. Remember your industry.

There is reason behind mentioning industry. I’ve noticed some commonalities between businesses within the same industry, and things that also don’t work for these businesses. Here are some elements to keep in mind, and some industry-ish trends…

Youth fashion retailers are notorious for picking up the latest trends, from the flashy and obscure to the more mainstream, depending on the type of audience that shops at the store. Fashion in general will tend to be a bit more edgy. Fashion also allows a bit more emotion to extend into the playlist, where other industries would play it a bit safer by focusing on simple upbeat background music. Last year, the more youthful retailers would have played “Electric Feel” by MGMT or “Hearts On Fire” by Cut Copy, while the year before it was “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn & John. I have a sneaking suspicion that this year’s hype will (at least partly) surround Empire Of The Sun.

Grocery stores and banks will tend to play it safe and simple, since their audience is very wide and diverse. The music is always non-offensive, generally focused on being something you could easily ignore; something in the background, mostly upbeat. It also tends to be a bit more modern and contemporary. Another reason it felt awkward to shop for groceries while “Great Balls of Fire” played over the speakers – and a bit too loud at that.

Restaurants vary their playlists depending on the type of food served. I was in a Japanese restaurant the other day that had Spanish TV playing while the speakers broadcast modern hip hop (there are always blatant exceptions to what should be done). Those that feature food from other cultures are best when they feature soft, appropriate music from that culture as opposed to something classified as modern native – it makes for a complimentary atmosphere. I wouldn’t mind hearing the latest pop from the top of the charts while eating an American burger, but not while dining on sushi or Italian.

This brings me to another item. Speaking with Matt on this subject, he mentioned hearing the same John Mayer song in five different stores in the period of a single day. Playing recognizable music is good, but sometimes it’s best to use a known artist’s lesser-known work.

These are all merely items to ponder – creating an identity is a large portion of transitioning a company, the other part is ensuring you are communicating the proper message to your audience in everything you do, be it the business papers that represent the brand, the office layout including lighting and colors, or even the background music customers hear as they walk through the door.

Have you ever bought an item of clothing that fit well when you first purchased it and you liked it so much you wore it regularly? Over time you found it just didn’t feel as good when you first wore it and you weren’t as confident in it as you had been initially?

That’s how I felt with our former name BMR Design+Advertising.  As we have grown and expanded our level of service, the name didn’t feel like it fit anymore.  It didn’t feel like it properly reflected to our clients the sophisticated nature of our services as they have grown and developed.

The name change began over a year ago as we worked to define how we work with our clients. We felt this name identified not only the business, but our process.

So how does it feel after 16 years to change the name?  It feels great. Everyone in the office is excited by the change.  And, we are all happy to complete such a large project!

We work with companies to develop names, to change names, to change identities and to introduce these changes.  Knowing the right time to make these kinds of changes is very important.  The need for change may come to you internally or externally. Either way it has to be done with confidence and everyone in the organization needs to embrace it, otherwise it won’t be successful.

How you convey the change in your office, to your clients and your vendors is very important.  Communicating with them first is foremost in maintaining their confidence in you.

This is the first of many blog entries.  I hope you find what we write is relevant and interesting to you and your business.  We look forward to your feedback.

By the way, Happy New Year!